For this week’s cultural post, with the suggestion of my language partner, I will be taking a deep dive into the puzzling popularity of American TV show Everybody Hates Chris in Brazil. Everybody Hates Chris is an American TV show created by Chris Rock that is supposed to be based on memories from his teenage years. The show portrays “Chris” in his adolescent years and life within his African American community. The show was rather popular in the US but ultimately stopped running in 2009. Before it’s finale, the show was nominated for 3 Emmy’s and 1 Golden Globe. However, the popularity in America doesn’t come close to what’s seen in Brazil. To this day, the Brazilian population and community are avid watchers and fans of the show.
Before doing this post, I reached out to São Paolo native and Richmond student Pedro Alves de Lima to see if this phenomenon really exists. He confirmed that this is in fact a cultural thing in Brazil. He stated how the show offers something different than the normal telenovelas in Brazil and works to portray a different background of the people. This makes a lot of sense and can be clearly seen through my research. Actress Tichina Arnold, Rochelle on the show, is actually one of the most (if not the most) famous American Actress’s in the whole country. On numerous visits she’s been treated like royalty, drawing thousands of adoring Brazilian fans to come see her. This popularity isn’t just relegated to her on this one show, but the show Wife N Kids, where Tichina also stars, was voted as the second most popular show of its kind in Brazil recently. At any point in time, fans of the show can be seen repeating her famous lines as Chris’s Mom and her recognition is undeniable. Moreover, she’s mentioned her Brazilian following in multiple interviews within the US. It’s quite fascinating to see this popularity and it’s something the average consumer of the show would have no idea about. The same experience is true for actor Tyler James Williams (Chris) who has a huge following as well. On multiple occasions when he was creating his Instagram, he actually deleted his profile because his comment section was overflooded with Portuguese and he wasn’t quite sure what to do. It’s something the whole cast is mostly on record being surprised and appreciative about, but why did the show get so big in Brazil is the main question still?
In Brazil, one of the main forms of entertainment are long-form serial narratives, or better known as telenovelas. The shows draw in millions of domestic viewers and people across the globe in more than 120 countries worldwide. A lot of Brazilian culture and imagery comes from these types of entertainment, and the series have served as a primary source for what it means to be Brazilian globally. The main issue with them, however, is that have shown that the country’s most important television genre of shows has historically underrepresented Brazilians of color. In addition, many also maintain that the telenovelas worked to produce a symbolic good that emphasizes whiteness as the ideal social marker. This works to explain the differentiation of Everybody Hates Chris. It offers the people of Brazil a show that prominently features a culture they don’t often get to see in the manner of comedy. It’s take on the normal American family, mixed in with comedic factors, and its focus on the colored community, all drive to boost the popularity of the show in Brazil.
Overall, this was extremely interesting to learn about and something I would’ve never known without researching. It’s amazing how cultures can differ and what becomes popular within certain places. I’ve included some sources below and some social media posts of fans from Brazil.
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26744312?seq=1
https://www.flowjournal.org/2013/03/everybody-hates-chris/
Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ajclassic/status/1328033103202414594
https://twitter.com/ajclassic/status/1328038268592590849?s=20&t=0RKMt-Ov9npvV7QQyYKmVA
https://twitter.com/ajclassic/status/1328046792294998021?s=20&t=0RKMt-Ov9npvV7QQyYKmVA
Comments
I think it is very interesting how this show is among the most popular in Brazil. Growing up, I really loved the show Everybody Hates Chris and would always watch it with my siblings. Still to this day it is one of my all time favorite shows. Maybe black brazilians can relate to the show's messages the same way us black people in the United States can.