Comments on: Halloween Costumes & Ordinary Life

By: Supernatural Things » All Your God Jesus Questions Answered!

Supernatural Things » All Your God Jesus Questions Answered! — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:51:52 +0000

[...] But speaking of me and crazy, there’s quite a bit about this sort of thing in my previously mentioned book, which is to be released any week now. Tim Boucher has also written some kickass stuff about this subject from a number of angles. Like check this out: “In other words, costumes allow us to construct and modulate our identities. Not just how other people see us, but how we see ourselves. How many times have you put on a costume, and suddenly felt different? The costume may simply be a nice shirt or a pair of pants. These things enable us to access parts of ourselves that are normally dormant or which we may not typically feel comfortable or confident enough to express.” [...]

By: solxyz

solxyz — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:02:06 +0000

Dead on. I think it is part an understanding of this principle that allows people in a lot tribes to become gods by putting on certain costumes (Of course, this transformation also requires a nearness to the divine in order to have a sense of what it is to be a god).

I also ask why our society wont let us get away with certain roles. In many ways I feel more affinity for the wandering poet from beyond the grave that I played on haloween than for my normal persona, but if I tried to insist that I really am this ghost, Id be laughed out of town even by my closest friends (who are willing to put up with a lot of wierd shit from me).

By: Jennifer Emick

Jennifer Emick — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:43:43 +0000

So true, Michael.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 23:22:40 +0000

ha! try being a highschool kid!
i’ve realized, through my many years of schoolin’, that it’s no use lookin for the “real” people, because none of us are really “real.” Most of the “ghetto” kid have cell-phones and where expensive clothes. the “punks” or “anarchists”, or wtf people call um, watch MTV and are just like everyone else. It’s like the Breakfast Club, (a movie all of you who remember when it was new probobly hate)… they all were a costume (brain, jock, etc.) but are all the same underneath. It’s just like that. Only i doubt it ends in highschool. Our whole society puts arbitratry labels on people, and those who don’t like it are putting themselves in the little box for people who don’t like getting put in little boxes…. so it’s really loose-loose. That’s why when i meet someone, i try my best not to label them at all. they aren’t black or white, liberal or conservitive, those are just invented polarities. They’re just people, it dosn’t matter what costume they were to hide it.

By: Supernatural Things » Happy Freakin’ Halloween

Supernatural Things » Happy Freakin’ Halloween — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 04:52:20 +0000

[...] On a final and more serious note, I recommend everyone check out this excellent post by Tim Boucher of Pop Occulture, about halloween costumes and the personas we wear like costumes, all the time. I think reflecting on the roles we play in ordinary life, and the fact that they are roles, is more than just an intellectual exercise. The realization, if you take it far enough, can lead you into a clearer awareness of yourself, and of the nature of role playing in everyday life, and this can, if you want it to, free you up to be much more playful with the roles you play, to ‘try on’ different personas and possibly discover new facets to yourself that maybe you didn’t allow yourself to acknowledge as ‘you’ before, because you were stuck within the boundaries of a particular, narrow sense of identity. Maybe that sort of thing isn’t your cup of tea, but I think everyone can benefit from any increase in self-awareness, and awareness that our limitations are usually, if not always, self-imposed. Because that means they can be self-unimposed. Just a thought. [...]

By: nico

nico — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 03:22:16 +0000

If you haven’t read any Erving Goffmann - you should. His “The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life” is classic. Read his ideas about “impression management.” It definitely relates to the I/You structure you discussed earlier.

By: corky

corky — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:54:28 +0000

Nice post!

A woman I once knew explained that fashion (which includes costuming) is a kind of magic — a deliberate manipulation of others’ perception so as to create in their minds an image of ourselves as we would like to be seen. It also affects our self-perception, and the costume helps us “get in character.”

I used to be extremely anti-fashion, thinking it was nothing but foolish vanity and pretense. But after listening to my friend, I’ve come to see it as yet another tool at our disposal. (I’m still not into expensive fashion myself, but now that’s just me expressing my simplicity.)

By: skip wiley

skip wiley — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:29:33 +0000

I think today is all about reminding us that we do indeed always wear a costume… and its up to us to “fill” that costume with the energy-exuding self we choose to be during every moment.

I was just now painting my face and excited to go out in public so I could somehow “become” this different person (via my cool design). But then it occured to me — how is this face-paint I wear today different from my costume (clothes, human suit, etc) on any other day? Happy halloween indeed.

By: brekin

brekin — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:26:24 +0000

We are all wearing uniforms! Frank Zappa