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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

A Message to Globo

Versão em Português


Dear Globo,

Let me start by telling you how much I appreciate that you have given me and many others with me, the wonderful story of Clara and Marina, two women who fall in love in such a way that we couldn’t help but fall in love with them. It has swept us off our feet, spun our heads around, it made us giggle, swoon, cry, laugh and love. We felt their shivers, the butterflies, we saw the stolen looks, felt their hands intertwine, held our breath without knowing. They couldn’t look away when they first saw each other, but we couldn’t either. So for this, for giving us this, you have my thanks.


But, something has me a little worried. I don’t want to be worried, not about Clara and Marina, but I am. I am worried that I will be let down by my own optimistic belief that everything will be alright. Because my belief is, that they will be together soon, that they will be shown as a couple like any other you have on the show. A couple that has public displays of affection, shares a kiss every now and then, that can’t help themselves as they passionately make their way into the bedroom while they can’t keep their hands off of each other. I believe this. I want to believe this. Because how could you not, right? They are so amazing, they have me so captivated, how could you not? I can hardly imagine, that anyone would actually not do that.



So why am I worried? Because I am not sure, because a part of me is so scared that it won’t happen like I described, that it would be censored, because I wouldn’t even know what to do and I’m not the only that’s so scared. There’s many others like me, who can’t imagine that we won’t be able to see their story unfold like we are all hoping we will. That’s the part of me that’s writing this message to you now, see if I could take away our fears. Maybe we have no reason to be scared, but we are, because we aren't sure. We don’t know. So this is my effort to make you see it our way if that is not already the case. To make you see things from our point of view.




So please, allow me to take you along as I explain to you who we are, why this matters so much and why we simply can’t take the risk. I want to explain why Clarina is special, why it’s important to us that you get this message and that you understand it. Why it’s so important that you understand us.

The story began in February and it’s still going to this day. From the first moment it had us hooked, because Clara and Marina are living a tale of love that is the special kind. The kind you get only once, the kind that you want to find in real life, makes you call yourself lucky if you ever do. But also the kind you rarely see on television and when you finally see it, it simply takes you away and doesn’t let go.


Not only is this a beautiful tale true to life, it's the story of two women who have come a long way since they fell madly and hopelessly in love at first sight, rediscovered themselves through each other, still fight to be together and have some ways to go. A story of true love should not be censored just because the same-sex pairing isn't right according to some. According to a whole lot of others, this pairing is fine. More than fine. Just like any other love story, this one needs to be told in all its wonderful glory. Why? Because like I said, it’s special. It's raw, it's real, I believe it, it takes me along for the ride in all the ways I want it to. This is a rare gem.

Globo, Manoel Carlos, Giovanna Antonelli and Tainá Müller gifted us with one of the most wonderful and sensual story lines I have ever had the pleasure to witness. The story of love between Clara and Marina has us hypnotized and it has been doing so for the past three months. They have been showing us a love so wonderful that it had our hearts racing from the very first moment, it took our breath away as their eyes first met and made us wish we were there in person so that just like them, we could feel the goose bumps and sense the electricity in the air. It made us melt away when they couldn't stop looking at each other while they asked themselves quietly why they just couldn't stop smiling.


Clara, a married mother, she thinks this is as good as life gets until she meets Marina. We get to witness her struggle, as she suddenly finds herself dealing with new and powerful sensations she never knew existed, feelings that affected her so much that neither her body nor her mind knew how to contain them. Before she knew it, she found herself on an emotional journey filled with confusion and self-discovery, but also experienced a new kind of happiness she didn't ever want to let go of. She found a joy in her heart that made her see the world and herself in a whole new light. Happiness had been given a whole new meaning and once she knew what she’d been missing, she never wanted to go back.

On the other side, there’s Marina, a beautiful, confident and wealthy photographer, perfectly comfortable with her own sexuality. When she first laid eyes on Clara she instantly realized she was hopelessly lost. Even though she knew exactly what all those feelings meant, she was still overwhelmed by how swiftly they had come out of nowhere. The raw intensity still managed to take her completely by surprise, but she knew she'd met the woman she'd been searching for in all the women she ever met. Alongside Clara’s path to rediscovering herself, her struggle began as well, but it was not her sexuality she had to come to terms with. Instead she had to learn to be vulnerable, to put herself in the backseat, to be patient, she learned to be humble. Both their struggles were difficult, challenging, but they faced it together. They realized how to become a better person, how they needed the other to show them the way and so they grew together into new versions of themselves and they knew they never wanted to go back to who they were.


Giovanna Antonelli has kept us mesmerized from the start. Her beauty, the passion in her eyes, the confusion in her voice, the tremble in her body, the way she talks without speaking, her raw talent, she has shown us in masterful ways what it's supposed to be like to fall in love and how you can lose yourself in emotions and desire. She showed us Clara’s journey of self-discovery, how she came to terms with her feelings, how she tried to understand the meaning of it all, how she realized she’d lost her heart to Marina and wasn't actually sure she wanted her to give it back. The confusion, the doubts, the passion, the happiness she never knew existed. Giovanna didn't just show us. She made us feel it.

And who wouldn't fall in love with Marina? Tainá Müller radiates pure beauty and sensuality, she walks with such pride and elegance that it seems like she's floating instead. When she smiles it's like the sun appears from behind clouds that aren't even there, but when her smile is just for you, it's like that same sun only comes up to warm the very spot you stand on. Her charm, the fire in her eyes made us wonder if we wanted to be her, or if we’d rather be with her. Tainá shows us all sides of Marina so wonderfully, that even when Marina pretends to be strong when in that moment she’s vulnerable, it takes a subtle eye to notice but a natural to portray.


Their journey had begun. Manoel Carlos has written a wonderful, realistic story of love and it’s not often that we get to witness something as real and true to life as this one. To make a story special, you need to make people believe it, to make them feel it. Writing a good story is one thing, but it takes a rare combination of many aspects that make me believe it. Because of Giovanna and Tainá, I do. They are the reason this is so powerful. What we have now, that’s a rare breed.

When I watch this, it makes me feel every emotion I know and even some that I didn’t and I wouldn’t have it any other way. While I watch this I feel happy, sad, passionate, nervous, overjoyed, it has me glued to the screen. I feel like dancing around just like them because what I am seeing feels so real that I want it to be true. I want to feel like they are feeling right now and I want it so badly that I actually am. To accomplish that, to show someone something so powerful, that takes a rare combination, a combination of talent, credibility, dedication, but more than anything, chemistry.


Chemistry is what makes this so special, that’s what makes this such a rare breed. Every time Giovanna and Tainá appear together on screen the air sizzles, we can feel their desire when their eyes meet, the passion that radiates from a simple touch, a tiny gesture rewarded with a smile only reserved for moments like these and for each other. As we watched them evolve into what they are today, we found ourselves longing for them just to be in the same room, because Tainá and Giovanna made us become so involved in their story that it had almost become our own. We fought their internal struggles with them as they searched for a way to first come to terms and later come together and we are still searching, as their story is still being told and they have yet to discover the way.

The journey of Clara and Marina is still far from over, in the meantime we got to experience a kind of love and desire you only get once in your life, we felt the joy as they danced around after a photo shoot without knowing why, the butterflies when they looked at each other a certain way or even when they just held each other’s hands. It made us want to hide away in a corner along with Marina when she thought all was lost and it hurt more than ever before. We wished so hard that we could give Clara the answer she couldn't find although the mere question alone was turning her world upside down. She kept finding her way to Marina because she just couldn't stay away no matter how hard she tried. We wanted to call her, write her, show her, anything to let her know: 'This is it, this is love! This is what it was supposed to feel like all this time!'.


Not often do we get to see two people fall in love in such a true, predestined, raw, pure and inevitable manner. The air was electrified from the very first moment their eyes first met and the charge didn't fade over time but only got more intense. Watching them feel what they felt made me not just believe their story but to this day it brings me a joy, a natural comfort, it makes me believe. A love as beautiful and real as this one made us cling to our screen, wishing they'd finally give in to their desires so they could finally let go, be themselves, be true to what they were feeling, as so many others are feeling it all around the world. We'd whisper the words ourselves that we wanted Clara to tell her and that Marina needed to hear and we didn't notice the tears in our own eyes until long after she finally did and we were still echoing the words.

Giovanna Antonelli portrays Clara to perfection, made us identify with the housewife, who at first can't figure out what on earth is happening to her. So used to her married life, never once did it occur to her she could fall in love with a woman. It didn't matter anymore, it had already happened and when she finally realized it, she was so far beyond the point of no return that she knew she had no choice but to accept. The change Clara undergoes throughout her journey is so subtle that you don't realize how radical it was until it hits you how much different she is. This is mainly due to the pure talent, dedication and passion that Giovanna brings to the role. She gives it her everything and it's amazing to see her put her spirit in Clara, how this new world she discovered made her grow into a version of herself that never realized what she was missing, but is now finally realizing how wonderful life could be and how Marina is the one that showed her the way.

Tainá Müller sweeps you off your feet from the first moment she enters the screen and puts all her passion and charm into Marina's character. She's instantly fascinating, intoxicating, even slightly intimidating. Tainá possesses the kind of sensuality you can't fake if you don't have it in you, but if you do have it, it's simply always there. She owns Marina's confidence at the start of the story but makes her vulnerabilities and uncertainties later on just as believable. She too undergoes a radical change and it's amazing to see Clara and Marina go through this together, able to grow into the person they are supposed to be because they showed each other the way.


Clara and Marina, I dread the day their story ends, but I know I will be loving them long after that. They make you feel it all, the desire, the love, it’s so pure, it overwhelms you before you see it coming. I got so invested in their story, before I knew it, there was no way back. I don't even want a way back. I wanna see and feel every moment of it, I want to see them finally find each other, I want to see them face the world together and be the rock when the other needs them to be, I want to hear them whisper I love you's and I want to feel the temperature rise as they find themselves unable to resist each other any longer and I want to see how they build a life together and love each other along the way. This story makes me feel wonderful, I feel the passion and affection, the desire, the love, but also the heartache, the hurt of waiting, the uncertainty, the vulnerability. I can feel it all and I won't have it any other way, because this is what love is. Love is raw, it's cruel, sensitive, amazing, ruthless and powerful. It's real.

Something capable of making people feel emotions that powerful, it deserves to be told. It shouldn't matter that it's about two women. War and violence on television, nobody raises an eyebrow anymore. Children grow up thinking it's a part of everyday life, which it is, whether we like it or not. But while we teach young people that those things are normal, shouldn't we also teach them how to love?

You can choose who you marry. You say a few words and it's done. You can't choose who you love. You can ignore how you feel, marry someone you don't love, but in the end you'll wonder why you chose to be unhappy, because others told you something you stopped believing a long time ago. Young people need to be taught that loving someone is not a bad thing. You can't control those feelings, it happens to you. Should you be punished for something you didn't choose because someone else has a problem with it? Love fills the soul with joy, being with the person you love enables you to be truly happy. If I am happy, what difference does it make who someone else is happy with? Their life doesn't affect mine. Their love doesn't affect me or my life. It's not up to me who someone falls in love with, it's not even up to them.


The only thing up to me, is my own happiness. I plan to be true to that. If everyone around me finds their own happiness, I really don't care who they are happy with, as long as they are happy together. Falling in love is not a choice. Forcing people to choose unhappiness, that's a choice. It's not one I'd want to live with. A lot of people nowadays still force others to choose a life of unhappiness because someone claims they have that right to do so.

They don't.

You don't have the right to choose my happiness or anyone else's. You have the right to choose your own. I sincerely hope you find it and that when you do, you make the right choice. Don't let anyone claim they have the right to do it for you.

Globo, you took on this project, which means you believe in it, that is amazing and I am really grateful. You took it on, displayed many amazing things up to this point and you should be praised for it, for making us able to see it in the first place. I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making this possible. But we are not there yet.

Because Clarina isn’t being treated like they deserve to be treated. A survey was done, the result was, that the majority of people approved of Clara and Marina as a couple, but they don’t want to see a kiss, or public displays of affection. How? I don’t understand. How does that make for a believable tale of love? It doesn’t.

You can stand a guy drinking himself to the gutter, a guy being violent to his pregnant wife, two guys punching each other to pieces, you can stomach a rape scene that made my skin crawl, but you don’t wanna see two women kiss?

You’re not complaining about violence and rape, yet you are complaining about love.

You’re doing it wrong. You don’t have the right.

If you are fine with their relationship, then not being fine with them showing affection, seeing them kiss, that’s backwards. It doesn’t make sense. Two people in a relationship show affection, they share passionate kisses, they make love, like any other couple we’ve seen so far. A relationship without all that, it loses credibility. Clarina has been so amazing and so true to life up to this point that doing that, it would simply be a crime.


Globo, I don’t know what you intend to do with this result, I don’t know if you plan on showing them kissing anyway, if you intend to show a love scene, or passionate intimate moments like you do with heterosexual couples. If you are, that’s great, it means I wrote all this for nothing, but I don’t mind, cause I want to be sure. Because if they are censored, that means you don’t listen to the ones that want to see love, but you listen to those with prejudice, with backwards opinions. That’s not right.

Whatever is considered normal to show on television in a relationship between a man and a woman, all that should be normal for relationships with two people of the same gender. As long as it's still a subject that needs to be discussed, that makes my fingers itch because I simply can't fathom how something so beautiful in my eyes is considered wrong in others, we're not there yet.

Giovanni Antonelli and Tainá Müller, the actresses that portray Clara and Marina, they believe this too. Manoel Carlos, the rest of the cast and crew, the people behind the scenes, the creators of Em Familia, they all believe it. They believe that everyone should be able to find love, to feel it as it's supposed to feel. To see it on television. Everything they have done so far concerning our favorite duo has had a purpose. Every comment, every conversation with each other, about each other, every scene where one of them was even mentioned, they all had a purpose, to explain the story, to make the viewers understand. Every stare or touch, nervous or shy look to the ground, every breath they didn’t know they were holding in and every frustrated scream they couldn’t let out. Everything they did so far was exactly right, it was building up to something and up to this point, it has been real, it has been believable. It should continue to be this way. Showing them kiss once, then let us imagine the rest? That’s not believable. That’s wrong.

Unfortunately, it’s the kind of love that’s taboo to some people, but only to those who say yes to violence and to rape, but no to beautiful love. The thing about a taboo, is that someone has to be the first. Someone has to be brave, be the first to say, this is not right. Someone has to be the first to break the taboo. Once that happens, once someone is the first to do that, others will follow and soon it won’t be a taboo anymore, because someone decided not to condone prejudice and discrimination. Someone decided, this is not right.

If you want the right opportunity, there is not going to be a better opportunity than this because if there was ever a story about love, true, raw, deep, selfless and pure, if there were ever two people, so passionate, with so much chemistry, so believable, so convincing, if there was ever a story able to make people relate to others, to make them rethink, it’s the tale of Clara and Marina. If there was ever a story perfect to break the taboo… this right here is the one.

You have this opportunity, you have the best possible candidate, to say no to double standards, to prejudice, to discrimination, this is it. You’ve done everything so far, you've shown us a wonderful tale of true love, falling so hard, so deep, that by the time you realize you fell, you can’t find the way up. You’ve given us the writer that can write this story like no other. You’ve given us a crew, a cast, who all stand behind this project and make wonderful things happen every day. You’ve given us Giovanna and Tainá, you couldn’t have given us two ladies with more dedication, with more passion, more beauty, more talent, more chemistry than these two have. What you’ve given us so far, has hooked us in like nothing ever has. You gave us that and we are grateful for it. But we need you to give us the rest too. Don’t let us down now, not this one.


Take a look at their popularity. They have been the most popular couple on ‘Em Familia’, which means as a normal couple they'd be doing good, but for an LGBT couple, they are doing absolutely amazing. Cause even with the people who for some reason or other are against homosexuality on screen, they are still winning the popularity contest.

If you consider that the LGBT community only takes up about 10% of the total population, there is just no way that it's just us doing the backing. There is a huge amount of support from the other 90% who like us, can see this for what it is. A wonderful, beautiful, sizzling with chemistry story of pure, raw, passionate, true love.

Just look at the crew, the cast. I don't know any of their sexual preferences and frankly, it doesn't even matter to me. But let's assume that since they are also part of the general population, around 90% of them, give or take, is straight. This beautiful story of love is being made by a majority of straight people. They are doing this. They are making it happen. They believe in it, because it’s about them, about their friends, their family.

All the people on the crew, they worked really hard to get to this point and that is amazing and already an accomplishment. But we are not there yet. We won't be there until we get to a point where showing a story like this is normal, to see love as it happens every day, all over the world. A love story, something to show your kids and tell them that's what love should be like. This is the story of millions of people and to each of them, this matters. It matters, because it's about all of us.

It’s about everyone who like me, has lost their heart to Clara and Marina, believes in their love, who wants to see them together and there are so many more, the amount of fans around the world is huge. To say Clarina is popular is like saying the Titanic was ‘not too small’. Their fan base is immense. It’s not just big, or huge, no, it’s global. The fans are all over the world, from the Philippines to the United States, from Russia to South Africa, Australia to Columbia, we are literally everywhere. I’m sitting in my apartment on the third floor in the Netherlands as I write this. On the forum where I discuss the show with others, there were so many nationalities, we decided to make a map. We have more than half the world covered when it comes to countries. But it’s not just the huge amount of fans, or the fact that we are all over the world, it’s the dedication.

Source: Marina and Clara @ The L Chat

Fans get up in the middle of the night to see the new episodes, checking if there’s a fellow Clarina fan who might have translations, unless waiting for translations was so frustrating, they decided to learn Portuguese so they could hear it for themselves. The amount of animated gifs that are created and shared after every new episode, I think it would rival the bigger American shows. For a Brazilian show, that’s huge. The thought alone that Clara and Marina will be censored, that they will only share one kiss and nothing else, that they will be cheated out of equality, the mere suggestion has us so scared it made us jump into action all over the place.

The fan base rallied together, made video compilations of statements from people all over the world. People from literally everywhere, from different cultures, different religions, but the same message every time. Don’t censor Clarina. Every night on Twitter, the Clarina fandom is trending. For weeks now, every day, different Clarina related statements are trending. Not just in Brazil, but globally. That’s how dedicated the fans are, that’s how huge this fan base is, that’s how much we care, that’s how much we want to see this happen. We are that scared that we will be disappointed. All over the world, we band together, because we have never connected to a story as much as we have with this one. No story has put our lives on hold like this has. We are so scared to be let down, but we are left in the dark, we don’t know what you intend, so we make noise. If we knew for sure they’d be like other couples, we’d be at ease, but we get different messages, we don’t know. We all believe in this so much so we take action, because we simply can’t risk it. Not this one, not Clarina. It matters too much. In other words, don’t do this to us. Don’t let us down.


Something so beautiful and so passionate, it deserves a chance to be told. It deserves to be seen. Everyone should be allowed the chance to love these characters, to hurt when they do and burst with joy another day. because this is life and this is what happens when life happens. This is love. It has been so amazing up till now, we want to see it through. We want to see them love each other, show affection, share kisses, see them release passion cause they just can’t help themselves. We want to see a believable love story, complete with intimate moments, Up till now, it has been believable. More than any other story of love, this one grabbed us, reeled us in, it touched us like no other has ever done before. It made us feel a passion much like Clara and Marina themselves. How amazing it could be, if they were allowed to be together for a long period until the end, face struggles, sure, but face them together, as a couple. A couple that shows affection, that shares kisses, that makes love, like any heterosexual couples on your show. How amazing this would be if you did it justice.

But it would hurt, so much, if you didn’t. It would sting if they end up together in the last episode only or in the last week. It would be so disappointing, such a wasted chance, it’ll break our hearts. If they get together with a month or two to go and they share one kiss once and we have to imagine the rest until the end, I can’t even describe how much that would hurt, how wrong that would be. The injustice of it, to Clarina, to me, to every other fan out there, to Giovanna and Tainá, to Maneco, to the rest of the cast and crew, to everyone who has ever faced any kind of discrimination or prejudice.

Those that say they approve of them as a couple but they don't want to see affection, their thoughts are often guided by fear of the unknown. To judge something, you have to see it first, but they won't even give it the chance to be judged, they refuse to even look at it. Those that refuse to look, should they be the ones that decide for the rest of us? No, they shouldn't. If they don't want to look, then maybe we need to just show them, make them realize that when they are actually in a position to judge, that it won't be so bad after all. But that step, that needs to be taken first and that step is up to us, up to you. But you are leaving it up to them. Why?

You did everything right so far, don’t let us down now. It would be the disappointment of the century. Not just in Brazil, I’m talking globally. I am not kidding. The whole world is watching this. In 20 years it would still be named in lists like 'Top 5 most disappointing ways to handle a love story.' It would probably be number 1, too. And the reason would be prejudice. Don’t let Clarina be on that list. Be on the other list, the list with the ones that did it right. Be on the list with the ones that made history. There simply will not be a better opportunity than this. Don’t waste it, I’m asking you from the bottom of my heart. Don’t waste it, not this one.

Don’t let us down now.







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Skype: allthingsclarina






5 comments:

  1. Wow! That was amazing!! You said everything that needed to be said with grace, warmth and love.. Great job!! My thoughts exactly!! I hope they listen*

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  2. The world will not stop turning, because two beautiful women ,were shown kissing on Brazilian television.

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  3. I´m brazilian and just read ur post. Really amazing! If u need help with translations, I´m here. Great message.

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  4. Why do you have to be so good in writing? Please write a book & for sure I'll be getting one & you will sign it!��

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