Caetano, the repentant one
In a new article, he tries to make peace with the press after the Bethnia affair.
247 – Composer Caetano Veloso, famous for phrases ending in “or not,” backed down in the face of criticism directed at the press regarding news coverage of his sister Maria Bethânia’s poetry blog receiving R$ 1,3 million in tax incentives. Last Sunday, Caetano had attacked the media in an article published in the newspaper O Globo. This Sunday, the 3rd, again in the same newspaper, he seems to have changed his mind. “If I had read Fernando de Barros e Silva’s column in the “Folha” of March 19th, I might not have felt such a need to write my article last Sunday,” the composer warns in the very first sentence. And he continues, shortly after: “The “Folha” is indeed what I said: it sells itself as open to debate and tries not to disappoint its readers in that regard, although its owner did in fact say (but he was a boy then) that “Veja” was his inspiration.”
In good 'Caetano-esque' style, the first paragraph of the article practically praises Folha, contrary to what he himself had written the previous week. “Folha maliciously triggered the case. And treated it with more malice than one would expect from a newspaper that – although its owner and editor told the magazine 'Imprensa' decades ago that its model was 'Veja' – sells itself as impartial and open to debate in the name of general enlightenment.” It seems fair to remain in doubt: which Caetano is the one that counts? The one from Sunday the 27th or the one from Sunday the 3rd? Or will it be the Caetano of next Sunday?
Quoted by Caetano, journalist Fernando Barros e Silva was the only one in the press who defended Bethânia. The columnist for Folha de S. Paulo, on his blog, labeled as "market-obsessed" all those who attacked Bethânia for the fact that, even though rich and acclaimed, she felt compelled to suckle at the teats of the profane state. Barros e Silva is a personal friend of Chico Buarque – incidentally, Caetano, last week, claimed, without receiving, public support for Bethânia's millionaire-level exploitation. As usual, Chico Buarque proved to be a shy and unassuming individual.
Caetano Veloso writes this Sunday: “The “Bethânia case”, a sensationalist and commercial invention of “Folha de S. Paulo”, had received lucid analysis and balanced criticism in the newspaper itself (with Barros e Silva fulfilling the role of ombudsman). The newspaper continues to be as impartial as possible, and that is no small thing. Worse would be the absence of press freedom or even a remote threat to free expression.”
Subtly, Caetano attacks, once again, columnist Mônica Bergamo of Folha de S. Paulo. It seems the Bahian singer isn't fond of reading the newspaper: last Tuesday, Bergamo, even after being explicitly criticized by Caetano, gave Bethânia, in her column, such a huge photo that, in the world of semiotics, it would be equivalent to giving the Bahian singer the status of an Inhaça-like entity.