Sunday, October 28, 2012
Costume Conscience
With Halloween just around the corner, many kids (and adults) will be dressing up in costumes to celebrate the season. Little kids may even bear the image of their favorite halloween monsters or murderers, but is it really ok for them to glorify these horrific figures even if it's just for fun? Halloween as a holiday embraces death, but is that really ok?
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Well, I think a big thing to consider here particularly for young children is "innocence." I can't give an estimate, but I will go ahead and assume that most kids dress up for Halloween because it "looks cool", their friends are doing the same thing, or they just want to scare some people and laugh over it. Respectively, I would say that this is OK with the idea of Parents dressing up their kids given their certain ages. For instance, I feel that a good parent won't be letting their 5-yr old child dress up as a "murderer" but moreso along the lines of Frankenstein, a werewolf, a swamp creature, or ghost, which in society's eyes is relatively gentle for children to dress up as. Also, take Scooby Doo for example, the majority of children who watch Scooby Doo are probably going to take the hint that the actions performed by the -evil-doer are negative and should not be repeated and, because of that, the child will not repeat those actions. AND, I think that the child will most likely gather the idea that the villain in Scooby Doo is in fact NOT a real monster, but rather, a person that has dressed as one (seeing that the mask or outfit is removed at the end of every episode.) As such, I believe that the child will draw from this on what to and what not to do when the time comes to dress up as such a villain or monster.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another reason for dressing up would be to mimic a superhero or monster because they think they are "cool.", respectively.
ReplyDeleteI think it is perfectly fine for a little kid to dress up as whatever they want on Halloween. I agree with Michael when it comes to good parenting. Most younger kids dress up as one of their favorite characters. When children start getting older, they start playing video games and watching scary movies and that also has an affect on Halloween. And along with the movies and video games it has a bad affect on Halloween cosumes. I do not believe that kids, unless they have a mental health issue, would dress up to harm someone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michael, I do not think it is okay for parents to dress their children up as murderers. My first question is, if this is a young child, how do they even know who this person is? What children are being aloud to watch on tv these days is amazing to me. I would not want my child to know who a murderer is, let alone to want to dress up/ possibly idolize them. What happened to kids dressing up as bumble bees or fairies? Kids should be kids.
ReplyDeleteWhile Halloween is celebrating death, most children do not understand this. Those who do, such as Día de los Muertos, do not see this to be a negative. They do it in honor of those who have passed on. Most of the time children do not realize what their costume means. They understand that it is scary or it is cool not that their costume represented something harmful. It is all for fun. This does not mean they idolize what they are dressing up as. I like the Scooby Doo comparison. Children who watch Scooby Doo realize in the end that the monsters are all in a mask and are not real and also realize that those inside the costume always get caught and they should not mimic them.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a time to celebrate just being a kid and being allowed to let your imagination run wild and free. With this being said, I think it is important for children to know about the scary things in life. However, I think it should be done through Halloween. It gives them a chance to experience "bad" things without trauma. At least this way it gives them a chance to experience fear in a somewhat good way. Dressing up and wearing costumes also gives kids the freedom to be someone or something they are not. Sometimes this can be a good thing because it can teach people that not everything is as it seems.
ReplyDeleteOk, even if it isn't a kid dressing up, but a teenager, is it right to still idolize the slasher movie monsters? Can we say that all this is ok and then become upset when there is an instance of adolescent violence, such as a school shooting? Violence in the movies and video games has desensitized our culture to violence, couldn't costumes do the same thing too?
ReplyDeleteIts perfectly fine for kids/teenagers/adults to dress how ever they please. Halloween is a holiday, costumes are meant to be taken lightheartedly. Are there costumes that are offensive and cross the line? Yes, but dressing up as a movie character is not crossing the line. This is a time of year to have have fun and not a time to be upset about how politically correct someones costume is. Go enjoy some free candy!
ReplyDeleteI agree it is the one night a year when being politically incorrect is okay. I think there should be an age consciousness but teens and older should be able to express ideals through their costume choices.
DeleteThe thing to remember is that almost all of these characters being portrayed are fictional characters. That is why i don't really see any problem with young kids or adults dressing up. I could see people taking offense to a costume of a serial killer that really happened but other than that i really see no problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the majority who have blogged in that I think it is just fine for kids or teenagers to dress up as whatever they would like. Most likely they are not doing it because they want to kill someone some day, they just like the character or the costume or want to look scary. Many haunted houses have "killers" in them with fake weapons to scare people but just in celebration of Halloween. They don't really wish to be murderers but just have a good costume for the night. On the latest Halloween episode of "ask a mortician" Doughty discusses how Easter and Valentines day have pasts that are rooted in death as well but are not celebrated with a focus on the subject.
ReplyDeletefrom Nick Shad
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Nick Jackson and Beth said. This is the one time a yea it is okay to cross the line, but at the same time I agree with the idea that little kids should have some parental supervision in what they dress up as. I don't think because someone dresses up as a murderer that they themselves have some notion to be a murder. I think that it is okay to dress up as whatever you want (even young children). With small children it is the responsibility of the parents to keep an eye on their child for any signs of something out of the ordinary.
I honestly do not think it matters what kids wear on Halloween. Kids play video games that are hundred times worse than any costume of a monster or murderer. Society has gotten way out of hand with a lot of holidays as far as what is right and wrong. Kids dressing up has been around for many years, at least since I was born, and there is no reason that it should ever be taken away. If parents think by not allowing their kids to dress is the root of any violent issue, they are sadly mistaken. Dressing up is part of Halloween and there is nothing wrong with putting on a costume and walking around getting candy for one night.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the second part of the question is not entirely true. Halloween is not holiday that embraces death, is based on the ancient feast All Hallows Eve. This feast was based on the tradition that on this night, the dead could be resurrected. Resurrection does not embrace death in my opinion. Embracing death would be the opposite because the feast would be celebrating the living dying, not the resurrection of the dead.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeramie. Dressing up is not nearly as bad as the video games and other media that children come across. If letting them dress up like a murderer is bad, then what about everything else they do?
ReplyDeleteHalloween is a holiday where things are accepted when they normally wouldn't be. People give out candy to little kids, costumes let people dress as they wish, and culture is celebrated much more than normal. Some of the murderers in movies have become icons of horror. They aren't being glorified, but rather recognized for what they are. I have heard say that disguises were used to hide from spirits on Halloween, or even to scare them away, so shouldn't that play into consideration when costumes are worn?
Having read these comments, I find myself more aligned with Jeramie and Charles (among some others) I don't think that dressing up as monsters or murderers necessarily "glorifies" them. Rather, it is seen as something goofy and fun to do.
ReplyDeleteI believe its perfectly fine for children to dress up as these monsters and murderers during Halloween because I do not think they "glorify" these beings in any sense. When someone dresses up for Halloween odds are it is something normal (i.e. witch, power ranger, spiderman, etc.) but even when it goes more in depth such as Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason along with countless others they do it based off this fictious story they embody. These characters are made up scenarios that our culture loves, so the idea of these monsters and murderers is intriguing to us and is the "cool" thing to do. I do not think they dress with the thought of "I'm going to be Michael Myers because he kills people; killing people is cool." They simply do it because they are stories/ movies we find amusing. If someone were to dress up as say James Holmes (Dark Knight Rises Murderer) than yes there are obvious issues with that in which case they would be glorifying what he did (otherwise you would not be dressing up as this seemingly normal guy named James Holmes). With that being said I think Halloween is just a fun holiday that gives people an opportunity to dress up as their favorite movie characters, with no real intention of praising their actions.
ReplyDelete