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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
I cannot find an interesting female sci-fi/whatever character to dress up as that isn't totally inappropriate for a woman who doesn't need to present herself as a sexpot. WTH? I think of all my favorite movies... nope. It's all skintight and revealing. Not what I need to be wearing in front of teenagers.

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Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
Nausicaa of the valley of the wind.
Bonus points for her being my A-1 exemplar of humane behavior.

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You could also try Yuna from Final Fantasy X.

Neither costume looks too hard to pull off, and they also represent strength and decency from a generally nonviolent aspect.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
It was never celebrated here, as far as I can remember, until about 10 years ago, when kids started trick or treating.

All Hallowed's Eve has never been particularly acknowledged, although as Catholic we had to go to church the next day as it was/is All Saints Day.

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I will note that the first section of the movie includes a whole lot of upskirt shots of this leggy little girl. Totally creeps me out. Am I just too sensitive?

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Originally posted by BYTEMITE:

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I will note that the first section of the movie includes a whole lot of upskirt shots of this leggy little girl. Totally creeps me out. Am I just too sensitive?

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Seconded "Japan is different" maybe with a "JAPAN!!!" *shake fist* or "Japan is really fucking weird."

There's a vending machine somewhere in Japan that sells panties. You don't even want to know.

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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:


Yeah, this is what I'm talking about:

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Originally posted by Storymark:

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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:


Yeah, this is what I'm talking about:

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Pants creep you out...?

Note the difference in *color* between the head and the area you seem upset by...




"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Originally posted by Storymark:
Granted, there is some freaky shit out there when it comes to anime....

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Here's a suggestion...

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Originally posted by Storymark:
Granted, there is some freaky shit out there when it comes to anime....

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Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
It's because of her we have Obama as president. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" ... you got that right Jack!

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

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Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
It's because of her we have Obama as president. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" ... you got that right Jack!

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Dammit, I just KNEW someone would go there, and ruin a perfectly fine Halloween costume suggestion.


Tanks for nuttin' !

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Here's a suggestion...



Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

Resident USA Freedom Fundie

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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I detest Halloween. I never much liked it as a kid when there was nothing more than a few wonkily carved pumpkins around the streets by way of token celebration. But over the years my vague ambivalence has ballooned to full-blown hatred.

I think it was living in Hong Kong that tipped me over the edge. The vibrant local Honkongese and expat community love a cultural/religious celebration. Whatever is going around, be it Christmas, Diwali, Lantern Festival or Buddha's birthday, they will get into it. But Halloween is something else. It's bigger than Christmas, the streets of Lan Kwai Fong (party central on Hong Kong Island) are festooned with so many huge hairy spiders and tacky webs it's almost impossible to walk the steep, cobblestoned streets. And the normally all-pervasive aromas of barbecued duck and goose are obliterated by the fake smoke machines.

Driving to school last week the five-year-old said: "I can't decide whether I like Christmas or Halloween better." I nearly crashed the car in horror.

Every towering apartment block hosts a sort of vertical street party. I took my then one and three-year-olds to a party in our block. I dressed the one-year-old in a faux-felt pumpkin costume complete with stalk hat and she spent the night crying at the indignity of it. Never again, I thought, and for the next three years we left town on October 31.

But now, with kids aged five, seven and nine, I cannot escape it. We have come home to Sydney and Halloween is everywhere. There are gross ghouls hanging from every second house around us and the supermarkets are filled with weirdly perfect pumpkins. Driving to school last week the five-year-old said: "I can't decide whether I like Christmas or Halloween better." I nearly crashed the car in horror.
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How has this happened? Why do we celebrate this American custom? Halloween has no cultural significance here. No one understands or cares why we do it, it is just mindless dressing-up in spooky costumes because the US does. And then there are the lollies. I am fine with them having sweet treats, I'm fine with the bags of tooth-rotting goodies that come home from a party. But I'm not fine with the bucketloads of "candy" that will come home tonight. It's just too much.

The wonderful lady who picks our kids up from school will take our girls tonight. They are beside themselves with glee. She took them last year as well. I drove home in the evening and saw them heading up our street towards home. Their smiles were brighter than the street lights as they sailed along waving to the many neighbours spilling out into the street. "See," said Jeanne. "It is a wonderful event that connects people and brings them together." Yes I saw. I just wish it didn't take Halloween to do this.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
It's not the same. No, not the same at all. It's the difference between celebrating chinese new year because you have lots of chinese in the neighborhood, and celebrating it because china is the dominates every aspect of your life.

Dont know if I can explain it to you, jerah. Perhaps, if you could imagine that Australia Day became more widely celebrated in the US than July 4th. You weren't sure what it was all about, but you had the bbq and the sausages and lamingtons and draped yourself in Aussie flags. Every tv show you watched depicted people celebrating it, newspapers talked about it, but nobody mentioned July 4 anymore.

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Originally posted by G:
Jersey whatever-the-hell-it's-called on euro TV??? Christ almighty! I feel like apologizing to every foreigner and at the same time I feel like screaming, "that's not the US that I live in...

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The increase in leisure has not resulted, as the ancient sages supposed, in an increase in wisdom and the contemplation of the good, the true, and the beautiful.

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Originally posted by Storymark:
I dig Halloween. An excuse to indulge in some sugar - and lots of fun costumes. It really doesn't hold any significance for me beyond that - but it's fun and I like it.

Im dressed as Mal right now, as a matter of fact...

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Originally posted by BYTEMITE:

We actually have this in America. It's called Cinco de Mayo, and it's awesome.

Which tends to be the reason celebrations and traditions cross cultural and national boundaries.

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if soon Americans start celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving, and vice-versa for Canadia. :P

It's like me saying I'm having a party, and you saying you hate my party because it's all you've heard about all month. You can basically either join in the fun, or don't play. Like Christmas for atheists. Which starts in July now.

Normally I'm the first in line when it comes to resenting America. But Halloween? Really? Of all the problems that America causes in the rest of the world, of the many times we've exported American culture at GUN POINT, you hate Halloween.

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Originally posted by BYTEMITE:

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Originally posted by Storymark:
I dig Halloween. An excuse to indulge in some sugar - and lots of fun costumes. It really doesn't hold any significance for me beyond that - but it's fun and I like it.

Im dressed as Mal right now, as a matter of fact...

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WE DEMAND PICS.

Oh wait, actually no, that might endanger your personal security. WE DEMAND STICK FIGURE DRAWINGS OF THIS EVENT.

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Originally posted by Oonjerah:

Hey! You're young enuf to Be Mal when the series picks up again!
Get an agent, quick!


=================:>
A man's gotta know his Imitations.

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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
I enjoy dressing up, as do many of my students and co-workers. There's a few other teachers with long histories of excellent costumes, from Indiana Jones to Darth Vader to Jack Sparrow. My first year of teaching I was Princess Leia of Star Wars with the funny side buns and white dress. My second year I did Cher of the 60s: long black hair, overdone make-up, fake lashes, and a goofy 60s jumpsuit.

Since then... not so much.

I cannot find an interesting female sci-fi/whatever character to dress up as that isn't totally inappropriate for a woman who doesn't need to present herself as a sexpot. WTH? I think of all my favorite movies... nope. It's all skintight and revealing. Not what I need to be wearing in front of teenagers.

A few days ago I thought - hey, what about something from a kids story, like little red riding hood? Get a red cape and a basket to carry, I've got a flowery girlish dress... until I just did a google search for fairy tale female characters and it was all anime sexpots.

What the f is wrong with this world? Can women exist in fiction these days without being all sexed up? Even Joss has fallen - look at the ridiculous posters for the Avengers, with Scarlet Johansson presented as all T&A.

/rant

Anyone got ideas?

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Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
So celebrating Thanksgiving because some Americans you know expect you to is okay, but celebrating Halloween because some of your countrymen saw it on television and thought it looked cool is just uncalled for.

It is apparent that you basically don't like Halloween not because it's American but because it's popular, and populism is the realm of the vulgar audience. Yet ultimately you are objecting to giving candy to children and calling it cultural victimisation.

Meanwhile, I'm going to gobble down a shit-ton of sugar and somehow carry it on my 5'5" 125 pound frame. Then I'm going to watch some friggin' GHOSTBUSTERS, and maybe scare the piss out of some kids with a remote controlled helicopter.

It's going to be pretty good.

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Yeah, you don't get it.

Revel in your cultural imperialism by all means. Empathy seems to be pretty difficult for you to manage.

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Originally posted by Oonjerah:
Lemme guess ...

People having fun is not the objection.
People adopting US customs in lieu of their own is felt as a loss.
Very upsetting when one loves-respects her own culture.

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