National Identity, Tourism and The Fergusons
Ezekiel’s condemnation also tied back into the emerging national myth. When the Israelites left the land of Egypt, the task for them was to remain faithful to God. By failing to fulfill their obligations to the most high they brought divine punishment on themselves. Similarly, after having been released from bondage the Bahamian people also had to remain faithful to avoid an economic apocalypse.
The character who was the personification of all of the negative traits identified by Ezekiel Ferguson’s sermon was his son, Samuel. He worked behind the counter in the show’s nameless hotel providing terrible service to tourists he was uninterested in dating. He went to work late and spent far too long on his lunch breaks. Samuel was also obsessed with fashion, traveling to Miami regularly to purchase the latest styles. He spent his nights taking pretty white visitors to the local night clubs after hours, returning home late. Whether he consummated any of these relationships is left to the imagination; he did after all live with his fundamentalist parents, but obviously the women he dated had access to private hotel rooms. His opinion was that Bahamian women “ain’t ready” and he “don’t never date them unless it ain’t no foreigners in town.” Here was a man in love with American culture. Of course, it is possible to date foreign women and get to work on time. And it is equally possible to wear the latest American styles and give good service to tourists. However in the simplistic moral environment of The Fergusons, the reason for these flaws is also very simple; the audience hears him bragging to a friend, as if to drive home the point of the first episode’s sermon, “Man I don’t know the last time I set foot inside a church.”35
Samuel is bad because he doesn’t go to church. He was one of those youth who had strayed from the path. The audience is led to the conclusion that if he were more of a Christian, he would leave those foreign women alone, he would love Bahamian things and he would, most importantly, give good service to the tourists regardless of their sex or looks. Therefore when Ezekiel confronts his son and says “I want to tell you if you keep on the way you going you’ll end up bad” we already know what he is talking about. The son is on the road to damnation.