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I Want to be the Deranged Criminal

Patrick Barnard October 9th, 2008

Who are you going to be for Halloween this year?

According to information gathered from The Lycos 50, based on Internet search results the top 10 costumes so far this year are:

1) Batman

2) Indiana Jones

3) Joker

4) Iron Man

5) Hulk

6) Transformers

7) Hannah Montana

8 ) Sharpay

9) Love Guru

10) Hellboy

The results are based on Internet search terms and trends for the week ending Oct. 4, 2008.

Is it me or do these costume choices seem a little more “adult” than in the past? Especially when I think about the recent Batman and Iron Man movies, which are pretty violent. While Indiana Jones, Hannah Montana, Sharpay and Love Guru are innocent enough, the others are pretty dark and sinister.

I know Batman has been popular for decades – but I don’t think the kids who want to be Batman this year are thinking of the character from the comic strip.

I think this trend is partly due to the fact that Halloween has become such a huge holiday among young adults. Last year, roughly 85 percent of 18-24 year olds celebrated the holiday in some way, representing the largest segment of those partaking in the fun. That means more older kids are buying costumes – which might partly explain the increasing popularity of movie characters from PG-13 rated movies.

And a lot more adults are getting into the action too: In my suburban neighborhood I’ve seen a big increase in the number of parents going out in costume to trick-or-treat with their kids.

I’m kind of surprised that the presidential candidates aren’t ranking higher on the costume list. I suspect there’s going to be a ton of Obama, McCain and Sarah Palin costumes this year. (And will any president – even President George W. Bush — ever top Tricky Dick in costume popularity?)

Interestingly, this is the first year, since the original Harry Potter movie came out, that Harry Potter costumes did not make the top 10.

Come to think of it, Harry Potter can be kind of dark and sinister too.

I guess what bothers me is the fact that so many kids are making their costume choices based on movie marketing (and let’s face it, most of them didn’t actually see these movies.)

What also disturbs me is that these movie heroes and villains have a far more complex modus operandi than what’s found in your typical ghosts, goblins, vampires and werewolves: In some respects their dark nature is a manifestation of the ills society. That’s why I get mixed feelings when I hear my 5-year-old son say, “I want to be Joker.” In the context of the most recent Batman movie, it’s almost like hearing him say, “I want to be a deranged criminal.”

Or maybe I’ve just become an over-analytical old fuddy-duddy …