Halloween Costumes - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Every year, as the Halloween parties starting kicking into gear, there will inevitably be a costume or two that will raise eyebrows. For instance, this year, infamous knock-out artist, Ray Rice, is getting even more unflattering exposure as party-goers don his number 27 jersey and drag around a female blow-up doll. Although many people will likely find this humorous, I'm sure there are plenty of others who find nothing funny about trivializing domestic violence.

Another costume that seems to making it's rounds this year is the Haz-Mat suit. Of course, this is in reference to the recent Ebola incidents in the US. It's actually kind of freaky to see people in these yellow suits and big goggles. No matter how you feel about this one, it's got to be uncomfortable walking around all night in the equivalent of a plastic bag.

A couple of years ago, I saw a guy dressed up as a mammogram machine. He walked around all night offering to give free breast exams to any interested woman. It seems like harmless fun with a sexual innuendo. But should this guy have encountered a woman who had battled breast cancer, it sets up a rather uncomfortable situation.

Controversial costumes are really nothing new. I can remember back when I was in high school and we had a dress-up day for Halloween. Keep in mind, that I went to a private high school where we were expected to be on a little better behavior than our our public school counterparts. Anyway, this one guy shows up for dress-up as a Klansman. Yes, that's right, as in the triple-K type. If he was trying to draw attention to himself and that's exactly what he did. The blacks guys were lining up to kick his ass while the white guys were scratching their heads wondering if this guy had completely lost his mind. It didn't take long for the word to make it down to the principals office and our resident Grand Cyclops was whisked away. Today, this kind of incident would have probably gotten the guy expelled and would have surely become, at the very least, a local news story. But was the early 80's, and he was let off with a verbal warning and told to trash the costume.

At a Halloween party a few years ago, I dressed up as a priest and Tina went as a nun. I really wanted to push the envelope with my costume but Tina talked me out of it. So, I behaved and simply went as Father Ken. It was probably best as I didn't really want to piss everyone off and  start a religious war at Le Fountaine Bleu.

Having some fun with our friend, Kathy. It took about 20 tries
to get this photo because we were both laughing so hard.

Attending a Halloween party last night at a local VFW, I didn't see any controversial costumes, but there were a few rather interesting ones. One guy was dressed as Twisty The Clown (from this season's American Horror Story). Not only was the guy's costume spot on, but he stayed in character most of the night. I saw him sneak up on several people throughout the night. When the person eventually turned around, he/she was greeted with this twisted-looking clown staring them in the face. He wound up taking first place in the costume contest and it was well deserved. Tina, who went as the one of the Three Blind Mice, along with Toni and Fran, took second place.

Tina and Twisty The Clown

There was also this guy who dressed up in the classic pink bunny outfit that little Ralphie was forced to wear in A Christmas Story. The guy completed his costume with a large pair of "Ralphie" eyeglasses. Watching this guy bust his moves on the dance floor in the pink bunny outfit was hysterical.

As you can can see, there are many ways you can go with a Halloween costume. Some are funny, some are scary and some can be downright offensive. Decisions, decisions......

kw