HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
No room for political correctness on hallowed e’en, DIMANNO,
The most horrifying Halloween getup I recall was put together years back by a Toronto Star editor who arrived at a party toting a shotgun and with his head seemingly half blown-off. This was not long after a Canadian politician had committed suicide by shooting himself in the noggin.
But it was funny, in a sick way. And I’m a fan of sick humour.
Different year, different editor — notice a theme here? — evoked the brilliant concept, with his spouse, of the Captain and Tamil, he dressed as an admiral and she wearing a sari. (To get the joke, you’d have to be familiar with the awful 70s pop duo, The Captain and Tenille.) Doubtless this would today be viewed as racist. But really, what isn’t?
Another era. Maybe worse, maybe better, I’m undecided.
Halloween has always been my favourite “holiday” because of the creativity involved and the fact it has no religious dimension — at least, not in mainstream western culture — unlike the Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico and All Saints’ Day (tomorrow), a solemn occasion on the Catholic calendar. Maybe Wiccans might find it offensive, as practised by trick-or-treat heretics. The Wiccan “creed” has earned official recognition in many North American jurisdictions. The Toronto District School Board includes Wiccan/pagan observance on its formal list of “Days of Significance.” God (or not God) forbid any belief system be denied status.
How about a Mexican sombrero, or would that be considered disre- spectful? Harem pants? A nun’s habit?
I do pity parents trying to negotiate the thicket of costume proscriptions as they send their kids out tonight for the annual sugar-seizure fest. Cultural sensitivity run amok has turned thumbs-down on such traditional options as Indian-chief headdress; cowboy hats and chaps presumably OK. Aboriginal no-nos are of particular controversy at the moment, as sports team are flayed for appropriating tribal names and imagery. With the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, the caterwauling has been deafening, with some media organizations refusing to use the team’s official moniker, even though the most extensive polling on this subject — actually, it related to the Washington Redskins, most problematic name of the bunch — revealed that an overwhelming majority of indigenous people have no problem with such terminology.
Recently, the Mississauga Chiefs girls hockey squad received a community blessing from New Credit First Nation Chief Stacey Laforme. As the wise Laforme told the Star: “I don’t believe they have to change (their name). They’re not the only people who have chiefs. We have police chiefs, fire chiefs . . . I don’t find it offensive and they represent themselves in a good way and they have met to talk with us. I think it’s an opportunity to educate them and to educate the fans.”
I would further note that author Stephen King, arguably the greatest man of letters in America today — if not to literary snobs — recently tweeted: “Go Tribe!” When it comes to words, I’d take King over a newspaper public editor any day. (All aspiring wordsmiths should read King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.)
King also famously gave us malevolent clowns with the sewer-dwelling Pennywise from It, a character that he said scared the pants off him, too. Sinister clowns are currently all the BOO! rage, popping up around the world to frighten children, even adults. There have been reported “sightings” in at least 24 U.S. states, with a handful of mischief arrests. Over-the-top Germany on Friday announced a “zero tolerance” for clowns in advance of Halloween. Again, from King’s Twitter account: “Hey guys, time to cool the clown hysteria — most of em are good, cheer up the kiddies, make people laugh.”
So, probably best to strike clowns off the costume list as well. And Nazi uniforms are always attire-nongrata. Recall a callow Prince Harry wearing a swastika arm band to a fancy dress party.
Some university and colleges — or their student unions — have gone off-the-scales loony in banning various outfits from campus parties. Included on the prohibited menu at Brock University in St. Catharines are depictions of mock suicide or rape (what would a rape ensemble look like, exactly?), geisha robes or the transgender Caitlyn Jenner thing. Such heavy-handed censorship should come as no surprise in the current repressive world of academe, where free speech — however inflammatory — is routinely undefended. But if you can’t be a bozo in the frat years, then when?
Cultural ham-fistedness — the right to be protected from anything remotely potentially offensive — is a poor successor to the civil rights movement, pathetically misappropriated, I would say. Hence the big-footing by human-rights associations drenched in sanctimony. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal may be where U of T psychology professor Jordan Peterson is headed for his pronoun obstinacy; won’t be brought to politically correct heel in a controversy about gender-neutral or gender-preferred or genderCatholic language. As phrased (badly) in the letter sent by faculty members, Peterson was warned that his refusal to employ pronouns requested by students is “contrary to the rights of those persons to equal treatment without discrimination based on their ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression.’ ”
It seems a small civility to call individuals as they wish to be known, without getting silly about it. (New York City now legally recognizes 31 gender identities, which is lexicon madness.) My larger objection to Peterson, from reading recent stories and columns in which he’s quoted, is that the guy apparently can’t utter a comprehensible sentence, an affliction common to many academic pedants.
Anyway, a Jordan Peterson Halloween costume — tweed jacket, rolled-up sleeves and suspenders, perpetual frown (I’m looking at photos of him online) — would probably be too subtle.
Hell, think I’ll just toss on a white sheet tonight. Oh wait. Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Cultural ham-fistedness — the right to be protected from anything remotely potentially offensive — is a poor successor to the civil rights movement