Considering Fetishism in João Pedro Rodrigues’s O Fantasma

This essay considers the depiction of fetishism in João Pedro Rodrigues’s 2000 film O Fantasma. While its unusual and recondite form reflects fetishistic desire in ways that subvert and challenge conventional narrative structures, its presentation of fetishistic sexuality is also embedded in the material world. Thus, the film can be read as an pessimistic statement about the ability of sexual identity politics to effect broad social change. As such, the essay offers a note of caution to recent queer criticism of lusophone cinema.