Teens discuss: is Halloween overrated?
PRO
Childhood is one of the most exciting and carefree points in one's life. With the undeveloped mind being so full of mystery, the hours spent watching fantasy movies and getting lost in new worlds with your toys were absolutely magical. From a young age, my friends and family told me about the one day within the year where all of those fantasies and imaginary adventures would blossom into reality: Halloween.
Kids expect to be immersed in a brand new world on Halloween. Promised by their parents that life's greatest mysteries will come out of hiding on Halloween, children have every opportunity to expect the most out of the night. But as the reality of Halloween becomes apparent, it’s clear that the hype was never justified. There is no denying that Halloween could become something special if everyone was dedicated to pushing our own boundaries and standing out as something completely different. Sadly, very few people have a desire to change their voice and get fully into character, as most don’t want to face the risk of embarrassing themselves.
Costumes have become an afterthought and are simply a tool for possibly getting some extra candy if the person handing it out can recognize who you are. As someone who always enjoyed losing myself in the character of my costume, I quickly reached a point where I wasn’t even sure if it was worth the effort of constructing an impressive costume if nobody else cared to share the same excitement. After all, whether you spent three months sewing your own costume by hand or you bought it last-minute at Target, the reward is the same: candy. Without a collective enthusiasm for costumes, the magic of Halloween fades. Spanish teacher Jorge Gutierrez has found this lack of Halloween spirit to be very prevalent within his own life.
“If you don’t really care about its origins and how the day became Halloween then it’s just a big costume party. That’s all it is,” Gutiérrez said. “I went to my first Halloween party in maybe 15 years a couple years back, and it was just ok…I left early because I would rather be home with my cats.”
At the end of the day, walking around dark streets for the purpose of extremely mild candy and the occasional jumpscare from a prop-wielding teenager left me bored and frustrated more than anything else. Most of the time I would never even eat the candy; I would usually give it away to my friends, because there was nothing about the candy that reflected any unique nature of that day. Halloween candy can be found at any market or convenience store throughout the entire year and under that logic there are far better and more interesting sweets to invest in that will make a Snickers feel like a waste of time. With all of that said, does a day centered around mediocre gas station candy really feel worth celebrating? Definitely not. The holiday could still reach its highest potential if we focus less on the candy and more on the characters we embody. Until that day, Halloween remains a mere disappointment.
Art by Kayman Mangan
OPINION SEP 27 . Written By Emi Yamashiro-Hergert, Centerspread EditorCON
What is the one holiday that anyone and everyone celebrates? Not Valentine's Day, which is exclusively for couples; not Christmas, Hanukkah, or any of the wintry but parochial days of festivity; certainly not the exceedingly colonialist Thanksgiving. Stripping all factional celebrations away, we are left with one clear winner: Halloween.
Candy, movies and scary makeup are widely accepted as the signifiers for Halloween, but these symbols do little to capture the holiday’s true spirit. Halloween brings communities together for displays of creativity and freedom. It's the night when, ironically, people all over the world shed the incorporeal masks they present to society by donning another type of mask entirely. The child in the street, the old woman behind the candy bowl and even the teenager egging someone's house all become the same: just another human rejoicing in the festivities.
Think of the timeless tradition of costuming. Most lines — gender, age, species, fictional universe, you name it — become acceptable to cross. When done in a way that respects all cultures and does not reinforce harmful stereotypes, costuming can be more significant than throwing some fabric and face paint together. It can provide a safe haven for transgender or gender-nonconforming youth, an opportunity to display to the world an appearance closer to their true selves. It can unite communities around a common interest or piece of media, establishing relationships that would not otherwise exist, or strengthening bonds between existing friends and family. Kai Bennett ('25) discusses how Halloween contributes to his familial connections.
"I personally have always loved Halloween because it was something I've always celebrated with my sibling," Bennett said. "We love making costumes - getting a character and basing a whole outfit off of that. Sometimes we go to thrift stores and find certain things that look like what we want and adjust it with sewing… We get really into it."
Though many view Halloween as simply a commercialism-fueled grab for money, the background of this holiday is rich with history and respect. Originating with the Celtic festival of Samhain, later adopted by Romans into the celebration of All Hallows' Eve, Halloween is as ancient as it is popular. Traditions date back to medieval times, as the Library of Congress states, with activities like trick-or-treating and the carving of jack-o'-lanterns finding their roots in pagan practices. The Celtic and Christian originators believed the barrier between life and death was thin at this time of year, allowing ghosts to walk the earth. Celebrators began to perform traditions they believed would honor the spirits of their loved ones and ward off monsters; these traditions would morph into the Halloween we know and love today.
This year, whether you decide to attend a rager, go trick-or-treating with little siblings or stay home and watch scary movies while scarfing down as much chocolate as humanly possible, remember the significance of this day. Halloween is not just a culmination of a quote-unquote Spooky Season, it is the product of the hard work, joy and creativity of billions.