Posted by JumpCrisscross 5 hours ago
It was always kind of interesting to see how America did it but from afar it lacked a lot of important features ours had. Then coming to Australia it was like diet America which I found, and perhaps still do find, a little offensive.
I know that there are other costume festivals (like carnival and related festivals) but I wonder what makes Halloween so potent that everyone wants a piece. Is it just the freedom of wearing a costume?
as a kid I had a lot of sovereignty during halloween. I got to pick the costume, get done-up, and then perform. I got to walk around my neighborhood nearly unattended, which was a rarity. I got to hang out with friends, and then I got to eat the candy that I solicited for.
Christmas , well, kids have little money. They don't generally cook the dinner, they don't get a tree, even if they're involved. The adults do everything. The presents are great, and as a kid I loved them -- but the job for me was mostly just to go to bed early on Christmas Eve.
New Years / Fourth of July / Thanksgiving / Easter -- same thing. The kids are spectators that get to enjoy the fireworks and messing about with that stuff after dinner -- but it's largely hands off.
Halloween felt like my holiday growing up because it was the single example where the decision making was essentially in my hands, and it wasn't just as an excuse for the adults to get together and drink like the rest of them.
Haven't heard it Australia described that way before. Mostly the descriptions have been a mixture of US and UK/EU cultural pieces.
What's the "offensive" stuff?