And because the formal (newspapers, television, etc.) and informal (social networks) mass media are so strong in Western society, they are not even afraid to reveal to us what the only way to defeat them is: to run away, to leave without coming back. Moral of the story: the mass media want to control us, they want us to think what they order us to think, they want to make 'their lenses be our eyes'. The cameraman, unlike Julianna, does not change his appearance or personality because he has no power, he is just an honest worker who cannot decide what to do or refuse a job he is given (he says something like this when he interviews Adriana). It is up to us to decide how to behave, whether to go along with the cynicism of the information system (to be empathetic to Julianna), to rebel (to throw down the camera when Adriana asks us to) or to run away (stairs or lift). In the third act she is just an automaton, unable to feel emotions and move: the only thing she can do is look at the wall, which metaphorically separates her from reality. In the second act, in which she has now become part of this "evil world", she is cynical and ruthless (however, being cunning, she has changed her appearance and appears less scruffy). In the first act she is polite, reasonable and quite sympathetic towards Adriana: this is because she is still "pure", she has not yet been manipulated by the media. Julianna metaphorically represents the typical western journalist. I think that Walter Martins's suicide is also related to this aspect. There have already been cases of people committing suicide live on social media. Since then, however, things have changed for the worse, because it is as if social media have led us to believe that we are “special”, precisely because we can make all the moments of our lives public. The game is set in Brazil at the beginning of the 1990s: there are no CDs, VHS tapes are still in use, neither mobile phones nor the Internet seem to exist. Everything has to go through the mass media. Why did Walter feel the need to commit suicide on live television? Because now it is the camera that carries him, not the other way around (exactly the same thing that happens to the cameraman in the third act): the mass-media tend to control and manipulate people, pushing them to make their whole life public. The unwitting protagonist of a creepy “Truman Show”. This is very normal, it happens often, but Martins is now plagiarized by the tape and in his mind he imagines that the lightning and the contents of the tape are connected: believing he is living in some kind of nightmare, he commits suicide. One day, lightning strikes the city and one of them hits Walter Martins's television aerial, damaging his television and causing a bad smell (ozone). He has the impression that something is wrong, that something strange has entered his life, but he does not quite understand what. So Martins convinces himself that he has walked into who knows what mystery, into who knows what conspiracy. And since he is not used to confrontation, he does not say anything to his wife either (if he had, the facts would probably have turned out differently). However, the content disturbs Martins, who is perhaps not used to this “kind” of video. It could even simply be the prank of some jokers. It’s like if at a film course, the teacher told to the aspiring filmmakers: “Make a short film that represents a nightmare” and this is the result. The contents of the cassette make no sense, nothing is real: it is an irrational nightmare transmitted on the screen. One day he receives the mysterious tape (T124 video). In his life, therefore, he has very few moments of confrontation with other people. He could have worked in more important TV stations, but to avoid the stress of the relationship and possible quarrels with the editorial staff (and the director) he preferred to work in a smaller channel, where he hosts a show in which he speaks alone in front of the camera. Walter Martins… what we know about him? He is a competent and well-educated journalist, he tried to be an actor in the past, married, no children, he loves very much his dog and he despises young colleagues. I think that the explanation of the events narrated is to be attributed to the suggestion, anxiety and “brainwashing” that the media are able to provoke in us. I don't believe in anything paranormal: aliens, demons, ghosts. The game is a huge metaphor for the power of the mass media, a sinister and destructive power.
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