Setting: A cozy apartment in São Paulo, Brazil. Afternoon sun filters through the windows. The table is set for lunch with feijoada, rice, and farofa. A large wall mirror faces one side of the dining table.
Mateus: (freezes mid-step, holding his plate)
Carlos! Pelo amor de Deus, move that mirror. I’m not eating in front of that thing.
Carlos: (pouring juice)
Seriously? Again with this mirror thing? It’s just a piece of glass with a silver backing, not some portal to face distortion.
Mateus: (sitting on the edge of the chair, visibly uncomfortable)
You say that now, but one day you’ll eat your words—and your crooked reflection. My tia Lourdes told me when she was a girl, she saw her cousin eat in front of a mirror during Festa Junina, and after that his smile was completamente torto.
Carlos:
Maybe your cousin just had Bell’s palsy! That’s a real condition. Temporary facial paralysis. It has nothing to do with rice and beans in front of a mirror.
Mateus: (waving his fork like a sword)
You can explain anything away with science. That’s your problem. No mystery, no respect for ancestral wisdom. Do you think generations of Brazilians just made this up for fun?
Carlos:
Honestly? A lot of superstitions started as ways to keep kids from doing weird or rude things. Maybe eating in front of a mirror was seen as vain or distracting, so someone said, “Hey, let’s scare ‘em a little.” Voilà—crooked face myth.
Mateus:
Or maybe mirrors reflect more than just light, Carlos. Ever heard of energy? You ever walk past a mirror in the dark and feel like you’re being watched?
Carlos: (chuckling)
Yes, by myself. Because I was being watched—by me. That’s how reflections work.
Mateus: (mocking)
So logical, so dry. If a ghost ever pops out of that mirror and slaps your coxinha off the plate, don’t come crying to me.
Carlos:
Fine. But let’s do a little test. I’ll eat while staring into the mirror. If my face turns crooked, you get to say “I told you so” for the rest of our lives. Deal?
Mateus: (gasping)
You’re playing with forces you don’t understand! That’s like saying, “Hey, I’ll walk under this ladder and juggle some black cats while I’m at it.”
Carlos: (grinning and taking a spoonful while staring into the mirror)
Mmm. Still symmetrical. And delicious.
Mateus: (looking horrified)
You’re tempting fate, cara. That’s like whistling at night and daring the saci-pererê to steal your luck.
Carlos:
Okay, you know I love Brazilian folklore, but saci’s not sitting in the mirror waiting to yank my face off like Play-Doh. Honestly, if this were true, wouldn’t all beauty influencers filming “What I Eat in a Day” videos have crooked jaws by now?
Mateus: (pauses)
Hmm. Maybe they do, and we’re just too polite to say anything.
Carlos: (laughs)
Look, I get it. Superstitions give people comfort. They’re fun, sometimes even poetic. But if they stop us from enjoying lunch or thinking clearly, maybe it’s time to question them.
Mateus:
And maybe a little fear keeps us humble. There are things science can’t explain.
Carlos:
True. But there’s a difference between mystery and misinformation. Let’s keep the awe—without the anxiety.
Mateus: (smiling reluctantly)
Alright, alright. But if your selfie later looks like Picasso painted it, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Carlos: (raising his glass)
Deal. Now eat before it gets cold—and try not to make eye contact with your reflection. I hear it eats your soul.
Mateus: (laughs)
Now that I’d believe.
[End Scene]
Science Vs Superstition 
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