Carnival in Rio had a bit of controversy this year. One of the Samba Schools (Viradouro) had planned to use a float that contained hundreds of mannequins made up to resemble dead bodies. The "bodies" were to represent the Holocaust of World War II, and the float was to be preceded by a dancing Hitler.
The school said the float was designed to remind people of the past horror so it would not happen again. But Jewish groups in the country saw it differently. They felt the float trivialized the Holocaust, and they were outraged. One of the judges of the Samba parade agreed and banned the float.
Viradouro replaced the float with one who's theme was the importance of "freedom of expression". It had people dressed all in white and with gags on their mouths, and had a banner reading "You don't build the future by burying the past". The new float is pictured above.
Was the float in bad taste? Probably. Should it have been banned? That's a harder question for someone who believes in free speech. I can understand both sides of the argument.
What do you think?
I am amazed that they had these types of floats in Rio. Wow. I just imagine trying to even get the Lubbock parade people to allow even the free speech float..
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was in poor taste- with Holocaust deniers existing, this should have pleased the jewish community by having a public display that yes, this did happen.
Of course in Red States, we don't want floats unless they are happy happy joy joy. No one can show suffering except for Jesus.