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How the movies influence Halloween costumes
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Everyone knows the basic Halloween costumes, the ones you're going to see tons of every year: the ghost, the vampire, the princess, and the witch. But if you look at all of the Halloween costumes on the market, it's easy to see that the movies influence what we are going trick-or-treating in from year to year. Last year, with the release of The Dark Knight tons of kids were going around dressed up like Heath Ledger's Joker.
You can the costumes on the market today that movies definitely have a big influence. Some of the most popular costumes for babies are Minnie Mouse, Superman, Princess Leia, Yoda, Wolverine, and Pickachu. Girls are dressing up like Hannah Montana
Dorothy Gale, Princess Leia, Padme Amadala, Supergirl, Batgirl, and Alice in Wonderland while boys prefer GI Joe, Yoda, Storm Trooper, Transformer, Indiana Jones, and superhero costumes like Wolverine, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and Spiderman.
Men and women seem to be dressing up a lot like their smaller counterparts, including costumes such as pirates, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface, Jason from Friday the 13th, and Wonder Woman, Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Even pets are getting in on the action, costumed as Wonder Woman, Super Dog, Underdog, Batman, Elvis, The Joker, Yoda, Princess Leia, Zorro, Buzz Lightyear, Tin Man, Toto, Dorothy Gale, and others.Superhero costumes abound as do costumes from the Harry Potter series of characters, various Disney Princesses, Star Wars, Star Trek, and characters from High School Musical.
Image Credit: CC
Another popular trend is dressing up like the movie stars themselves. A popular female costume is the blonde bombshell, which is not so subtley based off of Marilyn Monroe. Elvis costumes abound for both men and women. There are costumes based on Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Cheech & Chong, Farrah Fawcett, and various costumes that are loosely based on people such as James Dean and early Hollywood movie starlets.
Couples are even dressing up like their favorite movie characters. Some of last years favorite and most popular Halloween costumes came straight from the silver screen and tons of ideas for this year are based off of popular films. Even so called "traditional" costumes are somewhat influenced by the movies. Its hard to find a vampire costume that doesn't emulate Bela Lugosi, a Frakenstein that doesn't look like Boris Karloff, an Alice in Wonderland who doesn't have the same blue and white color scheme as the Disney movie, or a Cleopatra costume that doesn't seem influenced by Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal of the character back in 1963.
Image Credit: CC
So, why is it we seem to ditch the originality and go straight for costumes based on other things are people? It might be our desire to be something we're not, to dress up like the rich, famous, sometimes tragic, to be like those people who seem to have it all, the fame, the glory, and the money. Halloween is the one time of the year you can be whatever you want to, so why not be a superhero, a damsel in distress, or your favorite Hollywood starlet? Last year, one of the most popular costumes was Amy Winehouse, giving women all over the world the chance to be wild, constantly rehabed songbirds without having to actually be that.
If you want to get into the psychology of Halloween costumes, you can read this great article. Another great article, here, discusses how our Halloween costumes influence us. This article is another good read about what impression people are going to get from your Halloween get up, which you might want to read before you don that sexy cat suit. As Oscar Wilde once said: "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
