The outsourcing of motherhood based on the cinematic representation of the domestic worker: Views and constructive paths in ‘What Time Does She Come Back?’

Abstract

This article promotes reflections on the representation of domestic workers as recorded in one of the most prominent films in contemporary Brazilian cinema. The research focuses on the film analysis of the work Que horas ela volta? (2015), by directora Anna Muylaert. This analytical path will question the liquidity of maternal affection, the process of outsourcing motherhood, the black population that provides domestic work, and the country's social history with its slavery aspect. In this way, ethnic and racial issues in Brazilian society, as well as the representation of the female experience of the protagonist Val and her daily struggles as a domestic worker, will be problematized through the analysis of the chosen cinematographic narrative.