Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Ernesto Contreras, Alba Gil, and Alejandro Zuno, Netflix’s ‘I’m Not Afraid’ or ‘No Tengo Miedo’ revolves around a little boy named Miguel, whose spirited summer break takes a turn when he discovers a boy being held captive underground. While looking for his football in an abandoned mansion, Miguel meets and befriends Felipe, who is initially convinced that he is dead and that the well he’s trapped in is hell. However, as the Spanish-language mystery series goes on and Miguel digs deeper, he learns that Felipe was declared missing months ago, and his family is still desperately looking for him. Before Miguel can bring this to his family’s attention, however, he must wrestle with his own doubts about who to trust in this harsh world and how to help his friend.
Felipe Betancourt is Based on a Fictional Character From an Acclaimed Italian Novel
Felipe Betancourt is the show’s adaptation of Filippo Carducci, a fictional character who features in the Italian novel the show is based on, titled ‘I’m Not Scared’ or ‘Io Non Ho Paura.’ While the novel, penned by Niccolò Ammaniti, takes place in an Italian setting, its Netflix counterpart takes place in the outskirts of Veracruz, in Mexico, with screenwriters Maria Camila Arias and Mónica Herrera reimagining things from the ground up. This naturally brings a lot of subtle changes to Felipe’s arc and presentation, but the root of the narrative remains the same, with both Felipe and his novel antecedent, Filippo, ultimately being made-up constructs.
The idea for Felipe as a character in the story came to Niccolò Ammaniti after he had already conceptualized the premise, as he was primarily inspired by a landscape rather than any real event. While on a road trip to Puglia, in Italy, the writer came across vast farmlands of wheat and began imagining what life would have been like in the small villages and hamlets of this region in the decades prior. ‘I’m Not Scared’ is his rendition of a summer vacation in one such village gone wrong, and Filippo becomes a vessel for that narrative effect, as the kidnapped child who is discovered by the protagonist. Ammaniti has often expressed that he is fond of children’s characters because of their unique perspective on life, and the same can be felt in Filippo’s characterization.
The biggest change that can be observed in the transition from Filippo to Felipe is the integration of football into the narrative. Unlike the novel, the Netflix show is set right in the middle of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Mexico. The show makes frequent call-backs to the tournament, often from the perspective of Felipe, who is a huge football fan but has been stripped of the experience of watching the game. There are references to Mexico’s World Cup campaign, as well as to Maradona’s infamous “The Hand of God” goal. All of these details make the story feel a touch closer to reality and humanize Felipe along the way.
A Real-Life Kidnapping Case in Italy is Vaguely Reminiscent of Felipe’s Arc in the Show
While neither author Niccolò Ammaniti nor the show’s writers have connected the story to any particular true story, one real-life kidnapping draws some loose parallels to ‘I’m Not Afraid.’ On July 10, 1973, 16-year-old John Paul Getty III was kidnapped in Rome by the Italian mafia syndicate known as Ndrangheta. John was the grandson of British oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, one of the wealthiest people in the world at that time, and the news soon sent shockwaves through the globe. Reportedly, when the syndicate announced a ransom demand of $17 million, Jean was initially reluctant to pay, but that changed when the kidnappers sent him his grandson’s severed ears. Jean eventually paid a lowered sum of $2.2 million, and John was released roughly five months after the kidnapping.
John Paul Getty III’s kidnapping is vaguely similar to Felipe’s story in many ways, starting with the fact that he is also depicted as a scion of a wealthy family. There are also overlaps in how proof of life is conveyed by the kidnappers, but overall, it is unlikely that Ammaniti was directly inspired by the event. John’s kidnapping received a lot of media coverage in the 1970s, and even went on to inspire other Italian novelists, such as Philip Nicholson, who went on to pen the novel ‘Man on Fire,’ also known for its film and TV adaptations. It is likely that this event is one of many that may have been used as partial reference points by the writers in molding the fictional stories of Filippo and later, Felipe
Read More: I’m Not Afraid Ending Explained: Is Miguel Dead or Alive? Is Felipe Rescued?
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