My rant about Halloween

Here comes the moodiness…

Halloween has never been a big deal to me. Sure, it’s great for the kids, and I encourage them to have as much fun with it as possible. But the continued growth of adult Halloween parties, costume contests at corporate offices, etc. seems painfully odious to me. I’ve never been a fan of people trying too hard in general, and Halloween is a great example of people expending far too much energy needlessly.

A major issue I have is with people who aren’t self-aware, those who, for reasons of insecurity or ignorance, simply can’t admit to themselves or others or both who they truly are. And Halloween has always been the pinnacle of this concept. Every year people eagerly wait for the opportunity to dress as something they’d never want to be associated with the rest of the year. They dress overtly sexual and act wilder than they will at any other time, then blame it on the costume and alcohol. Or worse, Halloween is the one time of the year they can finally be themselves, shocking the hell out of everyone who thinks they know them and then retreating back into their little cocoon to start preparing for Thanksgiving.

Why not just be yourself? Wear assless chaps on the weekends if you feel so inclined. Be the racist asshole that you are every day. Own your mind state. At least that I could respect. But to all those mousey single moms I’ll meet at parties tonight who don’t eat gluten and won’t tolerate swearing yet suddenly will be showing their underwear in the skimpiest Wonder Woman costume they could find, I really don’t want to take your photo. 

I know I sound like a horrible stick in the mud, and I’m sure I probably am. And I also know I’m incredibly lucky to be able to, for the most part, be my most genuine self most of the time. I spend my life following my passions and career goals freely, most of which are far outside our standard societal norms. I have no one to answer to but myself (and maybe the judgement of my nieces and nephew, but they’re generally big fans of their uncle), and thus I’m able to say what I want when I want to. Even at my shitty, conservative, corporate office, I still roll my eyes, contradict people, and speak my mind, even when my opinions aren’t popular. Of course, there’s very little risk involved, even less repercussions or reprimands, and the worst I have to deal with is the silent treatment from our corporate consultant who dreads dealing with me on his visits up from Los Angeles one day a week as much as I dread dealing with him.

Sigh. I’m not sure where else this essay is headed, but again, I never like to hide my true opinions, and Patreon is a great platform for being my full, authentic self. I promise I’m not the depressive moody jerk in my day to day life as often as I present myself here on this profile. You lucky lot get to see my worst self, in a way, and I apologize for that profusely. Please let me know if you think it’s ever getting to be a bit much.

And again, if you’ve made it this far down the essay, I recommend rewatching the behind-the-scenes video I posted yesterday on “Making a Goddess.” If you want to see what it’s like during a shoot, which usually just involves me and the model on our own, this is a perfect example of the kind of silliness that ensues.

Have a fun and safe holiday out there, folks, and thank you thank you thank you as always for putting up with me. I have a ton of work to share before the end of the year, and I have many more hopefully interesting and creative ideas for 2018. I hope you’ll stick around. Thanks again!

-Mark