In Glaber Rocha’s 1962 film Barravento, I was struck by the narrative’s conflicting ideals: the tensions between urban/rural, religious salvation/revolutionary salvation, and tradition/education. Firmino was fascinating to me as a character who simultaneously utilizes and rejects the customs of the oppressed class he was born into. He absolutely could have been written as a savior of sorts, an enlightened member of his community sent to save his people. But Rocha makes clear the contradictions of this kind of trope, setting apart Firmino from the community he is attempting to educate by literally having him wear the clothing of the oppressor. Although his intentions are meant to be helpful, his actions bastardized their way of life, using a spell to rid them of their veneration of Aruã and slicing the net. The film left us with an ambiguous ending without a clear answer. It would have been simple for Rocha to have insisted on either side, but in keeping the nuances of the story, he abides by the balance between didactic and epic he wrote of in “The Revolution is Aesthetics”. I enjoyed our class discussion on the role of women in this film. It was interesting to me how women held the religious power in this community, yet still were not quite viewed as people. It seemed that women were relegated to two boxes: the respected yet impersonal, stock, group of older women, and the individual yet sexualized attractive women.