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King Mango Strut
Tomorrow's the annual parody parade in Miami known as the King Mango Strut.
I can't say that I'm a fan of the event. Perhaps the irrerevent "Miami is a Banana Republic" attitude which seems to permeate the event is a turn off. Or maybe it's the fact that Janet Reno was the Grand Marshal back in 2003. Perhaps it's the way the event embraces all the stereotypes we face as a community (case in point, the Chonga Girls are this year's Grand Marshals).
Or maybe it's just a severe lack of a sense of humor on my part.
Anyone wonder how an institution such as the Orange Bowl Parade shut down several years back, but its parody lives on and on?
I can't say that I'm a fan of the event. Perhaps the irrerevent "Miami is a Banana Republic" attitude which seems to permeate the event is a turn off. Or maybe it's the fact that Janet Reno was the Grand Marshal back in 2003. Perhaps it's the way the event embraces all the stereotypes we face as a community (case in point, the Chonga Girls are this year's Grand Marshals).
Or maybe it's just a severe lack of a sense of humor on my part.
Anyone wonder how an institution such as the Orange Bowl Parade shut down several years back, but its parody lives on and on?
posted by Robert at 12:26 PM
5 Comments:
It's no mystery that the OB parade died and the Strut is going strong; The King Mango Strut is a parade of people wanting to demonstrate their sense of community and snub their noses at propriety. The Orange Bowl Parade was intended to generate income for its sponsors.
The Strut doesn't make money, and no one cares because that is not its purpose. "Man is the animal that laughs at himself," and the parade is a penultimate proof of our humanity.
My favorite is the year that a dead guy was the parade marshall for the strut. His widow sat with his urn in the lead car.
It's probably just my taste (or lack thereof) for the organizers' sense of humor. It's OK to tasetefully poke fun at others and yourself, but something about the way they do it just rubs me the wrong way.
The OB parade may have been corporate, but that doesn't mean that its demise was justified, IMO. It was our signature parade, one that got us plenty of national exposure for all the RIGHT reasons.
I don't disagree with you about OB parade; it should NOT have been canceled. The New Year in Miami is dismally empty without it.
The jokes in the King Mango Strut largely reflect the tired, liberal conventional wisdom, white baby-boomer views of the typical Grove resident. Anyone with more conservative-leaning views can feel a bit shut out.
Brant, maybe we should start our own alternative parade?
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