Domésticas - o filme (2001) e O casamento de Louise (2001)

A critical shift in “domestic workers films”

Abstract

From the perspective of Social History, together with Gender Studies as a category of analysis, based on the multicultural approach of Douglas Kellner (2001), this work analyzes the Brazilian films Domésticas – o filme (2001) and O casamento de Louise (2001) that feature domestic workers. Through this study, we define these films as part of what we call the “domestic workers film” subgenre, considering these two analyzed films as representatives of a critical shift within these productions. This transition aligns with the turn from the 20th to the 21st century, marked by the rise and establishment of neoliberalism in Brazil as a political-economic project of flexible accumulation and the erosion of labor rights. Paid domestic work, as a real category in the market, has been marked by a delayed achievement of rights after long and historic struggles fought by the workers themselves, alongside social movements. With this research, we understand that the structural changes have also brought paradigm shifts to “domestic workers films”, which, while still reproducing stereotypes and stigmas associated with this category, have begun to incorporate social critiques rooted in social otherness.