Sometimes I wonder if wearing leaves were to become a trend, whether Guyanese would jump on the bandwagon without thought or question, like they tend to do with everything that is popular in North America.
This week’s blog isn’t about crucifying those who chose to partake in Halloween festivities by getting decked out in costumes and what not but to question the hypocrisy of it all and to zero in on the distance we seem to keep when it comes to our own cultural celebrations—in comparison to Halloween—for whatever reason.
My first issue with Halloween, which is also known as All Hallow’s Eve, is the fact that it has evolved into a commercial bubble. Believe it or not, the whole theory of Halloween is even said to have Christian roots, the holiday initially started out as a three-day celebration to remember the dead, martyrs and the faithfully departed. To this day some Christian denominations, such as Orthodox Christians, still set aside such days to remember the dead. I’m pretty sure many are blinded by this reality since many associate it with being something of pagan nature, which to some extent it is. Nevertheless, like Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day etc, Halloween has attracted a commercial approach which has diluted its through meaning. My problem here is that it has become seemingly okay for us to celebrate something that we know little about so blindly and take a back seat on our very own local cultural celebrations.
As we live in the age of Instagram, I know it has become very difficult to not be moved by the jaw dropping Halloween make-up tutorials on our feed. We have evolved into beings that are mostly attracted to visuals and this is a result of smart technology. I understand and to be quite honest external factors play a critical role in how we have become victims of the system. However, what has become overbearing is the amount of creative attention and planning put in by some Guyanese artists and even some entertainment businesses to enthrall consumers, when half the amount of creative effort doesn’t even exist for Mashramani. I personally would like to see makeup artists create seasonal Mash looks as they do with Halloween. Also, let us not deceive ourselves into thinking makeup skills and efforts for cultural events can ever be compared to what obtains at Halloween.
One has to question why we as Guyanese are drawn to practices that have been commercialised by North America. Are we suffering from some inferiority complex or white privilege complex? Perhaps it’s because our own cultural events have descended into absolute shambles over the past years. Who wants to be associated with anything that appears weak anyway?
On the argument of hypocrisy, I don’t understand why cross dressing can only be okay for Halloween and not for every day. Perhaps this is why Halloween is acknowledged in Guyana. The LBGT community gets to prance around freely, with the comfort of it being disguised as a Halloween or a fancy dress party without being discriminated against. In addition, the technicality of such a thing also highlights how far we have to go as a society. We can charge someone with cross dressing but for an imported festivity we act normal, even though in both cases the clothes do no harm.
The former wasn’t the only plus from Halloween. Though I would want to see more creative efforts being placed on other cultural events, I am happy for all those creative entrepreneurs who work in the Arts being able to clock-in some dollars in such a slow business period. I guess there is a silver lining in almost everything.
I didn’t really have any favourite costumes from this year. I am kind of growing tired of the celebrity inspired Halloween costumes though.
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