It is not difficult to capture the essence of an era. All you really have to do is close your eyes and picture what's going on around you or, better yet, stand in the middle of events and soak them all in like a sponge. Many great writers do that. What is a bigger challenge-and one few writers can pull off successfully-is to capture that crack in time between two opposing eras. It's a murky ground filled with transition and confusion, a slippery slope to stand on, and it takes a very gifted writer with extraordinary gifts of observation and understanding to navigate a path through such uncharted territory.
Earl Lovelace boldly stakes a claim to this no-man's land in Is Just a Movie, his latest novel set just after the Black Power movement of the 1970s. Here, KingKala, an obsolete calypsonian, and Sonnyboy, a conniving wannabe, negotiate their way through that stony path that carries them from the comfort of the lives they knew to an unsure future where everything they know and believed in has suddenly vanished. The story is a combination of comic ironies turned tragic in the unique way that it does-or at least did-in defining moments of T&T's history. It's difficult to read Is Just a Movie and not feel like Lovelace is presenting a cast of characters that we all know, some from the stage, some from next door, some from the taxi or work.
This is a time when everyone seemed to be a character from the movie of our own lives.
As usual, Lovelace's writing is a rich blend of colourful characters weaving their way through a finely nuanced setting alive with imagery. His description of the characters in Woodford Square that we all can remember taps into anyone's penchant for nostalgia, yet in Lovelace's capable hands nostalgia doesn't become maudlin. Lovelace evokes a sense of history and culture, both intertwined in an entertaining way. His messages are often deep and profound but they don't weigh down the story with their heaviness. As always, Lovelace's imagery makes a setting sing, characters are round and the conflicts real-layers upon layers of symbolism and irony, the juxtaposition of humour and poignancy: a firm foundation for a moving story. Lovelace is in that elite, short list of writers, Ernest Hemingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and VS Naipaul, who can craft something near the perfect sentence.
He allows Trinis to see themselves with all their flaws-if they're able to face them. Trinis come off as being complex characters in a complex culture, which is true. Take for instance the scene in which KingKala and other Trinis are cast as natives in a movie being made in Trinidad. It is a funny scene taken at face value, but it is also a poignant commentary on neo-colonialism. Richly layered in symbolism, Lovelace shows the delicate balance between playing a part and being a part of something that is bigger than us.
Sonnyboy's refusal to play the part as it is scripted is more than acting out. It's a protest against those who dangle fame like a carrot on a stick as they try to erase a people's vision of themselves.
It's a scathing commentary on what creativity really is and how it is culturally defined, indeed how it can be culturally corrupted by outside forces that threaten to undermine the very foundation of Caribbean culture in the colonial era (not to mention the neo-colonialist era that we now live in). In all its comedy, the movie scene with Trinis dressed as savages is sad. As Sonnyboy drifts from job to job he survives and transcends his troubles because culture sustains him. In his mind, he sees himself as transcending his reputation as a badjohn and becoming a revolutionary-even if it is only a daydream. Earl Lovelace's Is Just a Movie transcends time and place, and it is destined to be a timeless modern classic. Above all, it's about being yourself, being an individual with your feet firmly planted, indeed grounded, in your roots. It's about never allowing anyone to undermine your ambitions or steal your independence.
It's about being real, even when the world around you is unreal or even surreal. Is Just a Movie is a tribute to the Caribbean spirit and its irrepressible sense of survival. It is ultimately a survival story hidden in the symbolism of Lance's battered pan where Lance finds the hint of a new sound, a new note, that beckons him to look inward to find something bright and better than what was there before. It has taken me so long to read Is Just a Movie because, like all Lovelace's books, this novel has to be enjoyed like fine chocolate or fine wine. It has to be savoured not merely for the pleasure of the experience, but because it's impossible to face the fact that the novel will end. Is Just a Movie is a moving experience that evokes the essence of a true-true Trini.