THIS NATION is going gaga at the moment. One notes that every last day of October, even before the pandemic (which was the scare of all scares), there would be horror film marathons on cable, equivalent scary movie festivals in cinemas, and a horde of kids, pets, and adults going around in all sorts of costumes and going trick-or-treating at every store in the malls who celebrate the 31st of October. All these are back, and it’s as though they never left.
Perhaps second only to the yuletide season, this has got to be the most celebrated time here and in many parts of the world. Of late, BPO workers I know dress up in Halloween costumes and do cosplays, hoping to win huge prizes and a trip to who-knows-where. Offices are doing the same. Everywhere one turns, bats and skeletons, zombies, mummies, ghosts, and vampires (not to forget LTO uniforms), are having their five-minute walk of fame, which, if one’s interested to know, is equivalent to just a few happy hours.
Truth be told, this wasn’t even celebrated in the country a few generations ago. In comparison, westerners have been exposed to this festivity in their own lands since they were children. During some chats with fellow homie boomers, seeing us celebrate Hallow’s Eve has been both a welcome and an oddity to them. The reason for some is their grandchildren can’t get enough of it, so they look forward to it. Meanwhile, some jaded ones see it as a means by which businesses take advantage of the celebration… but come to think of it, isn’t that the point of doing business in the first place? Striking while the iron is there?
Likewise, parents of new gens celebrate it, not for themselves, but for their young and their grandchildren. Whether business takes advantage of Halloween or not, they’re going to spend extra for candles, flowers and the celebrations on the 1st and second of November anyway. So, what gives, do it for the children.
Really, what’s the fuzz and buzz all about? I read somewhere that some people of the cloth have begun to criticize this occasion, going as far as branding it a non-Christian practice and satanic at that. The engines are hot, and the locomotive is running. Try stopping it in its tracks. I have a few friends donning the white collar, do they see it as a threat? I wonder. Does Rome even have anything official to say on the matter, I wonder again.
As for the satanic part, Halloween is only one day. Our Christmas season in the Philippines is celebrated for three months. But the war raging presently in Gaza killing women and children, how long is that already, and more importantly, doesn’t that count as satanic? A friend just posted yesterday. One cannot build a holy land on the mass graves of children. So, Halloween that.
