Geisy Arruda's Sane Decision

This sounds a bit more like the Brazil I remember, rather than the Puritanical one that appeared last week.

First, in regards to Arruda turning down the Playboy offer: good for her. I know about as much about Arruda as the rest of the world, which is to say: she goes to college, and she was expelled and humiliated for an outfit that very few found remarkably offensive or revealing. She was readmitted back to the school, and went back, seeming to genuinely want to earn her degree to improve her social standing.

Yet as is often the case, her instant "celebrity" led to Playboy knocking at the door, offering her quick money and fame, but nothing of substance. That is the Brazil I remember: the one that has a remarkable (even arguably by American standards) fascination with the celebrity-culture that pushes an obsession to be famous among certain sectors. These people are usually young men and women on reality-TV shows in Brazil. Almost always, an appearance on a reality TV show means a guaranteed offer to appear in Playboy or any other number of knockoffs; it's not even excluded to women, as young men on these shows often end up in nude photoshoots in other magazines. From then on, they remain famous as long as they keep popping up in these magazines, contributing nothing to society (save for some release for the teenagers who get their hands on these magazines), and as is usually the case with celebrity culture, when the latest phenomenon comes along, they're usually brushed aside.

Arruda decided to avoid that; instead, she chose to probably hopefully return to anonymity soon, and finish her studies. And for that,s he should be applauded.