“Indiana Collor”, a character and its media adventures

Abstract

After winning the 1989 elections, Fernando Collor de Mello faced an interval of about three months between the results of the polls and the beginning of his government. Hailed as a political renewal in the electoral game, his figure was widely followed by the press in the period in question. It was in the pages of Jornal do Brasil that the nickname “Indiana Collor”, coined after the cinematographic character Indiana Jones, appeared at the time. This work intends to make a historical analysis of the nickname, contextualizing it in the following reflection fronts: that of the media candidate, incorporating characteristics situated between the modern and the post-modern; and that of the formation of the nickname itself. The hypothesis is that “Indiana Collor” will be more than a nickname, but a real character, and that it enabled relationships much more complex than those elaborated by the press. The sources used are stories in newspapers of the time, especially Jornal do Brasil, which invented “Indiana Collor” and incorporated it into the coverage of the period before Collor de Mello took office.