Bandleaders: What vulgarity?

He asked, “What is curbing vulgarity in Carnival and who determines what vulgarity is? How are we to curb it? Are we going to censor Mas players for being more exuberant than others?”

Brown was reacting to PNM vice-chairman John Donaldson’s statement to the media that the question of vulgarity in Carnival came up for discussion at the PNM’s General Council meeting on Sunday.

He stated that Prime Minister Patrick Manning was holding meetings with the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) in an effort to curb the vulgarity. Brown felt the authorities should instead look at other aspects of Carnival such as drunk driving which endangered peoples’ lives instead of looking closely at people who chose to “wine down more than others.”

He added, “It is really amusing.” Donald Little, president of the other Mas bandleaders body — the National Carnival Development Foundation (NCDF), asked what was the yardstick for indecency. “I wish the IRO can help the PM decide what vulgarity is and how to stop it. I observed few masqueraders on the borderline of being naked, but at no time have I seen them being vulgar. It is very difficult to make a really honest comment on how you control indecency in Carnival,” Little said.

“You give me an A level question and I am only in second standard. That is something way over my head,” he added.

Like Brown, Little also found that there is a major problem with alcohol during Carnival and spoke of some people who tend to become vulgar under the influence of alcohol and that something ought to be done about that.

Meanwhile IRO President Cyril Paul’s first reaction was that they will welcome any discussion about the matter because they feel very strongly about it.

He added that they will be happy to have discussions about it however at this point they haven’t been contacted to have any meeting post Carnival.

On the subject itself Paul said, “It is bordering on the ridiculous. Now we don’t mind a reasonable amount of freeing up but it has now become intolerable and I await a call from the PM where I will express our indignation and take it from there.”