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Monday
March 15, 2010 Since 1922 |
What’s behind the mask
By Luke Hales
Published October 31, 2009 Didn’t expect to see me here, did you?
My column usually runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but this being Halloween and all, I thought it might be fun to shake things up a little. I’m like a ghost, ever-shifting, appearing and disappearing at my whim. You never know when I’ll show up. Spoooooky!
Okay, that and we had a Rep. Wayne Smith column to run that day. My reason was cooler. Admit it.
Finally … it’s here. Halloween. And it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. The air is cooling, it’s going to be brisk out tonight, autumn is in the air, and to top it off we get an extra hour of sleep/trick-or-treating/cleaning up toilet paper hurled at our homes by goofy teenagers.
By the way, consider that your reminder that it’s the end of Daylight Saving Time tomorrow, so, you know, change your clocks and stuff. It will make life easier in the long run, unless you just really, really like being early for things.
I had a big Halloween column planned. I was going to be gross and bizarre and creepy and spooky and all that stuff. But then I realized that since I’ve been writing Halloween columns all month, I’d pretty well covered all those bases.
So much for Plan A.
There was no Plan B.
So you get this column instead.
We all know that Halloween gets a bad rap for numerous reasons. It’s a day devoted to being naughty; either you’re dressing like a witch or a vampire (neither of which are listed as models of good behavior), you’re out throwing eggs or smashing pumpkins (I’m looking at you, my junior high readers! All one of you!), or stuffing yourself with candy you bummed off your neighbors. None of these things, in ordinary circumstance, are considered socially acceptable. This may explain why I get strange looks when I try to hit up the house next door for a Snickers bar in July.
On top of that, there’s the whole argument about how Halloween is a celebration of evil, with the black cats and skeletons and demons and magic stuff and so on. This certainly doesn’t help the day’s cause, but really I’m more concerned about the evil-doers who don’t restrict themselves to one night a year.
This brings me to the focus of my column (I know, I know … finally!). What is it about Halloween that polarizes us? It’s like people either embrace the day wholeheartedly or condemn it with no remorse.
I’m getting philosophical, y’all. Clear me some space.
All right, here we go.
To me, Halloween is a shade of gray in a world that tends to think in black and white. The other 364 days a year, good and evil are what they are, and never the twain shall meet. We know what good looks like, we know what “bad” looks like, and that’s that.
But then comes today, and all of a sudden things that ordinarily look “good” appear “bad” in the form of scary makeup and bats hanging from trees and whatnot. Meanwhile, things that are normally thought to be “bad” (eating whole baskets full of tooth rot, giving your grandma heart palpitations with a gorilla mask, etc.) are put on the “good” list, with the only excuse being a 24-hour grace period.
Unfortunately, tomorrow and the day after and the day after and so on, the lines of “good” and “bad” are just as hard to see, no matter how clearly defined we thing they are. We know what good is supposed to look like, but too often the appearance and the reality are not the same. And again, the same conversely applies; what we may think of as not-so-good can surprise us with how good it really can be.
I’m being vague.
I will attempt to be less so.
Many times what we think we see in a person is not a real reflection. While they may seem collected, graceful, and witty, they’re actually harboring resentment, bitterness and anger, all of which manifest into dark, cruel hatred. Thus, we see what that person wants us to see, not what we really should. And again, those who we may have preconceived notions about based on what we see (or what we’ve heard) may in fact be beautiful behind the judgmental mask we place upon them.
Too often we fall into this trap, only evaluating by sight and not by soul. There is more to everything — and everyone — than meets the eye. Get past all the skulls and devils and witches and whatnot, and that’s what Halloween is for me; one day when those veils are lifted, and we as a culture embrace all the facets of humanity. Life, death, love, hate, it’s all out there today. And the only judgment you hear is “Hey! Nice Costume!”
Go out there and do some good. Or bad. Whatever. Just be yourself, your true self, the good one deep down past whatever mask you’re wearing.
Happy Halloween, y’all.
Luke Hales is the assistant managing editor for The Baytown sun.
Published October 31, 2009 Didn’t expect to see me here, did you?
My column usually runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but this being Halloween and all, I thought it might be fun to shake things up a little. I’m like a ghost, ever-shifting, appearing and disappearing at my whim. You never know when I’ll show up. Spoooooky!
Okay, that and we had a Rep. Wayne Smith column to run that day. My reason was cooler. Admit it.
Finally … it’s here. Halloween. And it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. The air is cooling, it’s going to be brisk out tonight, autumn is in the air, and to top it off we get an extra hour of sleep/trick-or-treating/cleaning up toilet paper hurled at our homes by goofy teenagers.
By the way, consider that your reminder that it’s the end of Daylight Saving Time tomorrow, so, you know, change your clocks and stuff. It will make life easier in the long run, unless you just really, really like being early for things.
I had a big Halloween column planned. I was going to be gross and bizarre and creepy and spooky and all that stuff. But then I realized that since I’ve been writing Halloween columns all month, I’d pretty well covered all those bases.
So much for Plan A.
There was no Plan B.
So you get this column instead.
We all know that Halloween gets a bad rap for numerous reasons. It’s a day devoted to being naughty; either you’re dressing like a witch or a vampire (neither of which are listed as models of good behavior), you’re out throwing eggs or smashing pumpkins (I’m looking at you, my junior high readers! All one of you!), or stuffing yourself with candy you bummed off your neighbors. None of these things, in ordinary circumstance, are considered socially acceptable. This may explain why I get strange looks when I try to hit up the house next door for a Snickers bar in July.
On top of that, there’s the whole argument about how Halloween is a celebration of evil, with the black cats and skeletons and demons and magic stuff and so on. This certainly doesn’t help the day’s cause, but really I’m more concerned about the evil-doers who don’t restrict themselves to one night a year.
This brings me to the focus of my column (I know, I know … finally!). What is it about Halloween that polarizes us? It’s like people either embrace the day wholeheartedly or condemn it with no remorse.
I’m getting philosophical, y’all. Clear me some space.
All right, here we go.
To me, Halloween is a shade of gray in a world that tends to think in black and white. The other 364 days a year, good and evil are what they are, and never the twain shall meet. We know what good looks like, we know what “bad” looks like, and that’s that.
But then comes today, and all of a sudden things that ordinarily look “good” appear “bad” in the form of scary makeup and bats hanging from trees and whatnot. Meanwhile, things that are normally thought to be “bad” (eating whole baskets full of tooth rot, giving your grandma heart palpitations with a gorilla mask, etc.) are put on the “good” list, with the only excuse being a 24-hour grace period.
Unfortunately, tomorrow and the day after and the day after and so on, the lines of “good” and “bad” are just as hard to see, no matter how clearly defined we thing they are. We know what good is supposed to look like, but too often the appearance and the reality are not the same. And again, the same conversely applies; what we may think of as not-so-good can surprise us with how good it really can be.
I’m being vague.
I will attempt to be less so.
Many times what we think we see in a person is not a real reflection. While they may seem collected, graceful, and witty, they’re actually harboring resentment, bitterness and anger, all of which manifest into dark, cruel hatred. Thus, we see what that person wants us to see, not what we really should. And again, those who we may have preconceived notions about based on what we see (or what we’ve heard) may in fact be beautiful behind the judgmental mask we place upon them.
Too often we fall into this trap, only evaluating by sight and not by soul. There is more to everything — and everyone — than meets the eye. Get past all the skulls and devils and witches and whatnot, and that’s what Halloween is for me; one day when those veils are lifted, and we as a culture embrace all the facets of humanity. Life, death, love, hate, it’s all out there today. And the only judgment you hear is “Hey! Nice Costume!”
Go out there and do some good. Or bad. Whatever. Just be yourself, your true self, the good one deep down past whatever mask you’re wearing.
Happy Halloween, y’all.
Luke Hales is the assistant managing editor for The Baytown sun.