RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Tonight, millions of people will tune in to a world-famous spectacle involving carefully choreographed moves, intense competition and fanatical spectators.
No, not the Super Bowl.
It’s Carnaval season, a time of vanquished inhibitions, bacchanalian bashes and a fierce determination by the many samba clubs.
Purists complain that “Carnaval Inc.” has devolved into an advertisement for interests as diverse as airlines, unions and milk producers — along with organized-crime gangs.
“The space for poetry, for fun, for social and political criticism, or even for pure historical themes . . . has become minimal,” wrote Aloy Jupiara, a journalist and Carnaval specialist. “Now all themes must have an appeal to the market.”
