Damn consumer society

In my last post, I wrote about Cazucá and what my experience there was like, in broad strokes. In this post, I’m going to write about a specific incident that has left me wondering ever since that day.

It happened on the second-to-last day of my stay there. Representatives from a TV station whose name I’d rather not mention—but who can be seen in the photo attached to this post (some of you will probably recognize them easily)—went to shoot some footage for the newscast that would air two weeks later, on December 24. I heard the technical term for what they intended to do: a “fake live broadcast.” It involves pre-recording footage that simulates a different day and location than where they’ll actually be on the day of the broadcast. What they went to do was film scenes pretending it was December 24 and that, at that very moment, they were visiting children in Cazucá to give them gifts.

As I mentioned earlier, Christmas was still two weeks away, and I was with my fellow missionaries at a chapel in one of Cazucá’s neighborhoods—whose names I’ll also keep to myself—around 7 a.m. At that time, several families had already gathered around the chapel—and not exactly for Mass. Everyone already knew in advance that they were going to give toys to the children that day—or so they were told.

All the residents of Cazucá present there knew that their children were going to receive gifts, that people from a TV station were coming to film, and that they were going to appear on television. What they hadn’t been told beforehand was the purpose of it all, when the footage would air on the news, or how long the filming would take.

Around 9 a.m., the technical crew and the news anchors arrived. They spent about an hour sorting out the technical details of the sound and the cameras; once everything was ready to film, they let in the children who were going to receive a gift from them—and that was clearly the reason they were there. The children didn’t really care about being on TV.

Once the children had entered, one of the technical crew members, for reasons I don’t know, started talking to me, and we struck up a brief conversation during which he told me the following: “We’re doing this because it reduces our taxes—both for us and for the toy store that’s donating the gifts.” I don’t know why he just blurted that out to me like that—perhaps knowing that I was representing a university was enough for him to confide in me, and he assumed I’d understand his intention and find the purpose noble and fair. In reality, it shocked me tremendously.

What do you mean the intention is solely to get their taxes reduced? What about the children’s excitement at receiving the gifts? Indeed, it was all part of a production they intended to air on television on an important date—a date of “love” and “consideration for our underprivileged children.” Everything they filmed was just a facade. The details shown in the photo I’m uploading with this post reflect my perspective on what was happening: The people standing right in front of the camera—both children and adults—were flashing the biggest smiles imaginable. After all, it’s a day to be happy; in the background, the children and some caregivers (accompanying the youngest ones) were completely oblivious to what was going on. The only thing that mattered was what was happening in front of the camera lens.

The way it worked was that the hosts called out the names written on the gift boxes, and the children whose names were on them already knew in advance that they would be called in that order. The hosts chose the cutest, sweetest, and most innocent-looking children to appear on television. While that was happening, a trio played Christmas carols live. We helped out by passing the gifts around.

There was one scene that, if anyone had seen what I saw, would have been just as outraged as I was: They called a little girl up to receive her gift. She walked out just as she’d been instructed and made her way to the host to receive it, when suddenly the director called out, “CUT! Not like that. You have to smile more and be more effusive.” The girl stopped dead in her tracks. She froze as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her, with a look on her face that said, “Hmm, okay.” She went from being a very happy little girl holding her gift to being completely disoriented, not knowing what to do. It’s because of this specific scene that I say, “Damn consumer society!”

I don’t understand how they can’t be considerate of children’s feelings at that very moment. Everything that made it onto camera was acted out and a lie. The kisses, the hugs, the smiles, the sweet words. All fake.

I remember seeing the face of a girl who was completely excited as she unwrapped her gift—until she realized it was a pair of roller skates. She looked at them for a few brief moments with a disappointed expression and then set them aside, completely uninterested. Cazucá is all hills and unpaved roads—where is she going to use such a useless gift? Her reaction was completely understandable.

The filming lasted a total of six hours. By the fourth take, the kids were already hungry and wanted to leave. Even I felt that way after the second hour. They had to cover the windows and darken the room considerably because they were also filming the pre-recorded segment for the evening broadcast, and that was one of the reasons the shoot took so long. Another reason was that they gave everyone a snack—which was the least they could do for them. Even the hosts were bored—so much so that at one point they pulled out their cell phones and got absorbed in chatting. They didn’t put their phones down until filming resumed, while the kids played all around them without the hosts interacting with them even the slightest bit. In any case, they were there doing that so they could get a tax break. On the other side of the chapel’s gates were all the parents and a few gossipmongers watching as they filmed. Even they were tired of standing there waiting for their children.

It’s ironic that there’s a group of people filming in Cazucá yet they don’t show anything that’s truly important; all last week and throughout the past month, there were several deaths. On many street corners, drug dealers are selling their wares as if nothing were wrong. Young girls are prostituting themselves. Just the day before, I’d visited a few homes and heard terrible things that I’d rather not write about. But none of that makes it onto TV.

Thanks to this little experience I’ve just described, I’ve been able to see firsthand how the media manipulates reality as it pleases. I can now say that I’m aware of the kind of trash that airs on television, but what about the children who were filmed? Will all those who were filmed striking their most benevolent poses because it was an “important date” know that they appeared on television so that channel could get a tax break?