Episode 435: Team Sexy, Team Scary, Team Offensive

On the Overthinking It Podcast, we consider what Halloween means to adults.

Ben Adams, Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather gather to Overthink Halloween, and to answer the question, “Why do we (still!) dress up as things?”

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Further Reading

“Weekend Box Office: ‘Inferno’ Loses to ‘Madea’ in Stunning Halloween Upset”

7 Comments on “Episode 435: Team Sexy, Team Scary, Team Offensive”

  1. Chimalpahin #

    Oh my things have changed on the comment section huh?

    Reply

  2. Chimalpahin #

    This is a much better title

    Reply

  3. Chimalpahin #

    WHat happened to my other comment?

    Reply

  4. Fred Firestine #

    When you were talking about “What does this costume mean to the people in my group?” I was thinking “Who are the people in my neighborhood? The people that I meet each day!” This of course implies a different sort of costume, since we all wear clothes appropriate to our jobs, and for preschool kids watching Sesame Street it was pretty obvious.

    Reply

  5. cat #

    Personally, I haven’t celebrated Halloween since I went trick or treating as a child. I feel like I already go out enough as it is and I already treat getting dressed up like putting on a costume. Since middle school I haven’t experienced any kind of rigid or formal dress code so I’m already free to be as playful as I want to be with my attire. I don’t need to fantasy/pretending to be someone else element of it.

    Reply

  6. Crystal #

    I love dressing up on Halloween. That, and seeing other people’s costumes, is the main appeal. In fact, Halloween is the only holiday I really like. Most other holidays are about family or food but Halloween is about costumes! (Or candy if you’re a child, but candy isn’t as loaded as meal-centered holidays).

    For me, dressing up on Halloween is a chance to put on a fantasy identity for a while. It’s kind of like cosplaying at a convention, though it doesn’t have to be a specific character. You not only broadcast “this is what I like” but also “this is something I want to be like.”Now that I am thinking about my last few costumes, they are all distinct identities, ones that are fun for a night but not right for my life. There’s also something appealing about taking on a very loud identity. I wouldn’t want to dress “goth” every day, even if black was my color, but it’s fun to take on that elaborate identity for a night. In the last few years I’ve gone as: femme Han Solo (tomboy/rougue), Misa from Death Note (goth sexypot), Gwen Stefani (rocker chick), Cinderella (super feminine princess), a mermaid (still super feminine but more sexy). In my everyday life, I am a writer and I pretty much live in jeans, a t-shirt, and hoodies. My clothes are unexciting and practical and they present me as someone practical (or perhaps as a hipster, depending on my outfit). It’s fun to take on a more colorful role.

    Reply

  7. cat #

    Also, “This Podcast Is Not A Lawyer” would have been a great title for this episode.

    Reply

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