BRUP! Brup!
Look out everyone here comes the morality police beating their chests over the wickedness of carnival, using personally convenient self-twisted biblical quotes (some from religions they themselves do not subscribe to) and admonishing everyone who took part in such a feast of sin.
According to the keyboard clacking puritans, Carnival is 100% responsible for the moral decay of TT and completely to blame for the break down of society.
Every year they wait patiently to begin their campaign of righteousness, denouncing Carnival and
moaning about beads, bikinis and vulgar behaviour… every single year.
Let’s blame Carnival! A celebration forged from our rich history that over time has incorporated many elements of our diverse culture. A teeny tiny chunk of the year that reminds us of the creativity and beauty of us, the Trinbagonian people.
Forget pretty mas, let’s look at ole mas, the Paramin Blue Devils, the Canboulay Riots, steelpan, soca, calypso, chutney, J’Ouvert. All incredibly magically elements of our nation’s finest celebration.
But let’s blame Carnival. Let’s blame Carnival for crime, for poor financial choices, for the use of alcohol and drugs, for overtly sexual behaviour, for poverty, for pollution, for cementing our places in hell. Yup Carnival’s fault.
Definitely not the fault of a weak justice system, a non-existent social support system, an archaic education system, systematic classism and racism in both our Government and societal institutions, and definitely not the fault of corrupt Governments who have actively created a “gimme gimme” mentality among many to keep them loyal, keep them quiet and keep them voting for the rotten hand that feeds.
Yeah, all of our problems, totally Carnival’s fault.
It baffles me, that year-after-year the self righteous crew comes with the same diatribe. Look if you don’t like Carnival, that’s your business, but don’t be wasting down a celebration of us.
Has carnival changed over the years? Yes. But the key elements are still there. And while some bands costumes are just nipple covers, butt floss and glitter, some are artistic masterpieces. I mean did you see The Lost Tribe presentation, it was art. Absolutely stunning and so much so it picked up the attention of Vogue magazine, who did a entire feature on the artistic talents of our local costume designers… made me proud.
Is Carnival expensive? Yes, but who are you to tell people how to spend their money. You might not think it wise to drop large amounts of cash on tickets and costumes, but I am sure there are things you drop money on that make others eyes roll.
Don’t like Soca or Chutney? That’s cool. I don’t like half of the music I hear but you don’t see me looking down on people who enjoy it.
There is always so much hate and negativity aimed towards our own people, especially by those who picture themselves as sherpas of the moral high ground.
It’s disheartening and honestly, it is the lack of tolerance, attitude of superiority and good old negativity
that also has us where we are.
Opposition MP for Moruga/Tableland Michelle Benjamin jumped on the bandwagon, moaning about Carnival being a flop and so forth. And let’s be transparent here, her statements were purely political.
Everything could have gone fantastic, no glitches, smooth sailing, and I guarantee Benjamin would have said the same thing. And on the flip side it everything was a huge mess, and her party was in power she would have hailed it a success. Stueps.
There will always be issues with an event of this magnitude and rather than bitch and moan, what should be done is to push for better next year. Also I think its time to do a good old audit of the National Carnival Commission… cause you know no matter who is in power, that is one of those entities where there is always an air of alleged sketchiness.
Is Carnival perfect? No. But it’s beautiful if we can just for five minutes not be miserable, judgmental human beings. Maybe we would not get so wound up about Bunji and Fay-Ann, Big Mike’s breakdown, beaded bikinis and the incredibly talented eight-year-old Katelin Sultan being crowned Queen of Chutney
Soca, if we focused all of our ire towards the real causes of our nations moral decay.
Excellently articulated. It’s not the Carnival, it never was, it was always the group of people who take advantage and push the boundaries of perversion and greed over culture, heritage and simple fun. Though debauchery and revelry can get out of hand when people are not in control of themselves, we must be honest with ourselves and admit, it does have a lasting effect on the younger generation which leads them down a path of destruction, as they are not mentally capable to handle it yet. We are living in a different world and though we need to accept change, what needs to be understood is the extent of damage created by negative change and bar none acceptance without terms like integrity, morality, honour and respect. The only solution is to re-educate the population with balance of facts, evidence, truth and free will choice. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and in that law, as in all laws, that is immovable. Great work Alicia. We hear you loud and clear. Truth be told. We give thanks for your words of perspective.