By MARIO COUTINHO*
Rational discourse has not worked well in politics, hence the success of Marçal's madness
I've been obsessed with Pablo Marçal for two months now. I've watched all his interviews, seen all the videos he posted on his Instagram until the platform was taken down, listened to all his analysis podcasts; I just haven't dared to read his 62 books – my hyperfocus has limits.
My friends insist on saying that he is just Bolsonaro 2.0, and I insist on saying that he is not. I say that Pablo Marçal is something new, a rising phenomenon, and we, who still do not know how to deal with Jair Bolsonaro very well, have to face this kaleidoscopic enigma.
If on one side the playbook It's the same as Silvio Berlusconi and Donald Trump, all that nonsense about prosperity theology, cheap populism and the simplification of slogans, on the other hand, his actions are much more complex than they seem. Unlike Donald Trump, who started with a measly million dollars borrowed from his father, Pablo Marçal really came from a lower middle class family, with a father who was a civil servant and a mother who was a cleaner, and he presents his work card as irrefutable proof of his work and dignity (especially when accused of being part of a gang that robbed retirees).
Yes, he has grown up in life, but he does not forget his humble origins. In the program Live Wheel da TV Culture sang two songs by Racionais MCs. Changing his mindset, became a successful businessman, speaker, Ultraman athlete (he even posted a drawing on his Instagram in which he was Superman), in his personal life he is a Jesus and a family man. The change of mindset not only makes him economically successful, it makes him successful in everything in life.
If he were a singer, he would be greater than Frank Sinatra; if he were an actor, he would be greater than Marcelo Mastroianni; as a writer he has already surpassed Machado de Assis. He is the perfect outsider because it is the perfect insider. He is you. And you can be like him too, you just have to change your mindset. He is willing to do all this for free; in fact, he will even lose money, but he felt in his heart that he needed to bless us.
João Dória needed to dress up as a street cleaner, a brown guy, a bricklayer; Pablo Marçal didn't: he was and is all of these things. First, reader, I was sure that it was a marketing strategy; then I was convinced that he really believed all of this, I was overcome by doubt and decided to do a little experiment: I rewatched the interview on Live Wheel with an open mind, visualizing São Paulo in the hands of Pablo Marçal.
I was filled with hope and peace at the sight of the world's tallest skyscraper in the south zone, with cable cars bringing millions of workers who don't live in São Paulo, while their cars parked in the parking lots make the city's air cleaner, the sky is no longer gray, this is the Dubai of the tropics. He would be a technical mayor, this hydrophobic Pablo is just a strategy, after all he is alone, against the system and everything that is there.
The image of clean, well-kept parks particularly moved me. I saw families walking their dogs while children ran around and hugged tigers, just like in the Jehovah's Witness pamphlets.
When I exhaled, I felt a wave of shame – I felt sympathy for Vera Magalhães, who seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown – I, who pride myself on being skeptical and rational, was overcome by a mystical vision that finally made me understand Pablo Marçal’s true appeal. It’s not because he was born in the suburbs, middle class, and is now a billionaire. It’s not because he likes rap and is a believer. It’s not because he’s multifaceted and has the political talent to connect with all electorates: it’s because he’s crazy.
The argument is that rationality has not worked very well, so let's bet on irrationality, let's embark together on this great adventure. And it might even work, I pray on my knees that it will work, because a chimpanzee with an AK-47 terrifies me.
*Mario Coutinho is a master's student in archeology at MAE-USP.
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