Christmas has no rival in its almost universal appeal – nothing is as widely celebrated.
And it has its unceasingly replenishing legions of the faithful – whether they are committed to the “holiday”/secular aspect of Christmas or to its religious connections.
Its case is strengthened by the fact that it occurs every year and what we call the Christmas spirit means the same thing every time – the fundamental elements never change – even in a non-religious sense.
If you ask people what is the centrepiece aspect of Christmas, some would say family. Others would say peace. Christians would probably say renewal.
But most would say giving.
And that is embodied in people known the world over: Jesus Christ, Santa Claus and Saint Nick.
For good measure, the non-giving spirit is virtually demonized in characters like Scrooge and the Grinch.
Barbadians have embraced the centrality of giving at this time. So much so that the Salvation Army said we exceeded its target last year.
But earlier in this Christmas month, some people were suggesting that Barbadians are more like Scrooge and the Grinch than like Santa and Saint Nick – accusing us of not giving enough love (or at least enough liking) to Rihanna.
In liberal generalizations they deem the various criticisms levelled at our star-girl by locals evidence that Barbadians don’t like Rihanna.
I personally can’t see how you can safely arrive at that conclusion because somebody criticizes one of Rihanna’s songs or criticizes something she does or says. Who else do we treat like that?
For instance, a man says Trevor Marshall talks foolishness. Yuh mean, yuh gine say that man don’t like Marshall?
Even so, what if they actually don’t like Rihanna? Since when was it anybody’s right to be liked by everybody else?
In the best of circumstances, liking and disliking are par for the course, but it is an especially natural fit in areas where people rise or fall almost solely by taste and popularity.
And that is Rihanna’s arena – not Errol Barrow’s, not Obadele Thompson’s, not Sir Garfield Sobers and several other outstanding Barbadians on whom Bajans have washed their mouths gine and coming without any outcry.
Why, then, of all the people born and bred in this Buhbaydus she is the only one that must be off limits to criticism, justified or not?
Help me here: is it because she is an entertainment star? Well, again nobody has ever said that negative talk about Red Plastic Bag or Gabby should be a no-no . . . . Wuh dem is stars too.
Still on the hunt for answers. Is it because she is a star on the international scene? Is this a special standard, with the appropriate edict to go out to the people: Thou shall in no wise speak ill of any of your fellow men (or women) who have risen to the highest height in the world. If more than 23 people do it, we shall institute martial law (perhaps marshall law too).
This is clearly an invitation to operate with a double standard. Why is it that what is good for the goose (each Sam and each Coochie and each Duppy) is not good for the gander (Rihanna)?
Another danger is this: favouritism for the prominent or for those who are popular. Isn’t that what the court systems are often roundly criticized for when they give a slap on the wrist to some star-boy or star-girl for something that would get others some good time in jail?
Get this straight: I know that Barbadians are not particularly known for giving deserving, excelling Jacks their jackets of praise. Maybe that is what drove the late Sir Frank Worrell, reportedly, to say that Barbadians are an anti-hero people. The reasons for that are worth genuinely exploring – which we are not doing by mind-reading and beating up on people over Rihanna.
All the same, I suspect that if we could do a heart poll we would find that the vast majority of Barbadians feel positively about Rihanna. Yuh want all? Yuh cravacious?
Some of them may not think she is God’s gift to singing; others may think that at times her language is coarse; yet others would wish she would keep more of her body under wraps – all opinions to which they have a right.
Just like every skin teet’ en a laugh, every criticism en a “don’t like”.
While a people should seek to push and promote and elevate all that is good about their country, they should not blindly give a pass to whatever emerges therefrom – even if it relates to an entertainment icon.
Some people think doing so might be evidence of an inferiority complex. And to insist on it may hint at a pervasive authoritarian streak that too many people in these parts have, who can’t let people get away with having thought patterns different from theirs.
Show some Christmas spirit. In this matter, give, give, give people a break.
• Sherwyn Walters is a writer who became a teacher, a song analyst, a broadcaster and an editor.