Student Soapbox: Honey, I’m offending the kids
> **A** – “Oh God darling, hide the kids! It’s the fifth horseman of the apocalypse in a velour tracksuit – as if he hadn’t done enough already, now he’s risen from the dead to feed on our flesh!
> … Wait … hang on, it’s fine, it’s just some idiot dressed as Jimmy Savile – you can bring the kid’s out from the cupboard now.”
> **B** – “Urm … can I have some Haribo?”
> **A** – “We’ve rung the police.”
**The previous edition of The Boar touched on the issue of taste concerning costume; now it seems as though Sports Direct may as well turn itself into a horrenduosly offensive fancy dress shop. Where do you draw the line between an amusing joke and a vile insult? How do you define bad taste? I’m sure the victims and their families would be delighted if you were to rock up at their house for trick or treat in a tracksuit, asking them for pick ‘n’ mix while puffing on a cigar. It’s not just this recent phenomenon of Savile costumes – my Facebook feed was filled with particularly tasteful outfit ideas including ‘dead’ Amy Winehouse (an inspiration for any music lovers) and Gary Speed with a noose around his neck (why not make a joke out of suicide!) This time of year is all about celebrating the macabre but there is a limit – although pain eases over time, there is stil no excuse for trivialising such traumatic and distrresssing events by wearing such distasteful ‘fancy-dress’ costumes.**
Rather, I would suggest wearing your battered and stained Skool Dayz outfit, continuing the trend of the hyphenated Halloween costume – “I was a schoolgirl but now I’m a zombie-schoolgirl, look I’ve got fake blood, my shirt’s ripped and everything.” Why not try celebrating the dead rather than insulting bereaved families – sugar skulls are the latest craze, though you might be used to seeing them in tattoo form on hipsters’ bodies. A recent BBC article described how the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration is becoming increasingly popular in Britain with more and more events springing up across the country. Peronally, I thought I’d give the sugar skull face paint a go this year, partly because I forgot to buy a costume and I have to admit I did a pretty bad job of it, I blame what I had to work with (Tesco value face paint)
So for next Halloween how about you leave your Gary Glitter costume at home and instead smother yourself in some glowing face paint and go out on the town mindless, moaning and drooling – no I’m not advising you to dress up as the cast of The Valleys – just stick to the zombies next time to save yourself the embarrassment of coming off as ignorant and insensitive.
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