First, I participated in it last year so it can no longer be argued as obligatory for me as a tourist. Memories of last year's Carnaval involve some very good parts--making new friends, listening to new music, spending some time exploring, seeing some hilarious and creative costumes and getting to experience one of the most famous parties worldwide. However, there was also plenty to dislike--the drama involved with following a 20-year-old and her friends around, not getting enough sleep mixed with getting borderline too much sun, temperatures much higher than the average Ohioan is used to, an insane amount of walking, crowds so big that most of the time spent at a bloco (which is what they call the individual parades/parties taking place in the street...there are hundreds during the the month) meant shuffling to get through people and not lose friends, a cell phone being stolen despite how careful everyone was, the downtown smelling like piss the entire week (a consequence of the lack of decent public restrooms), expensive prices for everything, people getting hammered as early as 7:30 a.m. every day, guys grabbing you as you try to walk by because they think they have the right to make out with whoever the hell they want, whenever they want....and the list goes on.
Though it was cool to experience it once, after that rant I probably don't need to explain any further why I didn't feel the need to do it again this year...but I will. As it got closer, prices for everything soared and the temperature climbed higher and higher. Stores started popping up everywhere, selling flower crowns, fairy wings, stick-on "tattoos," fake eyelashes and every other ridiculous thing you can think of. Men, women and children alike started buying all of the above in preparation, while 2,500 homeless people sat on the streets, without enough money to even buy themselves food, and watched.
As the time came closer, we started to discuss Carnaval in our Portuguese class and, boy, were those some interesting discussions. At first, I was feeling a little bit guilty about not really wanting to participate in Carnaval because everyone else (locals and foreigners alike) seemed so excited. However, the more I actually learned about Carnaval, the more conscious my decision to not participate became.
In the end, I sort of decided that Carnaval is to Brazil as Trump is to the U.S. in that, not only does it seem to embody all of the country's worst qualities, but it throws them in your face. The worst qualities presented to us by Carnival? As follows...
Racism: Most Brazilians don't actually pay attention to the actually history behind the festival, but it began with black slaves being forced to dress up in costumes and perform and parade in order to entertain white people. Disgusting. To this day, racism is alive "and well" in Brazil as a whole and is, unfortunately, still a part of today's Carnaval. Here's an example: https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/10153931773996323/ but there's much more to it. It's just as loaded of a topic as racism in the U.S.
Sexism: If you watched the video from the link I've posted just above, you saw that women are allowed to be shown on television, dancing completely naked and only having those small strips of paint on them. Yet people complain about women breastfeeding in public or when women with less-than-"perfect" bodies wear less clothes than they would like.
Women are over-sexualized in this culture and, especially during Carnaval, guys think it's their right to literally grab any girl walking by without her permission and that he should have the right to make out with her if he wants. There's a lot of kissing (and more) going on and both genders are participating. The difference though is that a guy can walk through these crowds without having problems (for the most part at least) and, as a girl, you often can't. You feel like a fish trying to swim through a sea of piranhas. You have to walk through as fast as you can and try to get away, despite people physically pulling you in different directions and trying to shove their tongues down your throat. (Disclaimer: some blocos are definitely worse than others and I am told that many are not like this at all.)
Corruption: Watching Scam City in our class started a discussion on where all the money comes from that pays for the sambódromo, the big contest between all the samba schools. Overall, it seems to boil down to a scam for big-time illegal gamblers to launder money and the "competition" is won by whichever school's sponsor paid the most money.
Ignorance: Further discussion of Carnaval left me with the impression that the government provides this giant holiday as a sort of distraction from the real issues going on in the country and the people fully buy into it. A friend of my friend's actually told me when I said I didn't like blocos that they're "good to distract the mind." But I prefer to be paying attention to what's going on and to look at the honest reality of shit because that's the only way to bring about any type of change.
Superficiality: Plastic surgery, needing to have the perfect body, needing to look better than everyone else... People spend their entire year getting their bodies ready for Carnaval. To me, it seems like it's all taken a bit too far and it, therefore, overflows into other areas of life. It reminds me of all the superficiality in Korea. It goes way beyond the basic requirements of caring about yourself enough to look clean and somewhat put-together. Korea is the plastic surgery capital of Asia and Brazil is for Latin America. Bosses in Korea cared if the students looked like they were learning (for the sake of the parents who could watch the classes live from the lobby) but didn't actually care if the kids were learning. When acquaintances in Rio invite me to a club or bar, they always include the phrase "there are only beautiful people there" as if that will affect how fun the party is or entice me to go (disclaimer: I don't go out with people who say shit like, though I know they mean well). Both countries build things insanely fast but then Rio's bike path just collapsed and an auditorium in Korea collapsed, killing 10 students, while I lived there (and don't think those accidents were complete flukes...these kinds of things tend to happen in both countries). To be honest, even some of the friendships I've seen here sometimes strike me as completely fake.
The Frat Party-ness of it all: It's one giant loud, drunken, dirty frat party every day, including fights and litter all over the ground, and an eventual stench of piss eventually takes over each of the main streets of the city. Depending who you're with, there's drama. Lots of guys grab your arm as you try to walk by and some people steal.
Alright....disclaimer for real now:
Carnaval CAN definitely be fun, depending on the bloco and who you're with. Sometimes they have great music, creative costumes and a friendlier atmosphere, and I understand that. Still, after last year's exhausting shenanigans, I was not in the mood to participate this year and, the more I learned about what was really going on behind the fun party look of it all, the more I started to feel that I didn't want to participate for moral reasons either.
I've been accused of being too critical plenty of times before (both about my country and about every country I've lived in) and this may be true but I don't see it as a bad thing. I can love every country and still want to improve each one.
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