This post seemed only appropriate for today since it is, after all, Halloween. As I watched people walk around campus in their costumes, I couldn't help but get mildly creeped out. As you grown out of your prime trick or treating days, costumes kind of lose their shine, and become something we only do for parties the weekend before Halloween.
When I was little, costumes at school on Halloween were so exciting and cool. Now... they just weird me out. However, this observation made me realize that the pop culture texts I consume weekly have altered my perceptions of the "norms" of tradition. One of the ways this is most prominent to me is through holiday specials. Halloween conveniently falls right at the beginning of November sweeps- arguable the most important period of time for TV networks. While there are four sweeps periods, the November sweeps are usually regarded as the ones that carry the most weight. As a result, networks play up anything they can in order to get audiences to tune in to their programs over what the competition is showing.
This convenient correlation has been played up so well that it has entirely changed the fabric of Halloween. For example, take How I Met Your Mother. This year's special will bring back the "slutty pumpkin"- a woman Ted fell for years ago, but lost sight of before he could get her name. Throughout the first episode we were introduced to the slutty pumpkin, Barney comments that he loves Halloween because no matter what a woman dresses up as, it's going to be slutty: "If she's a nurse, she's a SLUTTY nurse!"This reiterates a tradition we've seen prominently in the last few years: Halloween isn't just for the kids anymore. It's virtually impossible to find a women's costume that it cute, flattering AND appropriate unless you make it yourself. Movies like Mean Girls refer to Halloween as the one day of the year that it's okay for girls to dress like sluts. When such practices are intertwined with the media we love and practiced by the characters we relate to, such behavior becomes acceptable, and furthermore, common practice. It's all just a part of the tradition of Halloween now.
Another common practice in holiday specials is the crazy party with a twist. Take last year's Community Halloween episode, for example. They set out to have your typical Halloween party, but then they're all infected by the food and become zombies. It's a battle for their humanity as they fight off their infected friends, and even though we're well aware that it could never happen in reality, it grabbed our attention. Now, we may not see any zombie infections in everyday life, but the ever-presence of the Halloween party in TV shows and movies has been absorbed and embraced by our culture. If you look back in time, Halloween used to be just about kids. Adults handed out the candy, and that was it as far as their participation went. Halloween parties popped up originally as friends just hanging out, and since, have grown into a wild tradition. This is no statistic, but I'd argue that Halloween is one of the biggest party holidays on college campuses. It's encouraged for people to wear crazy costumes, and it seems that they tend to do more crazy things. Today, I saw that many brave pumpkins gave their life over this past weekend, and I'm willing to bet that this was a part of several party festivities. This is our way of having the crazy party that only TV seems able to accomplish. Just like with the scandalous costumes, seeing Halloween as a day for especially wild parties on TV makes us more apt to follow suit with our own Halloween festivities.
Overall, it's hard not to notice that pop culture has permeated most aspects of our lives. I'm not saying I mind; it's not going to stop me from watch the return of the slutty pumpkin tonight. It's just interesting to bring such connections into light.
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