Abstract
This research aims to demonstrate some of the meanings attributed to Physical Education as seen on the Medida Certa segment, aired by Globo Television Network in the Fantastico show, in 2011. This segment showed the work of a Physical Education instructor whose goal was to “reboot” the body of the participants within three months. The adjustments basically consisted in the adhesion to physical activity and in dietary improvements. The audience was also invited to modify their behaviors by following the advice being given to the participants. Discourse analysis will be the theoretical basis for the investigation on the process of meaning production. The analyzed data was collected on the network’s website, which made the segment temporarily available online. After careful observation, dialogues were transcribed and categories were identified, the latter having been analyzed based on a preexisting analytical framework which considers the title, the speaker, the content of the speech, the intermediary and the strategies for publishing the discourse. Aside from shedding light on the meanings currently attributed to Physical Education in television media, the study reflects on some of the principles that conduct the elaboration of bodily practices today. We concluded that the idea behind the Medida Certa segment has contributed to a biologic, risk-based outlook on Physical Education, which derives its value from being the subject’s source of salvation through advice given mainly by the physical education instructor. The show’s approach is also deficient with regards to the social issues which the audience may face.
Professional image; Changing habits; Physical activities; Discourse analysis
Resumo
Esta pesquisa objetiva explicitar alguns dos sentidos relacionados à Educação Física abordada no quadro Medida Certa exibido pelo programa Fantástico da Rede Globo de Televisão no ano de 2011. Nele foi possível observar a proposta de trabalho de um professor de Educação Física, cujo objetivo era “reprogramar” o funcionamento do corpo dos participantes dentro do período de três meses. As mudanças consistiam basicamente na adesão à prática de exercício físico e na melhoria dos hábitos alimentares. Na ocasião o público era convidado a modificar comportamentos acompanhando as dicas disponibilizadas. O referencial teórico que norteia a investigação do processo de produção de sentidos é a Análise do Discurso. A coleta dos dados ocorreu através do acesso ao site da emissora, que disponibiliza, por um determinado tempo, as edições do quadro em foco. Partindo de observação criteriosa houve transcrição de falas e construção de categorias, que foram analisadas a partir de uma grade analítica já existente, considerando o título, quem fala, o que é dito, o intermediário e as estratégias utilizadas para divulgação do discurso. Além de evidenciar significados relativos à Educação Física representada na mídia televisa atualmente, são propiciadas reflexões sobre alguns dos princípios que regem a elaboração de práticas corporais na atualidade. Concluímos que a proposta presente no quadro Medida Certa colaborou para o entendimento de uma Educação Física baseada na perspectiva biológica, que se estabelece frente à imposição de um risco ao sujeito, valorizando-se como fonte de salvação através dos conselhos disponibilizados principalmente pelo professor de educação física. Além disso, trata-se de uma abordagem fragmentada das questões sociais que envolvem a realidade do telespectador.
Imagem profissional; Mudança de hábitos; Exercícios físicos; Análise do discurso
Introduction
By observing Globo Television Network’s newscasts we can notice that Physical Education is a recurring subject in them. Physical activities are portrayed, among other measures, as a means to achieve and maintain good health and quality of life in news pieces concerning these issues. In these settings the Physical Education instructor generally speaks alongside other health professionals aiming to emphasize the need for such activities.
The first edition of the MEDIDA CERTA segment was shown in 2011, in the Fantastico show. It was produced by Globo Network in partnership with the Industrial Social Services. It featured the work of a Physical Education instructor whose goal was to “reboot” the body of the participants in a three months period. The viewers were invited to change their own behavior according to the tips provided in this segment.
BOURDIEU1 and BAUMAN2 note that the media has great influence on shaping the audience’s opinion. In the field of body movement culture, BETTI3 states that the media is able to direct the behavior of a population, transforming the way people think and act, potentially creating new subjectivities and lifestyles. Nevertheless, according to PIRES et al.4, although this is a significant issue, there is a lack of studies dedicated to understanding the way the media approaches the meanings attributed to professional Physical Education.
Thus, if we consider the power that the media exerts over the audience’s opinion, as well as the urgent need for new investigations on this subject, this study aims to shed light on some of the meanings attributed to Physical Education as seen on the Medida Certa/90 days to reboot the body segment.
Method
This is a qualitative research guided by the theoretical framework of Discourse Analysis (DA) as interpreted by ORLANDI5-6. This choice was based on the fact that this method allows us to expose explicit and implicit meanings that coexist within discourse.
Data selection, collection and analysis
Initially, an acknowledgment of data was performed on the full edition of the MEDIDA CERTA/90 DAYS TO REBOOT THE BODY segment, which was aired every Sunday for three months in the year of 2011. Besides being featured in the Fantastico show, it was made available on the network’s website, on the following link: http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/quadros/medida-certa/platb/. Subsequently, upon watching the episodes again, the focus fell on the discourse related to the importance of and need for the implementation of physical activity in daily life. In this stage, things that were said by the Physical Education instructor, Renata Ceribelli and Zeca Camargo - who participated in the challenge by adhering to healthy habits - as well as by non-specialists were transcribed, more specifically when they expressed opinions on the premise of this segment. The data collected in this process served the purpose of building categories which aided the development of some considerations.
It was necessary to establish some criteria for structuring the data so that the outlined goals could be achieved. Hence we used the model developed by SERRA and SANTOS7, which was also applied by PALMA et al.8 in the analysis of media approaches towards body and health issues. Based on this analytical scheme, discussions were structured as follows:
a) Visual identity, related to the title and subtitle of the segment, which can be considered advertisement motivating viewers to watch the episodes and even to follow the segment’s advice. In this stage we focused on the expressions and elements that constituted the visual identity of this endeavor.
It is important to note that, although visual analysis was not the focus of this study, we chose to do it, albeit briefly, because, according to ORLANDI5, non-verbal expression has a significant role in the meaning of discourse. Beyond that, as STRUNCK9 put it “the visual identity is the set of graphic elements that solidify the visual personality of a name, idea, product or service” (p.57). This author states that those components usually present immediate information to the recipient.
Therefore, the semiotic analysis provided us with an aid for understanding how recipients are influenced by the signs in an advertisement message. SANTAELLA10 demonstrates the effectiveness of this mechanism and indicates that, upon coming into contact with the message, the analyst should understand that the psyche of the recipient is captured in different levels, as effects are generated in the realms of emotion, physical action and production of knowledge. Within this field, FARINA11 and SCHMITT and SIMONSON12 respectively discuss the role played by colors and shapes.
b) The speaker, because, depending on who is speaking, there are different levels of trust in the legitimacy of the message in the eyes of the recipient;
c) The message itself, considering the explicit and/or implicit meanings in the discourse related to adherence to physical activity and health;
d) The mediator, as the speaker is under direct influence of requirements made by the network, which in turn caters to the demands of a specific group;
e) Discourse formats, or the strategies used by the media for divulging a scientific discourse that provides background for the adhesion to the proposed changes.
Results and discussion
We begin with the presentation of categories to be analyzed, on TABLE 1. They will be defined and discussed under the light of items that constitute the adopted analytical framework. It is possible to say that they allow for the clarification of meanings attributed to Physical Education in the MEDIDA CERTA/90 DAYS TO REBOOT THE BODY segment.
Imagetic analysis of the segment’s title and subtitle
The visual identity pertaining to the segment is presented in FIGURE 1. It was largely exhibited in the advertisement for the segment.
The writings are surrounded by a set of elements that complement one another, providing clues as to the characteristics of this segment. Initially we can discuss the meanings of the expressions being used. One issue that comes up when exploring the title MEDIDA CERTA (literally Right Measure/Measurement, in English) is the absence of verbs. SERRA e SANTOS7 consider this resource as a way to “fracture the message and make the recipient fill in the blank and create themselves a meaning for the sentence” (p.694). Thus, this is a polysemous message, through which ORLANDI6 says it is possible to make a word have various meanings. This is precisely what happens when we try to find the meaning for both terms. According to FERREIRA13, MEDIDA (measure/measurement) has the following meanings:
-
Quantity defined by a pattern to determine the dimensions or the value of a figure of the same kind. e.g.: the measure of mass is...;
-
Means to an end; disposition, amend, plan, project. e.g: extreme measures were taken;
-
The size of a body or body parts. e.g.: his measurements indicate that...;
-
Reference, value criterion, either for someone’s qualities or for the importance of something. e.g: such action gives us a good measurement of his commitment to health;
-
Dimension or quantity of something that is useful, normal, desirable. e.g.: everything in good measure;
-
Moderation, restraint, judiciousness. e.g.: spending without measure;
-
Something that cannot or must not be crossed; limit, boundary. e.g.: you have crossed all the lines (this meaning cannot be translated into English by using “measure” or “measurement”).
And among FERREIRA’s13 definitions of CERTA (right), we encounter the following:
-
That which doesn’t present flaws, correct, true;
-
Exact, precise;
-
Previously determined;
-
Flawless, secure, infallible;
-
Convinced, persuaded, certain;
-
Well-adjusted, matching.
Therefore, upon reflection on the meanings of MEDIDA CERTA, we can state that it revolves around changing and controlling the body. This becomes even more evident with the subtitle 90 DAYS TO REBOOT THE BODY. Here the message complements the title and becomes more assertive, indicating a precise deadline for those changes to occur. Based on this sentence we established the first category to be explored: Technological Body.
It was built upon the notion of “rebooting the body”, which presents the simplistic idea of controlling the body as if it were a machine. For LE BRETON14, the occurrence of this type of phenomenon derives from the fragmentation of the self. This is a symbolic practice generated by certain scientific methods that void the subject of their culture, discrediting its importance in the understanding of the body as a whole. According to BAUMAN2, when media dislocates people from their customs, they become vulnerable to manipulation that mainly serve capitalist interests.
For that reason, the possibility of rebuilding the body fits this scenario; namely, MEDIDA CERTA can indicate the proper limit according to which the physical body has to be remodeled, including the weight, the waist-to-hip ratio, cholesterol and glucose levels and fat percentage, among others. The means for this achievement are widely available on the market. Among them are services provided in specific places, such as gyms; products such as clothes, sports equipments and special food, among others, are also a part of this.
Under a different light, MEDIDA CERTA can be seen as a righteous moral standard. SOARES15 sheds light on the guiding principles of contemporary pedagogy, that constantly attribute positivity to the concern with obtaining perfect health, an attitude that makes the author wary of the normative and totalitarian control that it entails. PALMA and VILAÇA16 state that there is, in fact, a similar approach in the scientific discourse that establishes a cause-effect relationship between physical activity and health.
To clarify other meanings, the analysis will be extended to other elements that comprise the segment’s visual identity. Accordingly, it is possible to observe that MEDIDA CERTA is written in capital letters, vibrantly colored in red and white. As for the shape, the title is displayed on top of a curved, elongated rectangle. Although the subtitle, which carries a more specific message, is also written in capital letters, it is more subdued with regards to color, shape and size.
On the use of the color red, FARINA11 lists various coexisting meanings in our culture, including the following: danger, life, blood and combat, which come from material associations; dynamism, power, energy, movement, vigor, heat, which come from affective associations. Regarding the use of the color white, the aforementioned author indicates that affective associations include order, cleanliness, good, youth, optimism, peace, purity, dignity, awakening, harmony, stability and divinity.
Hence, it is possible to conclude that the use of these colors has the purpose of alerting individuals and inviting them to change. When associated to the message, they are able to make people concerned about health risks. As a reward, people can earn a sense of control over the prolongation of youth and life.
We can also notice, in respect to the shapes, that this is a symmetrical image, constituted mainly by angles. For SCHMITT and SIMONSON12, symmetry is associated to the sensation of balance, order and loosening of tension. There are also, in smaller quantity, spherical figures, which, according to the authors, denote harmony.
In one of the rectangles there is a measuring tape with the inscription MEDIDA CERTA. Renata and Zeca are portrayed in the middle of the image, surrounded by a light-blue aura. This aura condenses in the form of circles around the waist of the participants and also under their feet. SCHMITT and SIMONSON12 state that this is a common phenomenon, observing that “aside from imitating the outline of some objects, shapes are constituted by key dimensions that stimulate some specific associations” (p.105).
The tape measure evokes the rigor of the act of measuring. However, this rigor is lessened by the curved edges of the rectangle. According to SCHMITT and SIMONSON12 curves convey softness, which is a feminine trait. On the other hand, if we rotate the image 180 degrees and observe the narrow middle, we can see a female figure subjected to the effect of waist-cinching garment, which makes measures smaller.
Regarding the celestial luminosity, it may denote faith and hope. It is as if the participants were surrendering to a process of salvation and purification. Nevertheless, this subject will be later delved into, under the item “message”, which encompasses a specific category for this analysis.
As we can see, the mixture of elements produces a landscape with no fun or freedom of choice. This atmosphere can be verified when we take into consideration the blue background. According to FARINA11, this is a color that suggest intellectuality, caution, devotion, awakening, beauty, relaxation but that also transmits melancholy.
The speakers
In this stage we will focus on the subjects who vocally supported the adhesion to healthy habits. Discourse produced in MEDIDA CERTA were, as a whole, based on speeches of various specialists. Among them are the Fantastico show hosts, a Physical Education instructor, physicians and dietitians. Based on this setup, we created the Scientific Advice category. This title is due to the advice given by professionals to the participants and to the viewers, simultaneously.
The following dialogue properly illustrates the dynamic that supported the creation of this category:
Zeca: - There comes a time in a man’s life when he has to look in the mirror and say: I’m fat, I’m a mess, maybe there’s no way back. That is why we chose Marcio Atalla to tell us that this is not true, there is a way.
Márcio: - I’m a Physical Education instructor and, for more than 10 years, I’ve been working with people, basically incorporating regular physical activities and improving some habits, their lifestyle.
[...]
Renata is in a supermarket asking for the opinion of the dietitian, who was advising her:
- Let’s begin by choosing the rice. Which one to pick?
Thus, aiming to understand the role each of the listed professionals may be assigned by the viewers, it is important to define the part they play. Such definition allows us to assess the proximity between the dynamics in their discourse and relate them to BAUMAN’s2 concept of “counselors”.
From the author’s point of view, nowadays the behavior of people is easily led by normalized discourses that teach the best way to live. Such advice is based on science and concentrates on solving typically individual problems. A feature that is always present in these recommendations concerns taking care of the body and being healthy.
Therefore, leaders who were once dedicated to collective issues lose their meaning and make way to leaders who tackle individual issues. As an example of an individualistic leader, BAUMAN2 mentions Jane Fonda’s fitness class videos. She represents the example to be followed, while the notion that the woman is the sole responsible for her body’s aesthetics is being conveyed. This strategy disregards social problems that may also be the cause of flaws or excesses. In this pattern of leadership, the example does not have social aspirations, but instant notoriety ones.
Hence, starting from the first episode of the segment and following the order of exhibitions, we begin by observing the role played by hosts - who are also journalists - Patrícia Poeta, Renata Ceribelli and Zeca Camargo. As they are professionals committed to information, we shed light on some of their duties in order to understand the relevance of their discourse in the eyes of the viewers.
According to MARCONDES17, the job of the journalist is to prepare information based on transparency, on political criticism and on the ideal of progressive betterment of our species. CHAGAS18 states that such a specialist should have authentic views in dealing with information content, which should be elaborated based on social anthropology principles in order to explore an object from different standpoints to see its various dimensions.
Nonetheless, HERNANDES19 calls attention to the naivete in the perpetual trust in the objectivity of journalistic pieces and points out that their truths are built around a specific discourse. The author further states that there is no such thing as a piece which is free from any ideology, which matches ORLANDI’s5 conception of the prevalence of ideology stances on the part of speakers.
As to the Physical Education instructor, we have Marcio Atalla representing his profession. Information on his professional history was gathered through the following homepage: http://www.marcioatalla.com.br/index.php?modulo=marcioatalla. We can briefly summarize his career as follows:
a) Bachelor Degree in Physical Education by the University of São Paulo (USP); b) specialized in training high performance athletes and in nutrition focused on physical activity and chronic illnesses, also by USP; c) accumulated experience in many projects of physical preparation; d) accumulated experience in elaborating and applying projects focused in behavioral changes for life quality enhancement, which gave him visibility in different media outlets, such as magazines, radio stations, television network; this led him to become the main attraction of the MEDIDA CERTA segment.
The introduction of the code of ethics written by the Federal Council of Physical Education (CONFEF)20 states that “Physical Education stands, according to recent scientific researches, as an indispensable activity in the path to health preservation and good quality of life”. Among the wide range of responsibilities attributed to the Physical Education professional is, for example, the point established in chapter III, art. 6, paragraph I, about the commitment to “promoting Physical Education in a way that it becomes an effective means to the achievement of an active lifestyle to those who pursue it, through competent education, endorsing health and the healthy use of leisure time”.
Taking the last paragraph into consideration, we notice that Marcio Atalla’s education and practice are in line with the established ethical aspects. However, although the benefits brought by regular physical activity are extensively acknowledged today, it is important to inspect the way this knowledge is conveyed to the population. In television, for example, it is common to see the incorporation of certain discourses without any critical reflection on the meanings that permeate practices recommended to viewers.
SOARES15 considers normalizing pedagogic attitudes that control desires and actions by means of collective approaches to be totalitarian. This type of coaching can be observed in campaigns stemming from public policies which promote regular physical activity. Within a paradigm oriented by knowledge from medical and sport sources, people are pushed to pursue a constant state of well-being as if it were possible to maintain this state at all times.
Regarding the transformation generated by scientific and technological advancement, the author finds the level of life management sophistication achieved by modern society to be astonishing. Thus, going back to the analysis of subjects who, in synchrony, preached a change of habits in the MEDIDA CERTA segment, we notice great appreciation for the systematization of daily behavior, as, aside from advice given by the Physical Education instructor, there was also the advice given by physicians and dietitians.
One of the essential principles for medical practice set by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM)21 in its code of ethics (chapter I, paragraph II) is that the focus of the physician should be human health, which they shall address with the utmost zeal and at the top of their professional abilities”.
Simultaneously, the Federal Council of Nutrition (CFN)22, in its own code of ethics, states (art. 1) that one of their fundamental guidelines is that “the dietitian is a health professional who, abiding by the rules of the science of Nutrition, works to assist individual and collective health”.
Therefore, taking the context of the segment into consideration, we notice that the discourse of specialists involved in MEDIDA CERTA were guided by science and aided by the singularities of each of their professional fields; ORLANDI6 deems the scientific discourse to be authoritarian, for, aside from being unilateral, it provides scarce chances of reversibility and almost no polysemy. From this point of view, the specialists play the role of announcers, filling a position to which they are supposedly entitled to, while the participants and the viewers accept playing the part of listeners, which is their right and duty.
Along with the aforementioned professionals, non-specialists also spoke at times, albeit less prominently. This participation can be understood through the prism posited by BAUMAN2, as follows:
Non-celebrities, “everyday” men and women, “like you and me”, who appear on screen, for a fleeting moment [...] are as bleak and unhappy as the viewers and suffer with the same struggles, desperately searching for an honorable way and a promising path to a happy life.
The message
This section encompasses most categories to be discussed. Firstly we address the category Body/Risk, whose elaboration was based on the observation of the first medical and nutritional procedures, as well as on what was said by the Physical Education instructor. As the participants were being examined, the specialists would detect risk factors that jeopardized their health. Simultaneously, they would be warned about the need for a change in lifestyle. The following statement was made by the Physical Education instructor upon seeing the results from the medical appointments:
Márcio: - He painted a picture. The role of the physician is to warn you. While I may say something is a risk factor doesn’t actually mean something will indeed happen. You’re not currently ill. You see? I, myself, am a healthy person who is subjected to some risk factors.
This message carries some meanings that emerge from the contemporary conception of health. According to BAUMAN2 this formulation is not precise and links the risk of illnesses directly to the idea of health. The author states that something that would have been considered normal in the past is, nowadays, worrisome and needs to be constantly watched and worked on, even if there have been no illnesses diagnosed.
In order to demonstrate the detected risks, we devised a table with the points of evaluation to which Zeca Camargo was submitted. In comparison to Renata Ceribelli, he was put at a higher risk level according to the same procedures. (TABLE 2).
From this table we can see a considerable decrease in risk factors. This is made clear in the results obtained three months into the program, when the only remaining items of risk are age and family history, which cannot be changed by means of changing habits. BAUMAN2 explains that, nowadays, there is a prevalence of the mathematical approach towards health issues, which allows for the diagnosis of the future and of potential illnesses.
In the opinion of the author, this way of dealing with health has an influence on the sentiment of the population, which begins to gradually demand actions in line with this premise. We can also notice a great amount of exams were performed. If Fantastico viewers were to follow the advice being given, a great portion of them would not be able to afford this protocol. This happens due to the fact that the producers did not consider the reality of a great part of viewers, who rely on the deficient public health system offered in Brazil.
Another important element to this analysis is the idea that “what was good has become better” found in the stress test results. This was more evident in Renata Ceribelli’s results, since they were all good from the star. This phenomenon allows us to present the Exercise Evolution category. The following dialogues are related to this idea:
Cardiologist: - Renata, from the point of view of health, you have become even better. [...] What was once good is now better.
[...]
Márcio to Zeca: - What do you think you have improved the most in this last month?
Zeca: - Above all, I’m less lazy when it comes to running. My hunger hasn’t diminished, I’m still having to control myself.
To grasp the meaning that emerges from this scenario, we need to consider the concept of aptitude as defined by BAUMAN2 as follows:
[...] “to be apt” means to have a flexible, absorbent and adjustable body, which is ready to experience new, impossible to be described beforehand, sensations. If health is a “no more, no less” condition, aptitude always falls on the “more” side: it does not refer to a particular standard of physical ability, but to its (preferably limitless) potential for expansion (p.91).
To view health the same way as we perceive aptitude may be damaging, as it is impossible to thoroughly reach all of the goals. This generates anxiety in the people who take extreme measures to achieve this ideal health. Satisfaction is momentary and needs maintenance, since health will never be perfect, regardless of how fervently the subject desires so2.
This is the background in which we find physical activity as a crucial means of health preservation and, therefore, the discourse of the Physical Education instructor is put forth as the absolute truth in the MEDIDA CERTA segment. Such realization prompted the conception of the Exercise/Dogma category. The following statements were captured in different moments and clarify the situations that inspired the creation of this category.
Márcio: You’re going to exercise, that’s a fact.
[...]
Márcio: - So, a ten-day vacation. You’ll wear this device on your waist and it will count how many steps you take in a day.
Zeca: - You heard me right: vacations, which I had planned to spend in Paris long before MEDIDA CERTA became a part of my life. But what would be a sacrifice - to control my eating in a city with one of the best cuisines in the world - I chose to turn into a challenge. That is, a double challenge.
[...]
Zeca: - My conditioning may have changed, but what the heart desires... - If I could, I would eat everything on this table, I swear. Look at this bacon, it’s calling to me, this cheese...
Márcio: - Fat in your veins.
Zeca: - It’s all a matter of managing your thought process[...].
Here we notice that the notion of duty is unquestionable. Thus, the specialists, who in this study are also being treated as counselors as defined by BAUMAN2, present information and suggestions as if they were absolute truths. This configures the imposition of a lifestyle which differs from the participants’ cultural and social backgrounds, and the approach also does not take social diversity into account2, 15.
Another aspect which is absent from MEDIDA CERTA’s proposal is playfulness, which is erased from the discourse regarding activity planning. For SOARES15, fun is gradually disappearing from physical education practices. ORLANDI5 says that in the discursive formation there are potential questions that need to be silenced for being undesirable in certain situations. Besides, in MEDIDA CERTA we can also notice the idea of sacrifice, as it is possible to observe in Zeca’s speech about his own physical fitness.
Playfulness could be used as a key to successful adhesion to the program by the participants and by viewers. However, from the point of view of the range of the show it becomes a hindrance, as they cannot reach every viewer’s individual motivations. By incorporating playfulness into the program, the segment would lead viewers to reflect on their own leisure conditions, as well as on suggested practices, which does not seem to be MEDIDA CERTA’s ultimate goal.
According to LUCKESI23, playfulness refers to an internal state of the self, in which they are completely enveloped in a situation. For the author, this is a relative concept, because an activity may carry traits which are compatible with playfulness as understood by a certain culture, but subjects will experience it differently. On the other hand, FERREIRA et al.24 note that, although playfulness may emerge in various ages, it loses its value in adult life. One of the main causes for this, as appointed by the authors, is the need to be a productive piece of the consumerist engine.
Another category that helps the understanding of work productivity is the one entitled Choice/Autonomy, which was inspired by actions that stimulated participants into managing their new schedules autonomously. They were given fitness kits so they would be able to exercise at home, in case they weren’t able to go to a more appropriate place. Their daily work also shouldn’t be affected by the lifestyle changes, as illustrated in the statements below:
Marcio: - Climbing three flights of stairs equals to 10 minutes walking. If you do that - stair-climbing for about 5 or 10 minutes - you have done your share of physical activity.
[...]
Renata: - Ok, so this new lifestyle where I spend a long time away from home is not an excuse to leave physical activity behind. This is not only true for me, but for you who are watching us too, ok?
[...]
Renata: - [...] Prostration is trying to get me. Not having the time to work out is annoying, but today I’m really out of time. But in the remaining 6 days of the week I will make time.
Upon reflection on the idea that adherence to the advised changes depends solely on the individual’s choices and actions, we sought support for such a reductionist idea in GLOBO ORGANIZATION’s25 editorial guidelines. The document states that viewers are potentially able to make decisions, as, regardless of cultural, social class and education level, they can discern and pick good quality objects.
Nonetheless, this is a controversial statement. BAUMAN2 explains that, although the viewer does trust in their own ability to choose what’s best for themselves, subjects are seduced by lifestyles which are out of their reach. This leads them to the identification of their own problems and to choosing a model that fits their needs. The author further states that options are plentiful and that in the consumer society everything is about choice, except the compulsion for choosing.
Related to the dissemination of the dogmatic view towards physical exercise and change of habits as depending solely on personal choice and autonomous courses of action, is the category namedia Conscience/Guilt. This category emerged from the observation of events which rose from participants realizing they were straying from their goal. Acquired conscience through the acknowledgment of “truth”, that is, the ideal behavior, and the realization of the difficulty of following this ideal created discomfort in the participants. The following speech fragments were taken from two different editions of the segment and shed light on the meaning of this category:
Marcio: As I use to joke: those who want to do it, do it indeed and those who don’t, make up excuses.
[...]
Zeca: - My motto now is quality of life in the right measure, we have 90 days to reboot our bodies. Well, but if this change of habits is really necessary, we must be doing something wrong, right, Renata?
[...]
Renata: - I’m tired. I got home and did something that I will not tell anybody, but I can’t hide it from the viewers or I’m being dishonest with the program: I ate three bonbons. Yes, I hid away to eat three bonbons. I don’t know who I was hiding from, though, because there’s no one home.
To recognize that one’s own attitudes are inappropriate or insufficient, the discomfort caused by not being able to perform an obligatory task and the concern with having disrespected a rule inducee anxiety and guilt. If we take Renata Ceribelli’s description of her work schedule into consideration, it becomes clear she had no time for physical activities. However, there’s never any discussion about the structure of the program and how viable the suggested practices actually are.
SOARES15 states, on the pedagogic approaches that normalize body maintenance, that the feeling of guilt arises when the individual disrespects the norms established by the “medical-sportive” paradigm. This also generates fear, as if physical activity protected the body from any illness and guarded life itself.
According to FERREIRA26, awareness-raising strategies for the importance and necessity of healthy habits, albeit traditional, are not powerful enough to convince people. To this author, such campaigns favor the concealment of governmental responsibilities, mainly regarding the promotion of public health policies.
Considering the guilt process, we notice that physical activities are presented as a possibility of purification and redemption for his flaws. Therefore, as mentioned above, in the visual analysis of the segment’s title and subtitle, we have the Exercise/Salvation category. It was devised based on evidence of an expectation for the purification of the body through exercise. The clues in their visual identity are confirmed in the following excerpts:
Renata: - This right here was inside of me? (about an object that represented the amount of lost fat).
Márcio: - It was. And you eliminated it through exercise.
LE BRETON14 affirms that contemporary sciences which focus on understanding the body are usually seen as salvation providers. This happens because they preserve a religious mindset, in which the researcher equals the creator, so, “salvation is achieved through changing the body” (p.26). BAUMAN2 states that the need for an immediate reward is a feature of modern society. Thus, health maintenance and life prolongation are a part of the expected salvation.
For SOARES15
[...] The individual does not only control the deep cleanse of their flesh, their body, their hair, but also controls and cleanses their surroundings, not allowing the “other” to contaminate their environment with smoke, not allowing the “other” to invade their vital space with fat bodies, full of excess, the very face of vices. They patrol themselves, the “other” and life itself [...] (p.65).
The mediator
The television is a communication outlet that reaches many people and has little autonomy due to its submission to viewer ratings and to the commercial logic1. In this study, discourse is conveyed by Globo Television Network, through the Fantastico show. Although television strategies are powerful in general, Globo stand out for being very influential in Brazil. Their viewer ratings are among the highest and they own many affiliated networks throughout the country.
Fantastico is exhibited every Sunday and encompasses many subjects such as: journalism, public service, drama, documentaries, music, investigative pieces, denunciation and science. It’s also dubbed the “show of life”, as it approaches extraordinary events. BOURDIEU1 defines the extraordinary as something that goes beyond daily life and can refer to people’s lives or news stories. Nevertheless, this is a relative concept, as, depending on who is watching, the same phenomenon can both be surprising or not. In this sense, the author fears that the low level of criticism that permeates television journalism interferes with cultural production, thus causing a symbolic oppression on the spectator.
Taking into account the complexity of contemporary media, RUBIM27 considers its power to go beyond visible content in the messages being displayed. This gives the media the ability of conditioning a settled society, exerting influence over its socialization means, once it is capable of “[...] deeply altering the way of being, sensing and understanding th world.” (p.148). This scenario closes the gap between reality and fiction.
Instead of working for the disenchantment of myths in which people believe, contemporary media works to reinforce them, mainly when it comes to science26. This phenomenon can be easily verified within the MEDIDA CERTA segment, for, even when being put forth as a proposition, scientific discourse monopolizes reason, presenting itself as an absolute truth.
ORLANDI5 believes that contemporary media interferes with the interpretation process due to its ability to manage information through mechanisms that are peculiar to its nature. Thus, the relationship with the external output is affected, transforming the notion of authorship and impacting the way with which the reader understand a given discourse. Despite this attempt, it is not possible to control the traffic of meanings, since discourse is constituted by failure, flaws and ambiguity, which leaves an open space for interpretation.
Discourse formats
Fantastico producers used the idea of making hosts Renata Ceribelli and Zeca Camargo not only journalists, but participants of the challenge, as a strategy to encourage viewers to participate, too. The hosts would experience and validate the information being presented, acting as a kind of laboratory at the audience’s service. Private aspects of their lives were shown. Sleep, diet and physical activity habits were deemed inadequate and/or insufficient.
The exposure of personal life events has become quite common nowadays. Something that once was not part of the media’s repertoire is gaining space, and the public sphere is beginning to encompass the private one. Thus, seeing a reenactment of daily life events is now the audience’s right and demand. This is evidence that media transforms public interest at its core, operating an evaluative redefinition of people’s interests. Society as a whole takes this lightly and indeed transforms itself, incorporating the concern with individual well-being. Simultaneously, the quest for the common good is erased2.
Therefore the segment’s dynamics was aimed at directing the collective behavior, in a way that the participation of viewers was stimulated through the on-screen role models. This intention motivated the creation of the Boundless Example category, elucidated by the following statements:
Renata: In fact, we’re not going to stop being reporters, ok? We are going to constantly provide you with tips, and everything we do can be done by people at home in order to achieve a better quality of life. This is precisely the idea, right, Zeca?
Patrícia: To set an example?
Zeca: To set an example. I think the doubts, experiences and obstacles we’re about to encounter are the same as most people do when they face a challenge such as this.
Based on the synoptic concept as defined by BAUMAN2 we can understand the workings of the excerpt provided as an example above. This is a very prevalent global tactic. In it, what was once coercion is now fascination, as “spectacles take over the place of supervision without losing the disciplinarian power [...]” (p.101). Thus, decision-making is subtly guided and, in most cases, individuals are not aware of it.
Additionally, with the goal of reaching a large public, the journalists disregard the cultural peculiarities of each social group as well as personal interests. According to HERNANDES19, this attitude is ubiquituous in the media. BAUMAN2 states that the success of such an approach is supported by the contemporary subject’s individual need for recipes for living. Thus, the absolute necessity for role models is caused by the unfulfilled satisfaction.
Another technique used to stimulate the adhesion by the viewers were the MEDIDA CERTA Walks. This endeavor was a result of a partnership with SESI (Industrial Social Services) and gathered thousands of people in 11 Brazilian capital cities. The event included the distribution of practical guides elaborated by Márcio Atalla, where people could find tips that allowed for the achievement of results. This is an example of advice provided by a counselor, as BAUMAN2 described them. In this strategy the example is set by prompting individuals to take responsibility, seductively encouraging them to try it. However, this format has an expiration date, which comes when the individual takes the leap, which in this case means to follow the advice, and fails, since, mostly, the obtained results don’t match the promised ones.
As for the political bias in contemporary advice, BAUMAN2 indicates the reduction of Politics into “life policies” and explains that, in general, the advice “is related to what people being advised can do for themselves on their own - not to what they can achieve as a group for each of them through conjoined efforts” (p.77).
Although the subject hasn’t been explored to exhaustion, the analysis of this phenomenon gave us a wide overview of its whole, which helped deconstruct some truths conveyed to the audience.
Altogether, we understand that the meanings attributed to bodily practices under the guidance of the Physical Education instructor, paired with other health professionals, were oriented by scientific postulates. They played the role of counselors through behavioral models presented to the participants and to the viewers.
Hence, the proposal made by the Medida Certa segment was guided by a fragmented view of the human being, considering that, aside from approaching the body as a machine - and “reboot” it -, it did not consider the social or the cultural diversity of bodies. The need to adhere to new habits was presented as a dogma, which explains the fact that the particular motivations of each participant were disregarded.
The imposition of the idea of imminent risk was evident and fundamental in convincing the participants and the viewers of the importance and need to comply with the new habits being suggested. This masked the consumption of goods and services as well as the governmental responsibility for creating effective public health promotion policies.
Permeated by the imposition of risk, the segment also used guilt inducing processes, maintaining the idea that physical activity can solve any illness or harm done to the body, helping the individual to achieve and maintain health, which in this perspective is fragile and needs constant care in order to function.
Considering the importance of the media in the standardization of discourses, it would be interesting to see other studies reflecting on these mechanisms, specifically the ones related to the field of Physical Education.
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Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Apr-Jun 2016
History
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Received
17 Dec 2013 -
Reviewed
10 Aug 2014 -
Accepted
17 Mar 2015
