Netflix and Over the Top Politics? The Mechanism TV series and the Dynamics of Entertainment Intervention

Abstract: 

Produced and premiered by Netflix, Brazilian Web television thriller The Mechanism (O Mecanismo) caused enormous public interest and controversy for its depiction of Lava Jato (“Jet Wash”) operation. A criminal investigation leaded by Brazilian federal police and Judge Sergio Moro, Lava Jato operation began as a money laundering investigation and expanded its focus on corruption in semipublic Brazilian oil company Petrobras. Provoking an earthquake in Brazilian political and economic system, Lava Jato operation led to the imprisonment of leading entrepreneurs and political figures, being the most prominent of them Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva, former Brazilian president during two consecutive tenures and one of the most prominent figures in Brazilian politics during the last four decades. Released at a critical moment in Brazilian politics, The Mechanism production is considered as being part of a strategy developed by Netflix to reinforce its dominant position in Brazilian and Latin American television streaming market. Progressive politicians and activist perceived the series´ content as an overt intervention aimed to damage left wing Workers Party chances in the elections to be held a few months later and called to boycott Netflix (Nobrega, 2018). In a desperate attempt to alert about the damage the series could cause to its party; the Workers Party (PT from now on); former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff blamed Netflix for intervening in Brazilian politics and The Mechanism creator and director Jose Padilha for spreading fake news. At the same time Rousseff alerted other countries and foreign leaders about a new pattern of what we could call “Over the Top Media Imperialism”, an overt intervention in local politics by an American media streaming contents provider (Laguna, 2018). On the other hand, the series’ creator denied any ideological bias, arguing that the whole Brazilian political system is corrupt, and the series depict corrupt practices among all political parties (Maria, 2018). Analyzing the series contents along with the media coverage in Brazilian mainstream online and printed press the present article examines the complex and troublesome relationship between an ongoing criminal investigation with ramifications into the political system and its fictionalization in a worldwide web television platform.