The University News

Issue date: 10/26/09 Section: Forum

Media Credit: Alexia Lang

Ah. Halloween has come again.

Candy, costumes and an abundance of "scary" movies, television shows, events and so on flood our senses.

Nearly everyone around me is engrossed in the madness of it all.

Parents spend money they don't have on candy and costumes their children will likely outgrow by next year. I assume candy will fly off the shelves this year with families avoiding the thoughts of the recession by cramming sugar down their throats.

Women and girls, who otherwise seem rather intelligent, decide it is all of a sudden acceptable to dress like skanks.

One day of the year, short skirts, high heels and fishnet pantyhose won't get you labeled as something other than a sweet girl. Or will they?

Men and women, young and old, decide they can put on masks and head out into the world with the intentions of getting wasted and terrorizing.

Then there's my favorite Halloween component. Haunted houses and spooky movies have us all looking over our shoulders as if a crazy man with a chainsaw is going to hop out at any second.

Allow me to take a break to roll my eyes at the absurdity of it all.

Now, I must come clean to my dearest friends and readers, risking our relationship.

I regard Halloween as the most ridiculous major holiday we celebrate.

It's true, I have written about my disregard for Valentine's Day.

But for goodness sake, at least V-Day has the intention of making others feel loved.

Halloween is nothing more than a super-commercialized version of an ancient day devoted to appeasing pagan gods in an attempt to survive the frigid winters.

Now that most of us would agree the Celtic gods will not grant us survival based upon our All Hallows Eve sacrifice, the holiday is pretty much obsolete.

And you want to have an argument over whether your costume is original? In the last few thousand years, I think it is safe to say the original costumes are few and far between.

It's typical, though, for us to want to participate in such a strange tradition. The world is a sad place and few of us are who we really want to be.

So, Halloween gives us the opportunity to dress like we feel inside.

It also allows for us to create an alternate reality.

Maybe you always wanted to be a hero. Everyone will see your inner-self when you dress like Superman, Batman, a firefighter or police officer.

Continued...

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