My Bachelor thesis “Meu herói, meu vilão” (my hero, my villain) seeks to examine the relationship between Brazilian society and their police. Developing out of a deeply intimate layer of personally conducted interviews with a variety of people, the project aims to bring the topic closer to a wider audience not only on a intellectual level but also on a personal and emotional one.

The topic of the police’s role and perception is currently a very important discussion not only in Brazil. Because the examination of this topic is so very crucial all over the world, this project aims to, on the one hand, examine this dynamic in a part of the world that is very close to me, as it is my mother’s home country, and with that perpetuate a discussion that transcends borders, but also incentivise a train of thought, that is outside of the black and white thinking oftentimes perpetuated in this discussion. This is achieved, by presenting interview excerpts of Brazilians talking about their perception of police while growing up in the country coupled with recordings of police toys, as well as news footage.