Thiago Fragoso is wrong: straight whites are still the majority in soap operas

In an interview with ‘Folha de S. Paulo’, actor Thiago Fragoso said he felt disadvantaged in casting for television productions.

“In every soap opera or series, I have the opportunity to play a character. Either me, or Jonas Bloch, or Herson Capri, or Larissa Manoela’s boyfriend, who is also blond with blue eyes. One has arrived, there can’t be any more straight white men,” he said. “We are witnessing this question of whether the status quo is changing. I have a chance for every soap opera.

The statement sparked outrage on social media. It was interpreted as a criticism of the increased ethnic diversity seen in television dramas, particularly with the rise of black actors — previously reduced to supporting roles such as servants, bandits and slaves.

But you only have to look at the protagonists of the Globo soap operas to realize that straight white men are still the majority. In the plot of 18 the protagonists are three: Alexandre Nero (Tico), Túlio Starling (Artù) and Eduardo Moscovis (Ariosto).

At 7pm, ‘Família é Tudo’ will have Renato Góes (Tom), Jayme Monjardim (Luca) and Thiago Martins (Júpiter) in the lead roles.

The 9pm series, ‘Renascer’, has the most black cast, but the male leads are also played by straight white men: Marcos Palmeira (José Inocêncio) and Egídio (Vladimir Brichta).

The next soap opera in the series, ‘Mania de Você’, sees Chay suede (Mavi), Nicolas Prattes (Rudá) and Rodrigo Lombardi (Molina) leading the cast.

The victim discourse presented by Thiago Fragoso is as useless as the sealing of certain groups. More diverse casts represent the Brazilian miscegenation. They are a more faithful mirror of the reality of the population.

Source: Terra