- FileRevellers 'bump and wine' at Joker's Wild Beach J'Ouvert in Oracabessa, St. Mary.
Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
IT IS Carnival Sunday. Thousands of revellers stream through the streets around Half-Way Tree in an orgy of colours.
Voluptuous, firm-bodied young women thrill the crowd with impromptu demonstrations of 'sexual outercourse' with only-too-willing men on the burning asphalt.
On the soft shoulders of the major thoroughfares, people stand in open-jawed awe and envy at the licentious goings-on in the streets of Kingston. "Dem nasty eeh," one woman cried out and flapped her hand in a pantomime of disgust but her eyes never left the spectacle. She didn't even blink.
An estimated 200,000 people watch the road parade every year. Last year, there was a new development as several people organised house parties along the route.
"People go to great expense to set up their houses, or a piece of land along the route to host carnival parties," said Michael Ammar Jr., one of the directors of Bacchanal Jamaica.
That's the irony of the carnival experience in Jamaica. During the season, people gyrate in mas camps and on the streets (or turn out to fan themselves during the spectacle on the street) but nod their heads in agreement in church as the preachers bellow damnation from the pulpit. They 'bun' the bacchanal, but delight in the emotions it excites.
In other West Indian societies, Trinidad, for example, carnival is hailed as an influential factor for social integration and an escape from tension and the negative impact of social prejudices.
In Jamaica carnival is cause for excitement as well as blunt criticisms.
"Carnival contributes to the moral decline in Jamaica, it cannot be just entertainment, it has other implications," said sociologist, Blossom White. Although there is no data available at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to determine the effects of carnival on Jamaica or its people, Mrs. White, who has tutored at the UWI for 17 years, is convinced that the celebrations have a negative impact on society.
"Do not believe all that stuff about social integration. Carnival is just for a day and a weekend, after a while we go back to the way it is -- who is to be exploited, is exploited, who is to be oppressed is oppressed. We (shouldn't) fool ourselves, society is stratified (and) carnival doesn't break down social barriers," added Mrs. White who has carried out some research on the matter.
"There is an increase in the fertility rate and STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) in the nine-month period after carnivals are held in other countries. People get carried away and forget their inhibitions, the dancing stimulates erotic sensations, and most likely people will want to let off sexual steam, and that can lead to problems," she said.
Noting that the soca event was imported by prominent people in the society, the sociologist argued that carnival had serious implications on the psyche of the poorer class.
"If persons are aspiring to the lifestyles, successes and goals of the upper class, what message is carnival sending to them?" she asked.
However, mea culpas are hard to get from carnival organisers. "Carnival is good, clean fun," said Stamford Cockin, one of the directors of Bacchanal Jamaica. "Ninety-nine per cent of the people are not doing anything vulgar but the media just focussed on that one per cent."
That may be true, but the dancing in the streets continues to ruffle the collars of the preachers in Jamaica. One source of irritation is that the local carnival is held during Lent a time of fasting, prayer and penance. The in-your-faceness of it is offensive to the church, say many in the pulpit.
"Easter is just not the same since carnival has come in to profane the deep religious beliefs of the season," said one preacher who said he did not want his name associated with any story about carnival. "People just want to march, and they take great delight in revelling and wanton behaviour, or just watching it. It is not even about the bun and cheese anymore, carnival is contributing to the moral decay of Jamaica," he said curtly.
In some countries like Trinidad and Tobago, the Lent aspect is strictly followed with the merry-making and revelry stopping at midnight on Shrove Tuesday before the holy holiday of Ash Wednesday.
However, in Jamaica, carnival activities occur during the height of the Easter weekend, between Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Still, the organisers defend their carnival product. "We are socially responsible. This year, we are hosting a health clinic at Mas Camp on February 27 where people can come and get free check ups, Bacchanal Jamaica has a strong working class following and we recognise what we have to do," said Mr. Cockin.
Dr. Arthur Green of the Universal African Improvement Association is not impressed,
however. He objects to the "idle display of flesh".
"This carnival has been sanctioned by persons of the so-called upper echelons of society and foisted upon us. It is hypocritical because it is the same things the dancehall divas do, but that is looked down upon because they come from different addresses...below Cross Roads," Dr. Green said, referring to the dichotomy of life (Uptown vs. Downtown) in Jamaica.
Despite the protests the carnival express steams ahead. The celebration generates millions of dollars as it attracts the attention of several blue-chip Jamaican companies, employs hundreds of people, and woos tourists and Jamaicans living overseas.
"Carnival has taken on its own feel in the last five years," said Mr. Ammar Jr., "but it is nowhere near that of a Trinidad Carnival. The J'Ouvert has been growing and is huge now, and the fetes have grown. However, the big disappointment is that the Road March has maintained the same size, there has been no growth in participation," he said.
Some believe that the failure of the local mas parade to attract participants is due mainly to the prohibitive prices. In Trinidad, there are sometimes as many as 45,000 revellers on the road and 62 trucks. In Jamaica, only 3,000-plus persons play mas each year.
"It is strictly economics, and even at the subsidised price of $4,000, which is considerably cheaper than Trinidad where it costs an average of US$200 for a costume with no drinks, food or fete included. Even though he Trinidad event is over two days, it is comparatively more expensive over there than in Jamaica," Mr. Ammar Jr. said.
"Still, we are pleased with our progress so far," Mr. Ammar Jr. said.
DOWNTOWN CARNIVAL
Oneil Smith, the organiser of downtown Carnival, feels that the event can help to soften downtown Kingston's image.
"We're pleased with the interest in the carnival in the downtown communities. We had a big turnout for last year's march but we are still having problems securing sponsorship. Downtown can be a positive place and maybe this carnival can change how the city is seen and bring people in the area together. Maybe," Mr. Smith said.
That's a big maybe. The downtown Kingston carnival kicks off tonight at the Doctor Bird nightclub in the Clock Tower plaza.
Despite the groans from the church and frowns from some other areas of society the carnival train is getting into high gear for 2002 with high-energy fetes at the Marketplace, and at the Mas Camp on Oxford Road. This year there's even the addition of masks and feathers at some events.
Look for articles on carnival in upcoming issues of Flair Magazine, the Food and Lifestyle sections.
