Halloween troubles gone too far

I love Halloween – the scary stories, costumes, music and candy. However, there are particularly bad aspects of the holiday, which have come to light, especially in recent years with society’s ever -changing cultural trends and values. Here are some of Halloween’s major problems.

Décor and costumes

Halloween décor and costumes have gone off the deep end.  I love dark imagery, but what I see in stores today is satanic and unnerving.

This is one of the most disturbing changes in Halloween tradition. Today’s costumes and decorations are gory, violent and even sexual. Go into any store selling Halloween merchandise and you will most likely find some disturbing content, whether a mask, suit or display.

Just last year I walked into a store selling one of the most disgusting displays I’ve ever seen, a man with no bottom half wriggling and writhing as a rat crawled in and out of his exposed torso. Who would purchase such a despicable and disturbing display? Just the thought of someone purchasing that item is concerning.

In addition to displaying mutilated human bodies with rotting flesh and exposed innards, Halloween also seems to be the holiday to display the bodies of women. Sexy costumes are everywhere, and that’s just as disturbing as the display of a rat-infested half-eaten man. It’s good to know we can tap into sexual passion and desire in a society already saturated with erotic material. You know, for the children.

This is not to say that all costumes and displays are like this. But the holiday is overwhelmed with this kind of nonsense that is scary in its own way.

Stereotypes

We all know Halloween wouldn’t be the same without people complaining about stereotypes in costumes.

More than any other holiday, Halloween brings out the people who love to point out the evils of girls dressing up like princesses and boys like cowboys. People often express such disregard for girls dressing up like Disney princesses, and call the costumes narrow minded ideas that solidify oppressive gender stereotypes.

These arguments are  tired. Can we please ditch the political correctness and just have some fun?

The Reformation

I know Halloween is not about Martin Luther or the Reformation of the 16th century, but it does need to be remembered as we celebrate. Celebrating the Reformation is a huge part of Halloween, but for the rest of society it tends to float by without notice.

Technically, the Reformation took form on Oct. 31, 1517 when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the castle church door at Wittenberg, beginning a series of controversies that would change the world forever. Whether we know it or not, the Reformation has had –and continues to have–an enormous impact on our society. Forgetting Luther and the reformation would be like forgetting the Founding Fathers of America.

While Halloween has troubles, don’t forget to have fun and keep safe.

Andrew Jenson 

can be reached at 

[email protected]

 

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