Bad Taste In Halloween Costumes

It's strange at Halloween time. People feel a little less inhibited by the concept of the holiday, which is good. But some take it a little too far. Take the Halloween costume, for example. There are some odd selections being made for Halloween costumes. Maybe the worst this year is the Ebola genre. There is the hot and sexy Ebola nurse outfit, the Ebola family costumes, the runaway Ebola patient costume, the anti Ebola clothing suit, and there is even an Ebola T shirt for Halloween. It's a black shirt with the lettering "Ask Me About Ebola!" across the chest.

Bad taste knows no ends in this age, but what is even more interesting is that most of us are not offended by those kinds of costumes. I remember the Boston Marathon Bomb Victim costume last year. It was well received and worn by many. The National Retail Board estimates that this Halloween Americans will spend $2.8 billion on Halloween outfits, with $1.4 billion of that amount on adult costumes to outfit approximately 75 million grown-ups. That equates to two thirds of American adults buying costumes for themselves. So the bad taste is coming from the adults who are supposed to teach their little brats the opposite.

Bu the, it is a mostly harmless affliction, and Halloween is for fun and sometimes for a little bad taste that comes with imagination and fun. And isn't shock what Halloween is about? Since society is far more lax now than in former generations as to what is appropriate and what is not maybe offensive is the new Halloween norm. Whether it's a costume about political commentary, a sexual costume, or some other offensive social commentary, a  Halloween costume is meant to arouse fear, laughter, or some other emotion.. Costumes are sometimes offensive. That might be the whole point of those that tread the offensive label.

Happy Halloween....and watch out for that Ebola monster.