Sunday, October 31, 2010

halloween: the most wholesome holiday in the american calendar?

i think so.

i mean, i think so at the family level. as pleasing to the eyes as it may be, i hate girls at an adult level using halloween as an excuse to dress up like a total whore. i feel it's demeaning and rather two-faced. but that's a completely different issue, this is supposed to be an uplifting piece.

now let us look at the holiday as a whole. it's supposed to be this scary day that celebrates death, gore, and all kinds of disgusting things.

also, as much as i hate to admit it, but "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown" is probably one of the more depressing peanuts specials i've ever seen. it doesn't end well at all. linus and charlie just admitting defeat as the credits role? come on schultz, that was crap.

but behind all this depressing and dark imagery is a lot of great things. first of all, it's not all scary costumes. you see little kids becoming their idol for the day, whether it be an athlete, a superhero, or even an animal (my mom's 5 year old neighbor was rocking a sick dinosaur costume, heather wheeler would have been jealous). it's a great bit of imagination and optimism presented to the kids.

and it's not overly marketed!

hell, considering how over-marketed christmas has become (there's been a full christmas section at home depot for a month now), halloween almost slips right through the cracks. sure there are your attractions; there's your haunted houses, and candy displays. also, there's your partycity's who have great buisness for a couple weeks (even though the only song they ever seem to play on their PA is michael jackson's "thriller"). but i like that it's maintained a semi-grass-roots holiday. it isn't shoved in your face like christmas is.

but still, why is it the most wholesome holiday in the calendar? you might be thinking "what about thanksgiving?" hell, thanksgiving is great on a family level, but halloween transcends the family level by a mile. kids are encouraged to walk from house to house, yeah, STRANGERS houses, and ask for candy. and people openly give the kids free food. now you're always taught when you're younger "oh check the candy for glass or poison or nuclear warheads" but come on, that doesn't happen anywhere near as much as it's warned. halloween encourages goodwill towards the fellow man, something christmas used to encourage. it encourages togetherness, discourages selfishness, and allows for kids to have the time of their life if they so choose to, once a year.

and that is why halloween is the most wholesome holiday in the american calendar, charlie brown.

bring on the christmas music.

currently listening to:

motion city soundtrack -- my dinosaur life

brad paisley -- american saturday night

bad books -- bad books

noah and the whale -- first days of spring

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