O show do herói na mídia e a espetacularização do surfe a partir de “A curiosa história de Italo Ferreira”

Abstract

Contemporaneity has been the stage for countless transformations in terms of media relations and communications, as well as the expansion of consumer society. Sports, within this social and cultural context, incorporated the principle of efficiency and meritocracy, creating strong ties with the neoliberal ideology. From this perspective, this study seeks to understand the impact of speeches of heroism present in the media and in advertising in the production of the athletes’ subjectivities. With this goal in mind, the methodology will consist in the case study of the Athlete Italo Ferreira, and will analyze the surfer’s posts on his personal Instagram profile and the documentary “The curious tales of Italo Ferreira”. In this sense, the first question that this study aims to answer is whether the athlete’s persona and desires are being molded by their agents and sponsors. By the end of this research, we hope to have a deeper understanding on whether the discourses produced by the media in this specific case reproduce the logic of consumption and the spectacularization of surfing, potentially contributing to the transformation of the athlete’s body into merchandise. For exploratory research and qualitative study of the documentary and the personal instagram posts will use some of the stages of ‘the Hero’s Journey’, idealized by Joseph Campbell. This research will be based on books by this same author and also on concepts of ways of being in the light of the Consumption added to the reflections of other authors who dialogue with this theme. The documentary can be easily assimilated and reproduces mythical stories representative of societal values and behaviour, re-elaborated with a contemporary guise.