Let me start off by saying that I'm not anti-Halloween. My kids dress up every year and go trick or treating. We have a really cool bat hanging in our kitchen. Our bushes are covered in spider webs and we have a ghost on our front porch. I have no problem with schools having Halloween parties, rather than Fall Fests or Harvest whatever.What disturbs me is something mentioned by Merecat in her comment in my last post. Her neighbor had a suicide man hanging in his tree. Whether you've known someone who has committed suicide or not, I would think this would be offensive to most people. I realize that Halloween has been transformed into an adult holiday over the years. However, it's still the kids walking the neighborhoods, going door to door to beg for candy. I don't see the purpose in a public display such as this.
In conjunction with these displays of poor taste are the haunted houses that have gotten out of control. We have a huge one in our city that probably has an attendance in the tens of thousands each year. It is currently advertising as "Even more gore than before." Through its newspaper ads, articles and website, I have learned about some of its highlights: suicide victims, delicatessen of body parts (because Jeffrey Dahmer was so entertaining?), limbless freaks covered in blood chasing you with chainsaws, evil doctors/dentists and the list of horrors goes on. I guess vampires and werewolves are no longer frightening to the majority of people. My kids have all been invited to go as part of birthday parties and the like over the years. I have even heard of church youth groups going. And every time, I tell them "no, absolutely not."
I just despise the violence and celebration of gore. Nothing about that is entertainment to me, and certainly shouldn't be seen as fun for youth. I could go on and on about how our minds become immune to violence the more that we are exposed, but I think everyone has heard it all before. I guess I'm amazed that I seem to stand alone in my convictions. People who would never dream of sending their 10 year olds to an R rated movie featuring violence happily send them to enjoy the gore first-hand.
So I'm ready for you to call me the Grinch of Halloween.........
If anything, I'm even 'Grinch-ier' than you are. (So there!) I dislike the emphasis on death and gore, just like you do (and I'm right there with you - whose great idea was it that this is supposed to be FUN?)
ReplyDeleteBut, I'm not so big on the demons and devils and witches and ghosts and zombies and 'undead' - the whole 'Spiritual Dark Side' bit. Which, it seems to me, is pretty much 'of-a-piece' with the death-and-gore.
Our kids go trick-or-treating (altho, for many years, we 'opted out', and took them to an 'All Saints Eve' party at our church), but we pretty much steer 'em to animal costumes, or football players, or superheroes, etc.
It has always saddened me a little that a day associated with a Christian 'feast day' - All Saints Day - has morphed into such a creep-fest.
But, I've pretty well resigned myself to the notion that not very many people see it the way I do. . .
My kids are still at an age where Halloween is going out trick-or-treating in, for lack of a better word, sane costumes and carving pumpkins. They don't have an interest in haunted house attractions, and they're too young to really participate, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, think that this focus on gore and such is just as you said. Movies must be gorier than the predecessor. Books are violent. It's what the consumer expects, and the bulk of most holidays really falls into the label of 'consumerism.'
oh i agree with you completely. the goriness i want no part of. i don't like the glorification of violence. and the hanging victims do disturb me on a personal level since my grandfather did choose to end his days in that very fashion.
ReplyDeleteonce when the kids were small we went to a local restaurant and they had fake severed body parts all around the dining room. i mentioned something to the owner about that not being the greatest appetite stimulant or marketing ploy for an eating establishment. she looked at my like i had sprouted an extra head.
I hate all that scary stuff. This is also true of scary movies and books.
ReplyDeleteLast Halloween we went to the local amusement park for their Halloween celebration for Younger's 13th birthday. I told them we WOULD NOT be doing the really scary areas. However, even the allegedly "non-scary" areas were pretty terrifying. The whole night was awful (for me). We are NOT going back this year.
And hey, as long as we're talking about things that annoy us about Halloween, why is it that Halloween is even something we need to be talking about more than two weeks before the day itself? Why do people have 'bodies' hanging from their trees THREE WEEKS AHEAD OF TIME?
ReplyDeleteJust askin'. . .
People who display such things are completely oblivious to the fact that it could be offensive to others. In our always-tolerant culture it is assumed that anything goes and if someone does't like it, tough.
ReplyDeleteI remember Halloween as trick-or-treating, fun costumes, candied apples, and popcorn balls. Hay rides, carving pumpkins, apple cider. Sitting with my brothers and trading candy we collected throughout the neighborhood, in the dark, without our parents!
Wow Everyone! I have to say I expected to get blasted over this and here I have all of you agreeing.....
ReplyDeleteDesmond - I hear where you are coming from. I guess I see a big line between Casper the friendly ghost and the occult. My kids stick to the friendly costumes as well. I may publish a post on my handmade designs for this year.
FADKOG - You're right - if people weren't buying all this junk, retailers wouldn't sell it. I'll bet you could write a piece on all the witch books that are marketed for teen girls!
Lime - That is totally disgusting about the restaurant "decorations." I can't even imagine something so absurd.
Laggin - I feel the same way about the scary movies/books too. I imagine the park felt that a 13 year old would enjoy the gore. How sad!
Desmond - So true for every "holiday" isn't it? Kohl's has had their Christmas trees up for at least a month now.
PR - You described the perfect Halloween to me. And my favorite part was also roaming the hood at night without the parents! Probably the only day of the year we were allowed to do that.
I can't say that this bothers me too much, but mostly cause I really don't think too much about it.
ReplyDeleteI will tell you this however, our church did an outing the other week where we went to a corn maze at night and had to make our way through it. There weren't any creatures or anything jumping out, but for some reason, that made it EVEN scarier!
Go figure.