Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
This year for Halloween, I'll be attenting a party with the theme, "Gods and Monsters." No strict interpretation, just take those words and run.
So, this set me thinking along the lines of, "Who can I dress up as who is reasonably human (ie, no extrvagant make-up or costume required), monstrous, and somewhat identifiable?" I thought about it for a while, and after dismissing a lot of choices, settled on Jack the Ripper.
Now, Jack the Ripper was not a nice fellow (if it was one fellow). This is the theoretical person responsible for a set of the most grisly murders in London, from the late 1880s to the early 1890s. He killed a bunch of prostitutes in a very bloody way, complete with missing organs and all. I won't go into details, you can look them up if you're interested.
In preparation for my role, I've started growing out different facial hair than normal: a Van Dyke beard and much longer sideburns than normal. This makes what I think is a pretty striking difference from how I normally look (with a little, close-cropped goatee). It's not too far along, but already I feel like I look very different.
I've only looked noticeably different for about a week, but in that time, I've seen innumerable people who I normally see. Some of these people, I would have expected, would notice and comment on the difference in my appearance. I'm sure this is partly a vanity thing, but that's not where I'm going with this. I have, thus far, had two people actually comment.
During this time, I've also explained my costume choice to a number of people (maybe 5-7). Their reaction, almost universally, has been, "Cool!" or "Hey, neat!" Until today, that is.
I told Laura, one of the servers at Blue C Sushi, who I've known for the entire 3 years she's worked there, about it, and she immediately got this repulsed look on her face. "Finally!" I said, "you're the first person to react like that!"
I had noticed (being aware of the really terrible things Jack did) with some small amount of wonder that people seemed so positive about it as a costume choice. I was waiting for someone to stop and say, "Wait, wasn't he a horrible rapist and killer?" And really, I was amazed it took so long.
In part, I wonder if this doesn't delve much deeper, to the roots of Halloween -- embracing the horror of the world, to effectively "cheapen" it so it's not so terrifying any more. Either that, or the horror of Jack the Ripper has passed into a kind of past-age reverence which equally elevates Sherlock Holmes or Tiny Tim, despite their negative aspects (Sherlock Holmes was an anti-social know-it-all who took cocaine and morphine any time the doldrums between cases hit; Tiny Tim was disfigured in a way practically unknown in first-world countries today).
Whatever pop psychology I may apply to it, it's very interesting to observe the reactions of people to my choice.
Posted at 13:25 permanent link category: /misc
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater