Halloween is a fantastic holiday. You aren’t expected to be thankful for anything and you don’t have to buy anyone presents. All you have to do is get a cheap bag of candy (or leave your porch light off) and let your inner child shine.
Although it may look like Halloween on any given day on Broadway, the rest of Capitol Hill actually dressed up for the occasion. I attended two parties and saw a healthy dose of adult-concocted costumes. There were the usual trite costumes that appear every Halloween, with a significant boost in “Wild Thing” Max’s and a depressing decline in pirates.
I personally appreciate homemade costumes the most, like the six-foot tall robot completely encased in foil. But fear not party goers, there was a tube connected from the side beer holder into the robot so fuel could be properly consumed. My personal favorite: the Fruit Stripe Gum zebra handing out strip after strip of that delicious treat. I went as the H1N1 virus and my partner in crime was the out-of-stock H1N1 vaccine (we didn’t have a great deal of time!)
My night, however, soured when Sexy Hitler walked in the room. Hands down the worst costume ever. She was wearing a military type jacket with a red swastika armband, a Hitler mustache, silver bejeweled underpants, and heels. Sexy? Maybe, if you can ignore the giant symbol of hate and the booger-saver on her upper lip. Inappropriate? Yes.
At first I thought my horror was simply because I am a Jew. I am proud of it, yet I am not overly sensitive about Jewish jokes. There is one thing, however, that I will never find funny: the Holocaust. I will stand firm on this against Sara Silverman or anyone else. The systematic genocide of millions of people is never a laughing matter, or even a matter to take lightly.
I then realized that my horror was due to her utter lack of respect for human kind in general. In the current political climate of threatened minority rights and deteriorating economic stability, why on Earth would a person wish to stir up such demons and laugh in their faces? There are plenty of creative costumes that are not politically correct, but they are usually ingenious and certainly fall short of downright offensive. What happened to her sense of decency?
Thankfully, even the gentiles I was partying with grew extremely uncomfortable as well. We left the party past throngs of people telling Sexy Hitler how good she looked. I would like to think that Capitol Hill residents would take a stand against this type of hatred. I am disappointed in all who knew her plans to be Sexy Hitler and did not voice concerns, and horrified at those who did nothing once Hitler actually arrived.
Capitol Hill is supposed to be the mecca of weird, the home for all who had to leave their homes, the place where people are finally accepted as people. If the outcasts aren’t safe on Capitol Hill, where are they safe?
