With Mário Frias in charge of culture, we are "covered" in shame.

The art and culture of the country have never been in such terrible hands during the entire Bolsonaro administration. The first two heads of the Culture Secretariat held the position for such a short time that it was necessary to resort to Google to remember their names. Henrique Medeiros and Ricardo Braga didn't even have time to warm their seats at the secretariat. The former left complaining of censorship and curtailment of freedom of expression, after a disagreement with the president of the republic regarding the suspension of a call for proposals for public television in cinema, which was criticized by Bolsonaro for containing productions with LGBT themes.

The second was an economist appointed by the flat-earther and denialist Osmar Terra, then Minister of Citizenship, to bring more efficiency and dynamism to the ministry's projects. After two months in office, he was reassigned to apply all his efficiency and dynamism to another department, but it is unknown whether he succeeded in the other role. As interim minister, a certain José Paulo Soares Martins took over, who also remained in charge of the ministry for only two months, until the arrival of the controversial and sinister Roberto Alvim, who tried to bring to Brazilian art the most classic, erudite, and perverse aspects of Nazi culture. He fell shortly after starring in a propaganda piece inspired by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister.

Actress Regina Duarte, once Brazil's sweetheart, was given the difficult task of succeeding the Latin lover of the Third Reich and restoring sanity to that ministry. Not before staging a veritable soap opera to accept the position. Taking over the ministry under the title "Queen of the Swastika," a play on the name of a soap opera in which she was the protagonist, Regina compared Bolsonaro to her father, saying he was "homophobic in name only," downplayed torture, sang a song made famous during the dictatorship on national television, and compared culture to "a clown's fart." The effects of this statement were bound to stink. Disapproved of by most of the artistic community and having contributed nothing to the country's art and culture during her tenure, she resigned after undergoing a process of political maneuvering that was never properly explained.

We've reached the point of Mário Frias and witnessing our culture being treated in the most ridiculous way possible. The spoiled playboy from Barra da Tijuca took command of the secretariat, starring in an advertising campaign that exalted our heroes. Seated in a wine-colored armchair and overusing laughable and unbearable dramatic pauses, the actor said things like: "We are a heroic people and we face the destiny that confronts us with a resounding cry." And when we didn't think it could get worse, the prophecy comes true. Embodying the typical Bolsonaro-supporting macho, the current head of the department often takes photos displaying weapons and intimidates his critics with threats of lawsuits or violent insinuations. As he did with Marcelo Adnet, saying that where he had grown up, the comedian wouldn't last a minute. This came after he disliked a satire the comedian made about his "heroic" performance in the Secom advertisement.

Like any good culture secretary in the current government, Frias seems to be on the chopping block and ready to be ousted by Jair Bolsonaro. He appears to be losing prestige with the president after a trip to the United States to meet with fighter Renzo Gracie. According to the secretary, the trip was official and the objective of the meeting was to attract investments for culture in the country. In trying to justify the R$ 39 spent on the trip, the culture secretary stumbles in his Portuguese, saying that, since it was an official trip, "the costs have to be covered," bringing shame upon the Portuguese language and the artistic class he is supposed to represent. Not to mention the scandals that are beginning to surface involving his name, revealing that he appointed the wife of a Bolsonaro-supporting congressman to a commissioned position in the secretariat.

Mário seems to be getting himself into a mess. However, he helped put our culture in a much worse situation with his arrogance, stupidity, and presumption. He's the kind of person with absolutely no culture who thinks he's capable of defining and determining what is or isn't art. Like when he defended a decision by the culture department that blocked funding through the Rouanet Law for a Jazz Festival in Capão Redondo. Mário Frias classified the event as "political/ideological" and promised that while he was in charge of the culture department, these projects would be blocked. If Mário is fired, we already know that his replacement will follow the Bolsonaro tradition of making things even worse. And our culture will continue to suffer at the hands of ignorant and unprepared people who hate art and do everything to destroy it.

We're covered!