On April 10th at 8 p.m., I zoomed into the OIA’s international film series group to watch the Brazilian Film, “Don’t Call Me Son” as my Campus event with several professors and other students, everyone calling in from various locations. The series required everyone to begin the movie around the same time, join a GroupMe to message others if there were questions/comments during the movie, and then join in for a zoom discussion after the movie. The movie is about a middle-class teenager named Pierre who lives in Sao Paulo and is constantly exploring his gender identity and sexual orientation. He was living a carefree life with his mother and sister when a detective finds him and reveals to him that his “mother” had stolen him at birth and that he had to get a DNA test. After his test results confirmed that his adoptive mother stole him and his sister, he was forced to go by the name Felipe and move in with his upperclass birth family who were much less receptive to his gender fluidity. The film is dominated by his birth family expecting their missing son to be a person who he is not. His gender identity exploration frustrates his birth father especially and leads to several different conflicts, with his brother ultimately being the only one who understands him.
This film really encapsulates the struggle involved with not being the person that everyone expects you to be and provides insight as to how difficult it can be as an LGBTQ+ member in an unaccepting family. This film relates to international affairs because it demonstrates the large gap in socioeconomic classes in Sao Paulo by emphasizing the dichotomy between his humble lifestyle with his “adoptive” family and the luxurious lifestyle of his birth family.