I’ve heard that bullfighting is not art

The lies of Ferdinand

Abstract

The film Ferdinand, directed by Brazilian Carlos Saldanha and released in Brazil in 2018, continues to receive widespread, well-deserved acclaim from audiences, with its presence on the streaming platform Netflix serving as proof of its enduring popularity. However, the film's success obscures several of misconceptions about "taurine world" in Spain and other countries. The figures of the fighting bull, the bullfighter, and the cattle rancher are presented in the movie in a distorted, even slanderous, way, as can be seen from the evaluations of critics and experts in taurine literature. Authors such as Gabriel García Márquez, whose involvement with bullfighting is still rarely discussed, Ernest Hemingway, Federico García Lorca, Mario Vargas Llosa, Camilo José Cela, and the Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto are voices through which bullfighting can be viewed with respect and admiration. The diverse genres of these authors (journalistic chronicles, poetry, novels, and theory) offer elements that contribute to the critical examination of ideas that the film in question helped — and continues to help — spread. This paper therefore aims to provide a defense sin complejos (unapologetic defense) of the taurine world.