Tainá Müller: A Voice to be Heard
by Tudo | Oct 13rd, 2020 | Interview
Student of Philosophy, the actress believes that without debate there is no democracy
She is one of the eloquent voices of feminism. She is active to talk and reflect on this and other subjects such as: pandemic, philosophy, environment, artificial intelligence, social networks, and of course, on the new Netflix suspense series “Bom Dia, Verônica”, but the adventures of the actress do not end there, with release scheduled for the end of the year, Tainá is writing a book on motherhood. "It's a kind of philosophical chat, a little unpretentious, but with a lot of confessional moments of exchange," she explained.
In this exclusive interview with TUDO magazine, Tainá reveals herself to be a safe and mature woman to make her choices.
PHOTO BY CYNTHIA SALLES - Globo
Revista TUDO: Debuting the series “Good morning, Veronica” on the streaming platform, you play a clerk who decides to investigate a crime. During the creation process, did you ever visit a police station and learn a little about a clerk's routine? How was your laboratory and how long did it take you to prepare for this job?
Tainá Müller: Yes, I did a two-month preparation with Sergio Penna, which included a visit to the homicide police station in Rio. There, I had access to the routine of police officers from many areas, studied cases of femicide to understand the particularities of this crime and followed the work closely of a clerk. All of this was fundamental to Veronica's composition. But other than that I also had an emotional preparation, to dive into the psychology of the character from the script and a body preparation, which involved fights and shooting classes.
RT: As a matter of fact, the series addresses a little explored genre - thriller -, especially on broadcast television, do you believe that the streaming platforms give the opportunity for the actors to work on other, more interesting themes outside the box?
TM: For sure. The Brazilian audiovisual market is changing very fast, following the global trend of globalization of content. With that, it is natural that we have a greater diversity of themes, genres and how good we are having this opportunity here in Brazil. “Good Morning, Veronica” got my attention from the beginning, precisely because it was very different from everything I had ever seen.
RT: In March the whole world was caught off guard by a pandemic causing the population to be quarantined, isolated, and all of us were affected in some way, some more others less, emotionally, financially. How did those days go by for you and your family?
TM: It was full of emotional, ups and downs, on this roller coaster that became 2020. It is a period of fear and uncertainty and I don't think there was a person in the world who was not affected by this impact. And it is not just the pandemic, there is something very strange in the air in politics, in climate change, in our behavior. But honestly, despite feeling it all, I don't feel comfortable complaining about anything right now. I am aware of my privilege and how hard it is being for people in the most vulnerable positions. I am very sad to see all this around me, I try to help as I can and I take it one day at a time.
RT: We saw that you participate in a group that discusses feminism, an important action nowadays, but how do you see the feminist movement 20 years from now, for example? Because although we have achieved a lot, there is still much to do.
TM: About three years ago I started to study feminism more deeply. I owe a lot to teachers Djamila Ribeiro and Márcia Tiburi, who gave weekly classes to this group of mine on the subject, in a very philosophical and academic way. I honestly cannot imagine what the world will be like in twenty years, but in my utopias I create a much more feminine world, in every way. We have been living for centuries in an energetic imbalance between feminine and masculine. The two forces must be in harmony and equality in order to prosper without self-annihilation. Patriarchy has been stifling the feminine of the world for so long that today we need to fight for the most basic rights. I believe that the toxicity that we experienced at that time comes from this virility without measure, which is predatory, without care and without reflection. I hope that men can be free to rediscover their feminine side of protection, nutrition and delicacy with details, with the subtle. And that women rediscover all the creative power that the feminine has, without the fear of violence, oppression and silence. I gradually feel that this movement has already started. Men and women are becoming more aware and the backlash of this is an attempt to hold on to the unstoppable which is the path of evolution.
PHOTO BY CYNTHIA SALLES - Globo
RT: Back to the classroom you chose the philosophy course, and philosophy is the search for knowledge, reflection, questions and wisdom, but in the midst of everything that is happening (deforestation, homophobia, prejudice, intolerance, patriotism, hatred and etc.). Can you see a light at the end of the tunnel for future generations?
TM: I believe that the light at the end of the tunnel will not magically come out, it is the result of building thought, of resuming the ability to imagine. Yes, I think that today's social upheaval is an identity crisis caused by the excess of (dis) information that we receive every day through the screens. Our thinking is influenced by an algorithm that constantly reaffirms our tastes and values, creating thought bubbles with insurmountable walls. At the same time that we are all connected, we are watching the debate dies. And without debate, there is no democracy, you cannot reach a place of common interest. We have a lot to think about, what to invent and what to review in order to get out of this web of immobility that holds us. Perhaps the only thing that unites us, regardless of values and political position, is that we want a different world from the one we have now. We all have the feeling that “something didn't work out” and that we need to fix it. I believe that everyone today with food on the table has the duty to put their head on thinking about a new world, one that accommodates diversity, one that is more free and fair, more egalitarian and, above all, more ecological. How are we going to do it? I have no idea. But if we don't start debating and thinking now, it won't happen in the future. We need to stop falling into the trap of re-discussing ideas from 100 years ago and start looking ahead. We need to bury the 20th century in order to enter the 21st century definitively.
PHOTO BY CYNTHIA SALLES - Globo
RT: You are also scheduled for the original series “Evil Secret”, which is slowly return to filming. How has adaptation been at work in the midst of a pandemic? And taking advantage of the opportunity, how is your character [in the series], personality, behavior?
TM: My character is a criminal lawyer who gets involved with the forensic psychiatrist plays by Sergio Guizé. I can't give spoliers (laughs) but I hope to be able to start filming soon.
RT: Recently, the psychoanalyst Contardo Calligaris said that relations will be cleaner and more truthful among people in the post-pandemic period. What is your perception of the post-pandemic world? Do you already notice the change in the people around you?
TM: I believe that we still cannot measure the impact of all this change in our relationships, but I believe that the imminence of death always brings a lot of learning. At least I am on this path, of continuing to foster relationships of true exchange, of honesty and I have less and less patience for social masks. I hope that this is a trend and that we can increasingly live in authenticity.
RT: Taina, we would like to know a little more about the book you intend to write talking about motherhood. As it is a very specific topic, we would like to understand what the main approach you intend to take, and also how the idea came about? What is the name of the book and if it has a release date? Are you writing alone?
TM: This book emerged from the invitation of Companhia das Letras to write about the topic after a text I published in the newspaper “O Globo”. It is the result of a dialogue with Marcos Piangers about parenting in this changing world, about what it was like for us to be a son and now what it feels like to be a mother of a boy and a father of girls. It is a kind of philosophical, unassuming conversation but with very confessional moments of exchange. We plan to launch by the end of the year. It is late because of the demands of the pandemic, or rather, of our own parenting at that moment without school and without help.
RT: You recommended a documentary: “The Social Dilemma” that talks about artificial intelligence and the algorithm. But I wanted to understand how you do to keep mental health balanced and away from social networks, in a world where posting more and more has become essential in the lives of many people. How do you control these longings that come many times, without us noticing?
TM: I can say that today, despite being aware of the problem, I am totally immersed in it. And I wonder if I will ever have my brain and my time back. We have been captured, our professions and networks depend on it now, our entire generation is in the networks. The “I think, therefore I am”, became “I post, therefore I am”. Who has never experienced the strange sensation of living something very special and feels obliged to “leave” the moment to post, why not register there on the networks it seems that the moment did not even exist? Anyway, I hope that we will wake up and at least fight for the regulation of this trillion-dollar technology industry, so that we are not completely dominated by it. Otherwise, we will see democracy giving complete space to the supremacy of the industry and that is scary. I believe that it is possible to maneuver this transatlantic and change this route, strengthening and reaffirming the control institutions. There is a lot of shade, but there is also a lot of light in the technologies. Today I can attend a class by an indigenous leader directly from a village in Acre, something that would have been impossible years ago. So I root for ethics.
PHOTO BY CYNTHIA SALLES - Globo
RT: You said that when the vaccine comes out, the first thing you will do is take your son to visit the Nova Esperança village of the Yawanawas, it is sad to see everything that is happening with the forests, with the animals and with the indegenous. But do you believe that there will be time for salvation as government officials are not committed to resolving these issues?
TM: There has to be time. But we have to be more active, as civil society, to fight for what is right for us, which is a livable world. And protecting the indigenous is also self-protection, since they are the guardians of the forest that sustains the biochemical balance so that life on Earth is still possible. Not only that, they also have an ancestral knowledge of survival and harmony with the environment that we urgently need to recover. The decolonization of our thinking is fundamental to our own survival. The indigenous people teach us to "think outside the box" and I think that today they produce the most contemporary thinking of all, so whenever I can I hear what they have to say. I realize that they bring a different logic of existence, much more connected to the essence of life much more integrated with everything that exists and with the true “key to happiness” that capitalism wants so much to sell and cannot achieve, bringing only insatiability of desires. I am sad because we are privileged in Brazil for having all this wealth of cultural diversity in the country, which wants and has a lot to teach us, but we do not value it. We still do not see our true gold, which is the power of our original peoples and their way of life. We cannot let capitalism destroy our greatest wealth. We need to act and it is now.
This paper is a free translation of Tainá Müller's interview. All rights reserved to TUDO magazine.
