This weekend and next weekend are the defacto days to celebrate the season. Right after we get to skip Thanksgiving and go straight into Christmas decorating (as long as we are going by the decorations in the stores). However, for this last week, I get to bask in the creepy, macabre, and darkness of the season and no one can question me about it.
Halloween is one of the few times where it's okay to wear whatever you want...within reason. (Here's your annual PSA: Don't wear the clothing of another culture and call it a costume). You want to be a princess, be a princess. You want to be a witch, be a witch. You want to dress up as a slutty version of Crowley from "Good Omens", Neil Gaiman might retweet your costume on Twitter.
Don't think too hard about that last sentence, but yes, I really did come across that on Twitter earlier today.
I've never made it a secret that I love this season. I think it's the reminder that life eventually comes to an end and that there is a new beginning waiting for me when that happens, this year more so than most. I love the atmosphere, the sights and smells and tastes are all unique, but fleeting.
I don't really enjoy being scared, especially not in haunted houses, but the decorations and aesthetic are intriguing and different. It's a time for us to embrace the parts of life that we don't always want to acknowledge.
One of those things is the taboo.
Is it any wonder why sexy or slutty costumes are popular among some circles? Americans in particular continue to have a more conservative perspective on sex and sexuality. Not all Americans, but it is a distinct, if occasionally subconscious part of our culture. Halloween is one of the rare acceptable times that people can explore what titillates them and not be ridiculed for it.
This does sometimes go too far. I didn't need to know that a sexy handmaid's costume existed and sexy or slutty costumes depicting another culture should not be considered (PSA: please for the love of all that is sanity do not turn another culture's dress and make it a costume). Also children's costumes with the word "sexy" should not exist.
There are some things that should probably just not be done.
However, an adult expressing their sexuality is perfectly okay and Halloween provides a safe space for some people to do that.
I'm not one for sexy or slutty costumes. I prefer dressing up as something "dead" like a zombie or vampire. Death and the dead are another taboo topic that Halloween exemplifies.
Everybody dies.
It's what makes life worth living.
I prefer to spend the Halloween season acknowledging this part of the human condition. I like watching atmospheric movies and reading scary ghost stories. I don't really like being scared myself, I do not like haunted house attractions for example. I like being reminded that life eventually does end.
Halloween allows me to celebrate life while also acknowledging death.
And there's a certain amount of humor that goes with that. Horror and comedy are often two sides of the same coin. It's why movies like "Dale and Tucker Versus Evil" and "Scream" work so well as both horror stories and comedies. Sometimes we need to laugh in the face of what horrifies us.
One of my favorite actives during this season is to listen to spooky old jazz music from the early 1900s. A lot of the recordings are distorted and a little off putting. The songs about dancing with the dead or making deals with the devil can be both funny and spooky. But what really creeps me out is the idea that the people who I'm listening to, their recorded voices and playing instruments, they're all dead. Every single person in those recordings died years ago.
Yet, I feel connected to them. I feel like they could manifest themselves out of the music to dance with me in my living room. We dance together like in the "Danse Macabre".
Life is short, so around Halloween, I take the time to be myself as much as possible. I wear my favorite goth clothes and steampunk jackets. I wear make-up that distorts my face and do my hair a little different. I express myself how I want to without worrying about society judging me.
So enjoy Halloween . Take the kids out trick or treating. Go to a party. Watch a scary movie or explore a haunted house. Find a costume and be the person you never thought you'd be for a night.
It'll all be over come November 1st.
But seriously, don't dress up as someone else's culture.
If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.
Until next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment