In the 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, a political prisoner and an effeminate gay man live out their stay in an Argentinian prison. Both of these characters have their own demons to overcome, but their imprisonment is a result of their government's dissatisfaction with their activities. In this way, their struggles are very representative of the trials and tribulations these same kinds of people encountered in Brazilian culture at the time, but in many ways it is a dramatic departure.
Luis Molina, the effeminate gay man, was imprisoned because of his homosexuality; the military dictatorship that ruled until the year this film was released was very restrictive to civil rights and homosexuality. Valentin Arregui, a leftist revolutionary who is imprisoned because of his activities, would have very much been a victim of the military regime, as dissidents were tortured and banished on a regular basis. These two characters are very much alike in that they are leftist outliers in a very militaristic society, much as Brazilians would have also been during this time period.
Luckily, these characters would have bad a better time if they lived in the post-1985 Brazil; the 1988 Constitution of Brazil prohibited discrimination of any kind, whether against homosexuals or political dissidents. The very progressive constitution was a reaction to the harsh restrictions of the 1964 military rule, and as such these kinds of civil liberties were restored to people. The characters of Kiss of the Spider Woman are tortured and imprisoned much in the same way that the military leaders of 1960s and 1970s Brazil would have wanted it.
Works Cited
Babenco, Hector. Dir. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Perf. William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga.
Island Alive, 1985.
