Political memes have exploded in Brazil since Sunday’s election that saw President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat his opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, who responded to his loss by fleeing the country.
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who → explode → country
Social media played an outsized role in Lula’s win, with the unprecedented mobilization of the country’s left on digital networks a critical factor in how Sunday’s vote played out.
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vote → play → networks
Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for money laundering and corruption, said on Monday that he had no intentions of leaving Brazil, then departed the country shortly thereafter.
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he → say → country
The extraordinary sequence of events kicked Brazil’s famed meme-making machine into overdrive, turbo-charged by artificial intelligence.
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sequence → kick → intelligence
The posts got hundreds of thousands of likes and shares on multiple social media platforms.
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posts → get → platforms
“Brazilians treat serious questions with lightness, irony and humor,” said Carolina Terra, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s communications and arts school.
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Terra → treat → school
, tends to turn into memes that become viral.
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that → tend → memes
“Goodbye, homeland and family”
“Where is Flávio?” many on the internet asked, depicting former President Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son as Waldo, the famous character of a children’s puzzle book series.
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many → ask → series
One meme titled “Which costume would you use to flee?” presented Bolsonaro in a range of outfits to resemble a Rastafarian, Mario, former soccer player Ronaldo and John Lennon, among others.
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you → title → others
Another showed “Flyvio Bolsonaro” as the captain of a “Fly 22 Airlines” – a reference to the number of Brazilians who voted for him punched into the country’s electronic voting machines.
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who → show → machines
The 45-year-old Trump ally landed in Miami on Wednesday and posted a letter in which he declared himself the “true president-elect of Brazil” — a term he later softened to “leader” — and said the vote was fraudulent, without offering evidence.
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vote → land → evidence
He compared himself — among other figures — to Charles de Gaulle, who led the French resistance to the Nazi occupation of France from London during World War II.
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who → compare → II
The letter, posted on X, also used a coat of arms referring to Brazil as “United States of Brazil” instead of the “Federative Republic of Brazil” as the country has been known since 1967.
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country → post → 1967
It also misspelled Brazil in Portuguese, using the English spelling with a “z” rather than the Portuguese “Brasil.”
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It → misspell → z
Some Brazilians received an “invitation” to a mock inauguration of Bolsonaro as the president of the “United States of Brazil,” signed by cartoon character Goofy and with Disneyland in the background.
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Brazilians → receive → background
Other internet users declared themselves all sorts of things — from the King of Soccer, a reference to Pelé, to Brazil’s president.
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themselves → declare → president
Some social media users parodied the slogan “God, homeland and family”, which became “Goodbye, homeland and family”.
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which → parody → homeland
The memes have a cathartic role
Other memes drew inspiration from famous movies.
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memes → have → movies
An AI-modified version of the poster for “Catch me if you can” replaced Leonardo DiCaprio with Bolsonaro and Tom Hanks with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who issued the order canceling Bolsonaro’s passports on Sunday night.
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who → modify → night
Another tampered with the poster for “Home Alone” and pictured Flávio and his brother Eduardo — who also lives in the U.S. — as the thieves in the background, and a shocked-looking Jair Bolsonaro in a red jumper at the forefront.
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who → tamper → forefront
One referenced the movie “Dark Horse” — a biopic and propaganda film about Jair Bolsonaro.
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One → reference → Bolsonaro
Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion for receiving millions of dollars from a disgraced banker to finance the movie.
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Bolsonaro → receive → movie
The meme depicted the poster for an imagined “Dark Horse 2” — showing Bolsonaro on a horse bearing a presidential sash galloping on a highway toward an airport.
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Bolsonaro → depict → airport
“The fugitive is different” read the poster, referencing the elder Bolsonaro’s similar departure to Florida after he lost the 2022 election and also refused to concede.
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he → read → election
He was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup.
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He → sentence → coup
Fewer memes circulated in Brazil during this year’s election campaign due to a lack of opportunities ahead of the first round because there were no debates involving the two main candidates, said Viktor Chagas, a professor at Fluminense Federal University and coordinator of the Colab research group that analyzes political memes.
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that → circulate → memes
In the lead up to the runoff vote, the two debates did generate more memes but the three-week period was principally characterized by high political tension, Chagas said.
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Chagas → generate → tension
“The memes regarding Bolsonaro’s departure to the U.S. have a cathartic element” for Lula’s supporters, said Chagas.
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Chagas → regard → supporters
“The idea is: Now that we’re back on track, so to speak, we can laugh together.”
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we → ’re → track
The Aporia
