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Crossing Cultural Barriers with Children's Television Programming: The Case of

Xuxa

Article  in  Children s Literature Association Quarterly · January 1998

DOI: 10.1353/chq.0.1271

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Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Volume 23, Number 3,

Fall 1998, pp. 160-166 (Article)

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DOI: 10.1353/chq.0.1271

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of related interest
Crossing Cultural Barriers with Children's Television Programming:
The Case of Xuxa
by Antonio C. La Fastina
The camera moves among a crowd of children smiling and During the five years between her "discovery" and her
screaming, "Xuxa, Xuxa, Xuxa. " debut as a children's television show host in 1983, Xuxa
They carry banners and pompons. They jump and dance. become one of Brazil's top models (17). The next ten years
The scene lasts only a few seconds; then the Earth spins in space saw her conquer most of the Latin American children's pro-
with the word "Xuxa" orbiting it, until the globe pops open gramming market, and she invaded Anglophone airwaves in
and toys, monsters, and buildings spring from it. Now the chil- September 1993, when her program started airing on 100
dren are singing the refrain of a song: "Hello, hello, hello, it is stations across the United States.3 She also entered the
time for Xuxa to begin . . . " The camera moves at a frantic recording market in 1985, singing children's songs. Since
pace through the crowd, toward the back of the stage where Jelly that time she has become the top recording artist in Brazil,
the Panda and Jam the Jaguar, two adults dressed as animals, where her twelve records have sold more than 20 million
greet each other. A giant globe in the background opens, and copies. Her Spanish-language records are also at the top of
down the stairs comes Xuxa, a tall blonde woman, singing: the charts. In the U.S., Sony Wonder has released two of her
"Are you ready to begin / Ready to play or to win / Is anyone videos and a record that includes English translations of
feeling down?" She is wearing white shoes, a white shirt, and some of her most successful songs in Portuguese and
black Spandex shorts topped by a black miniskirt. The outfit is Spanish. Xuxa has acted in (and produced) several movies
complemented by a black belt, suspenders, and socks, all with a for the children's market and had a comic book based on
matching pattern of numbers and mathematical symbols. Her her character for several years in the early 1990s. She
black beret sits on chin-length hair. She descends the stairs slow- presently produces children's programs in Brazil. More than
ly, singing. As she approaches the children, they are energized, 150 different licensed Xuxa products, including toys, dolls,
jumping and waving while she acknowledges them one by one. sandals, clothes, and school supplies, line the shelves of
Jelly and Jam greet her, dancing and doing acrobatics stores from the United States to Chile.
around her. A couple of minutes into the song, there is a close- Xuxa thus exemplifies the increasing flow of non-
up of Xuxa, singing and sending a kiss to the viewers at home. Anglophone entertainers and entertainment products be-
As the song progresses, back-up dancers, four girls in their late tween nations that in the past tended to consume primarily
teens, appear. Each of a different ethnic background, they wear U.S.-made products.4 Such crossover, the successful transfer
tall white go-go boots with tight white shorts and vests and hats, from one market into another, has the potential to be simul-
two in blue and two in red. taneously financially profitable, culturally productive, and
Xuxa finishes her first song, waves, and announces the socially transformative; as Elizabeth Mahan argues, the
day's activities: "We are going to have the grooviest games, increased flow of cultural products across national borders
singing, and dancing, and we are also going to meet some leads to "the possibility of two-way cultural influence and
marsupials from the other side of the world."1 the creation of new forms of cultural expressions and new
meanings" (4). But crossing into the U.S. children's market
******
appears to be particularly difficult. The saturation of that
market with locally produced shows means that young view-
Earning $27 million in 1993, the Brazilian television ers ordinarily see only programs that present familiar atti-
personality Xuxa—pronounced Shoo-sha but born Maria da tudes and humor. The lack of exposure to programs from
Graça Meneghel—was the first Latin American to make other parts of the world may reduce still further the predis-
Forbes magazine's list of the world's forty best-paid enter- position to choose these shows, even when they are available.
tainers; she was number twenty-seven.2 According to Achieving crossover, therefore, takes considerable
Amelia Simpson, there are several versions of Xuxa's vault to effort. As a Portuguese-speaking nation within a Spanish-
stardom; the authorized one states that her career started in speaking region, Brazil has developed strategies to market
November 1978 when a magazine photographer saw her on its products within Latin America as a whole, strategies that
the streets of Rio de Janeiro, followed her home, and asked involve not only dubbing to eradicate linguistic differences
her parents' permission to photograph her for the cover of but also the invoking of cultural commonalities. Similarly, in
a Brazilian magazine published by the Bloch Group (16). the last decade, Spanish-language producers (primarily in
© 1998 Children's Literature Association
Crossing Cultural Barriers with Children's Television Programming 161

the United States and Mexico) have systematically tried to of Rede Globo, the largest network in the country and the
construct a Latin American market based on unifying factors fourth largest in the world, which retaliated in 1986 by hir-
of language and culture. In her work on the Spanish- ing Xuxa to produce Xou da Xuxa, a new children's pro-
language media in the United States, for instance, America gram strikingly similar to O Clube da Crianca.6
Rodriguez discusses producers' efforts to construct a Xuxa's purported equality with her "shorties" is clearly
panethnic audience of U.S. Latinos as a group, regardless of crucial to the packaging of her image in Latin America.
their place of origin—a "conceptualization of ethnicity Simpson claims that Xuxa's role as a children's television-
[that] ignores or submerges structural variables such as race show host has been constructed to demonstrate her naivete
and class, represented in differing U.S. immigration histo- and innocence, an innocence that borders on childlike
ries" (in press).5 behavior but at the same time presents her as an erotic and
On the one hand, a phenomenon such as Xuxa demon- sensual woman. Xuxa herself explains her appeal by observ-
strates the elasticity of this notion of panamericanism, which ing, "Children like Snow White, Cinderella, Barbie, [and]
can be stretched across linguistic boundaries by uniting when they see me close to them, it's as if the mythical per-
Brazil with the rest of Latin America. Whether construed son has become reality" ("Barbie" 29). This mythic image
narrowly or broadly, panamericanism relies on assumed cul- is reinforced in her movies, such as Lua de Cristal (Crystal
tural similarities to expand the market base for cultural Moon), produced in 1990, in which Xuxa plays a character
products; Kenton Wilkinson, for instance, argues that the who embodies traits of fairy tale heroines such as Rapunzel
similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, and between and Cinderella.7 Still more importantly, her association with
the histories and cultures of Brazil and other Latin American Snow White and Barbie establishes her as a representative of
nations, have permitted the formation of a unified regional white, Western notions of beauty and desirability. The suc-
market (2). On the other hand, Xuxa's success within this cess of her children's program within Latin America owes
market has mandated the translation and adaptation of her much to her manipulation of important iconic symbols
programs, and indeed of Xuxa herself. Language, it would within the culture at large; arguably, Xuxa is not just a tele-
seem, is not the only factor complicating the crossover vision performer, but the product and the message as well.
process. Xuxa's experience suggests that differing societal As it turned out, however, the very qualities that rocketed
attitudes toward childhood constitute a "cultural variable" her to the top in Brazil, and subsequently in other Latin
that may be less easy to transcend than semantic differences. American nations, have worked against her in the United
Although Xuxa herself remains a constant across the States. The differences that distinguish each new version of
Portuguese/Spanish/English versions of her program, it is Xuxa from its predecessor(s) suggest the points at which the
clear that something is lost in the translation of her show panamerican market is not unified—most notably in its pre-
into its U.S. format. Take Xuxa's attitude toward her young ferred representations of sexuality, race, and consumerism,
audience. When she started her first children's show on the especially when the audience consists of children.
Rede Mánchete television network in Brazil in 1983, O
Clube da Crianca (The Children's Club), she was accused ******

of pinching and yelling at the children in the audience. In

responding to these charges, Xuxa would say that she was Before her 1983 television debut, Xuxa posed nude for
deliberately acting like a child herself: "You have to put the Brazilian edition of Playboy and starred in a soft-porn
yourself on equal terms with the 'shorties' [her word for the movie, Amor Estranho Amor (Love Strange Love), in which
children who join her on the show]." According to her, "I her character becomes romantically and sexually involved
love my shorties, and I speak directly to them. Above all I with a thirteen-year-old boy. While these images would later
try to give them what they want. . . . Most importantly, the come back to embarrass her, they are not so far removed
kids run my show. Compared to most of the shows they are from her children's show, in which, as a 1993 article in the
used to, my show is very uncontrolled and emotional. The New York Times Magazine points out, "her sexual or 'sen-
shorties are free to be themselves, to dance and sing" (qtd. sual' (Xuxa's word) pitch is directed to kids" ("Barbie" 29).
in Blount 9). Homero Icasa Sanchez, a Brazilian television In Latin America, Xuxa's status as a sex symbol has helped
and public-opinion analyst, applauds this philosophy as to promote her image.8 Her animated performance style,
highly marketable, remarking, "She isn't old Auntie. The her sensuality, and her continuous delivery of kisses to audi-
way she speaks with children is direct and intimate, she ence members and the camera all reinforce her bond with
speaks their language. This has made her the biggest chil- viewers, increasing her visibility and desirability. Bikinis and
dren's phenomenon in Latin American history" (qtd. in nudity are not uncommon on Latin American television,
Blount 9). And in fact, O Clube da Crianca was an imme- whose audience appears willing to accept sexually charged
diate smash hit; Xuxa's popularity skyrocketed to such an media messages without questioning their values, even
extent that Rede Mánchete started threatening the ratings when the programs target children. The changes made in
162 Children's Literature Association Quarterly

Xuxa's show for the U.S. market, and the responses that it her children's show in Brazil and in the versions produced
nonetheless elicited from reviewers, throw into relief the for the Spanish-language market, she is presented as a
discomfort that the combination of childhood and sexuality Barbie doll to be played with, an object of consumption and
provokes in this country, a discomfort that Americans tend desire. Theoretically, this maneuver should work in the U.S.
to deem "normal" and "natural" but that in fact is arguably as well. Nick Browne argues that the U.S. networks' strate-
culturally constructed. gy of "aligning and intermixing sexuality with [the] repre-
Xuxa's packaging for a U.S. audience acknowledges this sentation and consumption of objects" is central to the pro-
cultural difference. Her clothes in the English-language ver- motion of consumerism, in that the use of sexuality to sell
sion of the show are tamer than in her Latin American products creates a "libidinal economy of the desiring and
appearances. Her sexuality is less accentuated; her choice of consuming subject" (597). In inscribing the audience as
words is less sensual. At the same time, the modification of consumer, television functions as a promoter of social con-
Xuxa's image has been imperfect. She may be seen dancing trol and hegemonic values. In constructing her image, Xuxa
and blowing kisses at moments that do not always make employs a similar strategy, using an erotic and sensual per-
sense in a cultural environment alien to the one where she sona to stimulate the consumption of her line of merchan-
first developed this strategy. Her trademark, kissing a child at dising; in North America as in South America, her shows are
the end of the show or kissing the camera to leave a lipstick program-length commercials for herself, and consequently
imprint on the lens, has very different connotations in the for the products bearing her trademark, such as the Xuxa
United States than in Latin America. In Brazil, as in most of doll introduced into U.S. stores shortly after MTM
Latin America, kissing is part of a daily routine. Friends kiss Television began to distribute her English-language show in
each other, parents kiss their children, acquaintances meeting September 1993. Yet although eroticism may succeed in tel-
on the street kiss in greeting. In the United States, kissing is evision shows aimed at adults, the critics' complaints indi-
much more restricted, something that happens on special cate that it has not: translated well to U.S. children's pro-
occasions and among intimates. Casual kisses are often per- gramming, at least as far as such programs' adult watchdogs
ceived as an unwelcome invasion of privacy. In such a milieu, are concerned.
Xuxa's use of the kiss seems exaggerated or intrusive. To be sure, what Xuxa represents does have some
But even two Brazilian commentators, Ruth Cardoso appeal for children in this country too, as the success of
and Esther Hamburger, are disturbed by what they see as Xuxa merchandise suggests—but for many adults ethnicity
tiie "adult" content of Xuxa's children's shows. They argue may be more commodifiable than sexuality in U.S. chil-
that "programmes for youth and children [in Brazil] go dren's shows. According to a news release on PR Newswire
beyond promoting vanity or a precocious fascination for dated 11 December 1993, within a mere three weeks on the
body care. In imitating adult programmes, they also include market the Xuxa doll, which was sold nationwide and not
an ample display of feminine sensuality" (459). Cardoso and merely in areas with large Latino populations, had "reached
Hamburger criticize the sexualized nature of Xuxa's show: the number one ethnic fashion doll status at Toys 'R' Us."
Xuxa's status as a living "ethnic fashion doll" within U.S.
With her abbreviated shorts, tight-fitting clothes, television brings us to another cultural distinction that sep-
her sly facial expression and her endless distribu- arates her English-language show from those produced for
tion of kisses, Xuxa subverts all conventions of Latin American viewers, namely race. That her U.S. doll is
kiddy shows, traditionally hosted by innocent described and marketed as "ethnic" is interesting, given that
clowns. . . . Her programme overdoes kissing, as the aspect of her show that most obviously marks her as eth-
kisses are distributed both as prizes and as nic other is not her appearance but her language. As a tall,
farewells. This theme is reinforced by the enor- slim, green-eyed blonde, Xuxa fits most white Western con-
mous, pink spacecraft design in the form of a ceptions of beauty. But her Brazilian origin and her imper-
mouth with puffy, red lips, which introduces the fect English allow her to be identified with a specific ethnic
hostess at the beginning of the show and takes her segment of society at the same time that she targets a broad-
away at the end. (459) er, more mainstream market base: she can be both Disney
princess and Latina, a dual status that has been carefully
For these authors Xou da Xuxa encourages sexual precoci- constructed in the repackaging of her show in the United
ty in her young audience, "introducing them to the tar- States, where Xuxa is most saleable as a multicultural icon.
nished world of adults" (459). This attitude mirrors the In her Portuguese- and Spanish-language avatars, in con-
negative response of many U.S. viewers on first encounter- trast, race and ethnicity are used to reinforce hegemonic
ing Xuxa. notions prevalent in Latin America regarding the status of
In Latin America, Xuxa can use her sexuality to pro- racial and ethnic groups. According to Eduardo Mendonça,
mote her image and the products bearing her trademark. In editor of the SÃ o Paulo music trade magazine Hit, "In many
Crossing Cultural Barriers with Children's Television Programming 163

Latin American countries, blond hair and light skin equate In short, in Xou da Xuxa Xuxa constructed a show
with status, and they don't come any blonder than Xuxa. To based on whiteness, a racial category that in Brazil embod-
kids, she is like some kind of inaccessible blond princess— ies success. As one member of Olodum, a Black cultural and
tall, green-eyed, and rich. The only way they can be like her activist group, observed in a Tribune interview, "People
is to buy her products" (qtd. in Millman 300). Mendonça's want to be blond and white in Brazil because it is a symbol
comment underlines the debate over Xuxa's racial status in of power and wealth" (qtd. in Vincent 12). Similarly, Fausto
Brazil and how her whiteness has become an asset in her Fawcett, a writer and the host of a late-night television show
Latin American career. in Brazil, remarked to Vincent that "below the Equator,
In a country in which forty-eight percent of the popu- blondes gain a fascinating quality that they would never
lation is either Black or mulatto,9 Xuxa staged a program have in Europe or North America; they become a symbol of
where the majority of the children in the audience was white purity and paradise." Xuxa, he continued, "is the queen, and
and all the "Paquitas"—the young dancers who help her she is one of the few authentic blondes in Latin America."
animate the audience—were replicas of her own image. To In this racial environment, a show such as Xou da Xuxa
a North American eye, this presentation may seem unpalat- thrives. It can also do well in other parts of Latin America,
ably unitary; journalist Isabel Vincent, for instance, com- where whiteness is often perceived as beautiful and power-
mented in the Chicago Tribune after Xuxa premiered in the ful. In Mexico, for instance, racial discrimination is normal-
U.S. that "watching Xuxa parade around a Brazilian stage, ly denied, but the large proportion of the population that is
backed by a corps of blond backup singers, might give one of Indian origin is almost invisible on television. Here too,
the impression that most Brazilians are blond and fair- status is measured in part by skin tone. As one New York
skinned." But Xuxa's Latin American shows simply repro- Timeswriter argues, "The degree of Indianness, or the dark-
duce the dominant notions of race relations prevailing in ness of the brown skin, determines status. Many Mexicans
Brazilian society, in which most power is still in the hands of living in the cities rely on hair dyes, skin lighteners and blue
whites; the major ethnic groups are marginal to that power. or green contact lenses to appear more white or European
The Brazilian media reflect this race-based structure, and and less Indian" (DePalma E3).
televisual representations of less powerful ethnic and racial But the version of the program aired in the U.S. found
groups tend to be restricted to servile roles.10 On the other it expedient to present race differently. As Broadcasting and
hand, according to Simpson, Xuxa "is able to embody a very Cable reported on 2 August 1993, the set for the English-
powerful ideological construct in Brazilian culture, the language show, which reputedly cost $2 million, featured
myth of racial democracy, because of her link with blackness "an international fantasy theme with landmarks (Statue of
through Pelé" (32). Pelé, a well-known Black Brazilian ath- Liberty, Eiffel Tower, etc.) from each of the seven conti-
lete whose popularity extends beyond national borders and nents" (Freeman). The content of the program similarly
who is presently the minister of sports in Brazil, was Xuxa's emphasizes multiculturalism, using dancers from different
romantic partner for six years, and during that time, her ethnic backgrounds and flags and landmarks from many dif-
fame skyrocketed. ferent nations—minimizing the halo of blondeness that sur-
In Brazil, there are many different labels for the shades rounds Xuxa in the Latin American versions that preceded
between Black and white. In ethnographic research con- it.11 In the politically correct United States market of the
ducted in a small community in Bahia, Conrad Kottack 1990s, a program where all tiie dancers were fair-haired
noted the occurrence of more than 400 different terms to would not fare well. Besides, blondeness does not have the
designate a person of color. This extensive nomenclature same connotations in the United States that it possesses in
relates to the social class and economic status of the person Latin America. In this country, the stereotype of the sexy
being described; socioeconomic characteristics influence the "dumb blonde" is seen as undermining women's power.
choice of terms used to classify a person. Such linguistic Even so, the dancers in the English version still wear the tight
considerations reflect what many scholars call the whitening shorts that are a feature of the other versions of Xuxa's show.
process: the movement toward the "white" end of the racial To be sure, the Spanish-language versions of Xuxa's
spectrum as a consequence of upward mobility (see show also differ from the original Brazilian version. When in
Skidmore). While the lack of representations of Blackness in 1993 Xuxa started producing a daily show in Argentine for
society and especially in the mass media has been challenged Telefe, the largest television network in that country, she
by advocacy groups in recent years, France Twine indicates was already the leading performer in Brazil, with her record-
in her ethnographic work on racism in a small rural town in ings and films breaking sales records. Nevertheless, the orig-
Brazil that Black television viewers rarely "consider the inal format of her show—which in Brazil ran every day but
absence of positive representations of dark-skinned Afro- Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and included many
Brazilians and the denigration of features that signify cartoons as well as games, singing, and dancing—was
African ancestry when they are asked to define racism" (57). changed for the new market. In the Telefe version, Xuxa had
164 Children's Literature Association Quarterly

one hour to dance, sing, and play games. The cartoons were Xuxa asks the names of the children on both teams and
deleted from her Spanish-language show, although the blows a whistle to start the game. By the end of the minute the
dynamics between Xuxa and her "shorties" and the sexual children have paint all over their faces. The back-up dancers
and racial construction of her image remained the same.12 help them clean up while Xuxa asks the children on the win-
By 1992, her Latin American success opened the door to a ning team to whom they want to send greetings. She repeats sev-
show in Spain, an offer first made in 1990 and rejected by eral times that everybody wins presents. The segment ends with
Xuxa at that time on the grounds that her knowledge of a guest from the San Diego Zoo showing marsupials.
Spanish was inadequate to produce a television show in the In the third segment, the action is set in a nondescript
language. Having proven her crossover appeal in Argentina Chinatown, where "Xuxa" is written in bamboo-like charac-
and elsewhere, however, Xuxa made the transition to ters on top of a building. She sings another tune while playing
Europe—again modifying her program, since in Spain she with and holding young Black, Asian, and Latino children.
catered not only to children but to adolescents as well. The lyrics are about a little frog so cute that she kisses him. At
If Xuxa's conception of her audience, her language, and the end of the song, Jelly announces the next game, Xuxa's
her exposure must be readjusted to some extent for each Scrabble. The children, again assembled into two teams, have
new market, the same applies to her distribution strategy. In to explode balloons by sitting on them and then use the letters
each country she seeks to keep syndication costs low, thus inside the balloons to form Xuxa's name on a board. In some
increasing not only her own exposure, but that of her prod- cases the helpers push the smaller children on top of the balloons
ucts as well.13 As Forbes magazine puts it, "Once Xuxa until the balloons pop.
becomes a local icon, the Xuxa product blitz—marketed The final segment opens with Xuxa wearing a long blonde
directly by retailers—follows close behind" (Millman 300). wig and a shako. She sings a song about Carnival being a spe-
Simpson argues that Xuxa's "innocent" femininity presents cial day. She plays with her hair and makes faces. The back-up
the products she endorses in a nonconfrontational manner: dancers bring children center-stage to dance with them. At the
"The public's strong feelings of allegiance to Xuxa are cul- end of the song Xuxa gives the day's lesson: practice makes per-
tivated in calculated fashion [that] translate^] into a mar- fect. She stumbles on the word "practice" and asks for help. She
keting bonanza that is neither casual nor incidental" (97). thanks her guest and gets out her red lipstick, applying it while
In both the Portuguese- and the Spanish-language versions, scouting for a subject for her kiss. "And my kiss goes . . . come
these endorsements come during games and activities; mer- on Roberto. " The young boy comes closer, and Xuxa asks which
chandise bearing her trademark is given to the winners of cheek he wants her to kiss. He cannot decide and she kisses his
games and to other members of the audience. In the U.S., right cheek. "Thank you, I see ya, bye. " She runs up the stairs
the particular form that Xuxa's consumerism takes is into the globe, which closes while the music swells.
deemed inappropriate, and critics have charged that her
show is simply a program-length commercial. Thus her U.S. ******

producers cite the "educational value" of Xuxa's program,

which—in order to conform to 1992 Federal Com- Far from focusing on education, when Xuxa talks about
munications Commission (FCC) regulations requiring that the English-language version of her program, she talks
children's shows have some educational content—includes about filling a gap in children's entertainment by playing to
segments teaching such lessons as the importance of brush- emotion and instinct: "There is no TV show in the U.S.
ing your teeth, eating breakfast, and leading a healthy life. where children can scream or cry or dance or do whatever
In Brazil and other countries in Latin America, on the other they want" (qtd. in Miller). The implication is that children
hand, there is growing concern over the need for educa- need to be indulged and to express themselves without inhi-
tional programs for children, but little has been done to bition, and that a program that encourages this behavior is
approve legislation controlling the content of programs on performing a valuable psychological service. Parents who
commercial television. forbid their offspring to watch the show and to bond with
Xuxa—a bond facilitated by her merchandise, of course—
******
are presumably standing in the way of the children's psychic
health. Bob George, MTM's vice president of program-
The second segment begins with Gloop time. Two teams ming, also emphasizes the healthy, "natural" aspect of the
compete to see who will put more paint in a bucket in one show, claiming, "Kids gravitate to [her program]. The
minute. One child puts paint into the other child's bucket, immediate reaction of kids is to get out of their chairs and
which is worn on the head. This child has to pass the paint to dance and bounce around and use the natural energy that
the bucket on the head of the next child in line, who must drop children have. This is participatory television for children"
the paint into the final bucket on a table. (qtd. in Mangan).
Crossing Cultural Barriers with Children's Television Programming 165

When Xuxa's English-language show first aired five has been perceived not as a role model, but rather as some-
years ago, it followed upon a well-orchestrated public rela- one stretching the limits of what children should be exposed
tions campaign that pushed her name and image in the to. As such, she helps to illuminate the nature of those lim-
mainstream media. Most of the country's leading newspa- its from culture to culture.
pers covered her American debut. From the New York Times
to the Los Angeles Times, however, her show provoked pas- NOTES

sionately critical articles. Pronouncing her success incom- I would like to acknowledge the assistance of America Rodriguez,
Emile McAnany, Anne Morey, José de Vincenzo, and Dale Rice,
prehensible, critics objected to the sensual style in which she who read this paper over the course of its development. An earlier
pitched her message to children, her lack of knowledge of version was presented at the International Communications
Association conference held in Montreal in 1997.
English, and the show's inadequate educational content.14
The ratings for the first season were very low, a mere trace II describe this episode, broadcast in September 1993, as emblem-
atic of Xuxa's routine in the U.S. version of her show.
on the Nielsen chart. After a year she was pulled out of syn-
dication and her show went into reruns on the Family 2According to one 1992 estimate, her net worth at that time was
Channel,15 for which she also taped some skits as the god- in the neighborhood of $52 million (Byrne Bl).
mother of Funfest, the children's bloc at the station. While 3For the sixty-five half-hour shows produced in English, she
received $3 million plus one-third of any profits after distribution
the English-language show left the Family Channel in 1996, costs. A week of her show was estimated to cost between $150,000
and the Spanish-language show is also no longer being and $200,000.
broadcast in the U.S., the Xuxa doll and Xuxa's CDs and 4With the strengthening of regional mass media markets over the
videos are still available, suggesting that the marketability of last several decades, we have witnessed a slow shift in media flow
blonde beauty even in the U.S. is not dependent on name routes—no longer do we have a simple pattern wherein the United
recognition—presumably some of the doll's purchasers have States exports entertainment to developing nations. Local produc-
never seen the show or heard of Xuxa.
ers such as Egypt, Brazil, and Mexico have become important sup-
pliers of entertainment products in their regions and beyond (see,
Xuxa is not the first children's program to be repack- for instance, MeIo, Baldwin, Abu-Lughod).
aged for export; Sesame Street, too, has been adapted to the 5Panamericanism has ebbed and surged over time. In the 1940s,
requirements of markets abroad. It was part of Children's media products flowed relatively smoothly throughout the
Television Workshop policy that the show could not simply Americas, a circumstance encouraged during the war years by the
U.S.-financed Office of the Coordinator for Inter-American
be dubbed, but must be re-created to fit the culture of the Affairs. Since the mid-1980s, there has been renewed interest in
country in which it would be aired. This insistence on promoting integration, with initiatives such as the Mercosur in the
adapting to the host society was intended to guarantee that southern cone of South America (involving Brazil, Argentina,
Sesame Streefs educational content would be accepted and Paraguay, and Uruguay); the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; and
appreciated by young viewers, a high-minded motive that the discussion of the creation of a hemisphere-wide trade bloc.
Xuxa, whose aim was merely to conquer a slice of the lucra- Factors contributing to the erasure of boundaries also include
tive U,S, television and toy market, did not share. Sesame advances in dubbing technologies, the spread of MTV, and the
Street is still being produced and broadcast in several nations availability of satellite transmissions increasing cable penetration in
in its local versions, normally with great success. The main the region.
barrier for Sesame Street's crossing over into other markets 6By 1992, when Xuxa stopped producing her show in Brazil, she
had an average of 33 million viewers daily, and her Spanish-
continues to be the high cost of adapting the show to the language program was already attracting more than 50 million
local reality. viewers across Latin America (Bibisi 5). In the next year she would
But the contrast between Sesame Streefs success abroad only produce specials for Globo. By the fourth quarter of 1994,
and Xuxa's failure—or partial failure, since although Xuxa's Xuxa agreed to come back to Globo, but this time with a program
aired on Saturday afternoons and targeting a broader audience.
show has not gained a significant U.S. following she has Her current show in Brazil, Xuxa Park, adheres to the pattern of
nonetheless been able to place her merchandise in the U.S. one she developed in 1992 for Tele-5 in Spain and is followed by
market—may have less to do with relative virtue than with another show hosted by Xuxa, featuring musical performances by
the ability to reinforce viewers' reflection of their own real- local groups.
ity. As I. de Sola Pool has argued, the shows that accomplish 7Lua de Cristal grossed $10 million—twice as much as her 1988
the latter task are the shows that audiences reward with their
first film, Super Xuxa contra o Baixo Astral (Super Xuxa against
"Downer"). The film was produced by Xuxa Productions and
loyalty, even when the reality in question may be oppressive Dream Vision and co-produced and distributed by Columbia
and discriminatory (143). Xuxa's success in Latin America Pictures. See Simpson (111) for more details.
may be due to her skill at reinforcing hegemonic cultural 8Xuxa is said to have had an affair with Carlos Menem, the presi-
attitudes regarding beauty, race, gender, and consumerism, dent of Argentina. She was photographed with John Kennedy, Jr.,
not all of which have translated easily into the United States
and several other men highly visible throughout the continent,
who were supposed to have succumbed to her charms. Gossip
market. In a more puritanical society with a stronger aware- magazines in Latin America have discussed those stories in detail,
ness about issues of race and gender representation, Xuxa boosting her name recognition.
 166 Children's Literature Association Quarterly

9This datum is from the Preliminary Synopsis of the Demographic Byrne, Louise. "Rio de Janeiro's Xuxa." Toronto Star 5 July
Census for 1991, Fundaçà o Instituto Brasileiro de GeografÃ-a e 1992: Bl.
EstatÃ-stica (FIBGE). Cardoso, Ruth, and Esther I. Hamburger. "Youth and the Media in
10For discussion on representations of ethnic groups in Brazilian Brazil." International Social Science Journal 141 (1994): 454-64.
television, see Subervi-Velez and Oliveira, and Leslie. DePalma, Anthony. "Racism? Mexico's in Denial." New York
"When Xuxa put together her current Brazilian show, Xuxa Park, Times 11 June 1995: E3.
the look of the dancers changed to include dark-haired girls. This FIBGE. "Sinopse Preliminar do Censo Demográfico—1991." Rio
modification was a response to external pressure upon Xuxa with- de Janeiro: Fundaçà o Instituto Brasileiro de GeografÃ-a e
in Brazil after the Brazilian media publicized the multiethnic com- EstatÃ-stica, 1993.
position of Xuxa's U.S. show. Nevertheless, when I last viewed Freeman, Mike. "Xuxa Works on U.S. Makeover." Broadcasting
Xuxa Park in July 1998, there were still no Black dancers. and Cable 2 August 1993. Available Lexis/Nexis Library: Business
12The contract with Telefe allowed her corporation to sell the pro- news file.
gram to the larger Hispanic market. When Univision, the largest Kottack, Conrad. "Ernies and Etics of Racial Classification in
Spanish-language network in the U.S., announced Xuxa's addition Brazil, Based on a Recent National Survey." Paper presented at the
to its fall 1991 lineup, it was able to state in a press release, with- 91st annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association,
out much hyperbole, that the entertainer had "re-written ratings San Francisco, 4 December 1992.
history for children's television throughout Latin America"
("Xuxamania"). Leslie, Michael. "Representation of Blacks in Brazil on Prime-
Time Commercial Television." Howard Journal of Communication
13In small markets such as Paraguay or Ecuador, syndication of her 4.1-2(1992): 1-9.
one-hour show can cost as little as $300 an hour; the price tag goes
up to $3,000 in Venezuela. Mahan, Elizabeth. "Cultural Industries and Cultural Identity: Will
NAFTA Make a Difference?" Unpublished manuscript.
14One negative review in the Chicago Tribune, for instance, com-
plained: "Xuxa is cute but that does not compensate for her inabil- Mangan, Jennifer. "There's No Educational Value in 'Xuxa' Star's
ity to grasp the English language. She is in constant verbal battle Lipsyncing." Chicago Tribune 13 September 1993. Available
with words provided for her on her hand-held cue cards. Under Lexis/Nexis Library: Business news file.
such circumstances, it is absurd that Xuxa was fashioned to help Meló, José Marques de. As telenovelas da Globo: produçà o e expor-
fulfill the educational and informational needs of children aged 2 taçà o. Säo Paulo: Summus, 1988.
to 11" (Mangan). Much of the program was designed to let Xuxa Miller, Rick. "Xuxa Brings a World of Love to Millions of Brazilian
speak as little as possible because of her obvious difficulties with Kids." Chicago Tribune 13 January 1993. Available Lexis/Nexis
English. In the episode summarized in the present essay, an Library: Entertainment news file.
employee of the San Diego Zoo presents a koala to the audience,
but Xuxa has no interaction with the animal's caretaker beyond Millman, Joel. "Shoe-Shoe, Buy, Buy." Forbes 9 December 1991:
300.
trying to ask the koala's age—and having her question misunder-
stood. Her poor command of the language is partly to blame for Pool, I. de Sola. "The Changing Flow of Television." Journal of
the show's lack of the dynamic quality evident in the versions that Communication 27.2 (1977): 139-79.
swept Latin America. In the U.S. it was necessary for her to rely Rodriguez, America. "Creating an Audience and Remapping a
more heavily on the supporting staff, the actors playing Jelly and Nation: A Brief History of US Spanish Language Broadcasting
Jam as well as her dancers. 1930-1980." Quarterly Review of Film and Video (forthcoming).
15Her presence on the Family Channel, founded by the religious Simpson, Amelia. Xuxa: The Mega-Marketing of Gender, Race and
conservative Pat Robertson, is particularly interesting in light of Modernity. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1993.
her previous career and the controversy over the sexual posture of Skidmore, Thomas. "Racial Ideas and Social Policy in Brazil,
her children's shows. That the Family Channel was willing to add 1870-1940." The Idea of Race in Latin America, 1870-1940. Ed.
Xuxa to its lineup stresses the distinctions between her image in the Richard Graham. Austin: U of Texas P, 1990. 7-36.
Latin American market and the image that she has sought—not
always successfully—to construct for herself in the U.S. Subervi-Velez, Federico, and Omar de Oliveira. "Blacks and Other
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Inquiry." Brazil in the Eighties. Ed. Carmen McCledon and M.
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