Revealing, risque costumes sour true Halloween spirit ALEXA

Opinions
A6
Mt. Carmel SUN
October 26, 2012
Awkward turtle
Kayla colbert
Revealing, risque costumes
sour true Halloween spirit
Raise Your Voice.
I’m a political junkie. I read the
political section of “CNN” religiously,
and I’ve refreshed the online electoral
map seven times while writing this
article. I’ve followed every aspect of
the election on the edge of my seat,
trying to sift through all the PR bull
and spin.
However, sometimes I feel like
a glutton for punishment for even
bothering to care about this hot mess
of an election.
My main grievance involves the
media. I dare all of you to go to a
news source and find one political
article (One!) that has nothing to
do with poll numbers or who’s
“winning.” Really? You can win the
election before it even takes place?!
Man, the things I’ve learned on
Yahoo’s homepage.
Poll numbers mean nothing.
Nobody ever wins the election by
winning the popular vote (here’s
looking at you, Al Gore)—that’s not
how our system works. Hell, even
my beloved projected electoral map is
irrelevant right now (though it is very
soothing).
I can’t think of one mainstream
media source that has covered the
election in any other way but “X is
currently beating Y” or “Y is climbing
in the polls.” The horse race aspect
of the election is the only part of the
election that anyone is bothering to
talk about.
Alongside their bogus polls are
articles based on the most inane,
pointless, and often untrue pieces of
gossip about each candidate.
In the last few months, I have
heard more about Barack Obama’s
allegedly secret gay lifestyle and Mitt
Romney’s Mormon underwear than
I have about either man’s actual
policies. It seems as though the
media is more interested in cranking
out idiotic articles that generate more
“clicks” than actually entertaining
their audience.
Part of me thinks that this is
because the media is lazy as hell.
Most of these reporters won’t dare to
attempt actual investigative journalism.
At the same time, however, I don’t
blame them.
You wanna know why the people
of the media are so lazy? Because the
people of the United States are lazy.
Think about it; why would a journalist
put in all the effort to extensively
research and uncover valuable
information about the Arab Spring,
only to have no one care?
People don’t want to read about
something that is complicated and
will take up too much of their mental
energy when they can consume
something that is both entertaining
and mind-numbing.
If you don’t believe me, here’s a
test. There are two articles in front
of you: one of the articles details
Mitt Romney’s five-point plan for his
presidency, and the other one is about
“Honey Boo Boo” rolling with pigs in
mud.
Don’t lie; you just clicked on that
freaking Honey Boo Boo article.
In the world we live in, we would
rather focus on the ridiculous and
the mindless versus things of real
importance (see the rise of “reality”
TV stars).
This is because we have become
so cynical as a nation. After what
we’ve experienced in the last decade—
terrorist attacks, the effects of a
horrible recession—a lot of people
have retreated from the real world
because it’s just too much to cope
with all the time.
It’s a sad day in this great country
when the citizens are so disillusioned
that they believe that there is no point
in caring about anything, because
things will get worse no matter what.
I’m an eternal optimist when it
comes to these sorts of things, and I
believe that there’s no way that we can
change the world unless we are active;
apathy is the enemy, folks.
Educate yourself on the issues.
Turn off “TLC” (even if you can only
last five minutes at a time, that’s okay).
Develop informed, independent
opinions.
The most important thing,
however, is to speak out. Do not
retreat; raise your voice.
Danielle Damper
Editor-in-chief
According to the movie “Mean Girls,”
Halloween is the one night a year where a girl can
dress up as much of a slut as she wants without
being judged, but honestly, slutty Tinkerbell, yes,
I’m judging you.
The over-sexualization of Halloween has, in
my opinion, made the entire holiday way less fun.
A single trip to the costume store will show just
how much priorities have shifted over the last
couple of years.
The more overtly sexy costumes, like the
“Leg Avenue” brand, which used to only cover
a small portion of the costume wall, have since
moved to encompass over 90% of the women’s
costume section. It is much more difficult to find
a once classic costume choice, take Lucille Ball for
instance, as the majority of costumes have names
like “Sexy Vixen Pirate,” “gold digging girl,”
or “Broomstick Babe witch” (these are all real
costumes you can look them up). However, the
worst in my mind are the costumes that pervert
children’s movies. Disney princesses are always a
big hit, but the category is slowly adding more
and more of my beloved childhood memories.
In my costume search, I actually came
across a sexy Finding Nemo costume. In what
world does an animated movie about finding
yourself and growing closer as a family translate
well into a sexy Halloween costume? Don’t
get me wrong, I understand the desire to look
attractive, especially when most Halloween plans
for our age group involve going to some kind of
party. I understand that human nature dictates
that no one wants to wear a costume they look
unattractive in; however, in my mind there is a big
difference between dressing up in a costume you
love and looking sexy, and dressing up as a sexual
plaything. As sexy as they may be, I truly believe
these costumes are negative in the long run.
First of all, they’re incredibly generic. There
are plenty of costume ideas that can showcase
your personality as well as looking attractive;
however, more often than not a sexy Halloween
costume will include some kind of short dress
in varying colors and a little hat to show what
character the girl is trying to be.
These overtly sexy costumes have also
been reaching a younger and younger audience.
This teaches our young girls that it’s ok to be
objectified. “Sassy Victorian Pirate” and “Major
Flirt” are now commonly sold girl’s costumes,
and I don’t know about you, but I would rather
DEAN HOANG | ARTIST
little girls stay innocent princesses or scary ghosts
rather than anything with “flirt” in the title.
These costumes, paired with the increasingly
misogynistic costumes worn by guys have made
Halloween seem like a little less treat, and a lot
more turning tricks.
If Sigmund Freud could see the costumes
men are wearing today, I think it would be
enough evidence to write another paper about
phallic symbols. The more subtle men’s costumes
have been replaced with more and more
obvious references. Highlights from this year
are a “department of erections” prisoner or a
breathalyzer test with a strategically-placed “blow
me” tube.
With men dressed like that and women in
“gold digging girl” costumes on the same night,
how are healthy gender relations supposed
to be implemented in society? In this warped
Halloween mindset, women literally walk around
dressed as male fantasy and men walk around
dressed as an organ that wants nothing but sex.
With this, women are objectified, men are made
dominant, and no one cares about the person’s
actual personality. This makes Halloween much
less fun and way more ridiculous.
So yes, slutty Tinkerbell, you still have time
to change your costume.
High school
relationships
change with
the times
aLEXA MAUZY-LEWIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
It’s unnerving to think that in just a few
short months, I may never see again most
of the people I have come to know over
these four years at MC.
As we begin to determine the separate
paths our lives will take, it’s hard not to
wonder if the precious friendships in our
lives will stand the test of time.
Change is inevitable. People grow apart
and move in different directions. We find
ourselves on barely speaking terms with
people we used to believe would be in our
lives forever.
In middle school we had our set group
of “best friends” that we did everything
with. I used to be under the false naivety
that I could never drift away from those
people that were closest to me at the time.
However, once we all entered different
high schools, things began to change.
Before I knew it, I saw those girls less and
less and now I don’t even talk to most of
them at all.
It’s strange how the importance of
certain relationships can shift in our lives.
Now there are new people whom I
consider my closest friends and love dearly.
I can’t help but to wonder if we too will
slowly drift apart after high school.
There are certain relationships that
we would hope to never crumble, however
distance not only separates us physically.It’s
difficult to maintain a relationship, whether
it is a friendship or something more, when
you are miles, even states apart.
Yet there are some bonds that can’t be
broken. Hopefully some friendships can
stand over the years even as we begin to
take our seperate paths in life. As I look at
the faces of the people at MC I have grown
to love more than anything, it’s hard not to
wonder what the future has in store for us.
Will we still know each other 10 years from
now?
It’s time to simply accept the fact that
people change and move on; however, we
shouldn’t be hung over on the tragic truth
that our time together is running short.
We need to enjoy each other while we
can. Although friendships can fade, the
memories we make can last forever.We
should enjoy these last months of childhood
together to the fullest extent and cherish the
friendships we were able to form over these
four years.
While it is difficult to not feel a sense
of dread when facing the changes that may
take place, we must remember to live in the
moment.
Even if we don’t talk 10 years from
now, I’d like to hope that we will never
forget the moments we shared as Sundevils
together.
Excessive gaming leads to destructive decisions
jOSIE bEAVERS
sTAFF wRITER
AUDREY CROM | ARTIST
It can be said that the first video
game was released as early as 1947.
Now, millions of people possess video
gaming consoles, games, devices,
and virtually any piece of amusing
technology that can be acquired.
Although I myself am an avid
video game player, there is a fine line
that people are beginning to cross.
Sadly, the amount of time in a day is
scarce and cannot be changed, and
there are other responsibilities to tend
to rather than spending my time how
I’d like to. However, I understand that
real life is more important than virtual
reality. Some people can’t seem to tell
the difference.
Video games are highly addictive,
and psychologists even go so far
as to say that a person addicted to
video games shows extremely similar
symptoms as someone addicted to
heroin or meth. It can consume lives,
slowly pushing out reality and the video
game itself becoming life. To addicts,
video games become a necessity, and
they start to rely on them in order to
function throughout life.
For example, in a South
Philadelphia town in 2010, a mother
took away her son’s PlayStation when
he started to get bad grades and
started to neglect his responsibilities.
The video game-deprived son became
angry with this decision and resolved
it by hitting his mother to death with a
claw hammer while she slept.
When video games become so
important to a person’s life that they
would kill their own parents because of
it, it has passed the point of addiction.
When parents let their infant children
die from malnutrition and dehydration
because they are too occupied with
World of Warcraft, people should
An introduction to the internet
start being concerned, and video
game addiction should be taken more
seriously.
To say that the people in these
stories are simply obsessed with video
games is an understatement, what is
happening all around the world every
day is beyond an addiction. People stop
eating, stop sleeping, stop showering,
and even stop using the bathroom
just to continue playing videogames.
As long as the world continues to
spit out new consoles and games, the
rate at which these cases multiply will
continue to rise.
I’m not saying that video games
should stop being produced; I love
video games and everything about
them. I think taking out some anger
and releasing some stress once in a
while by shooting the heads off of
zombies is very healthy. All I’m saying
is that maybe people should just learn
when to tone it down.
CROM CORNER
AUDREY CROM | ARTIST