Halloween’s dark side is no match for reality

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Sunny South News

Who needs Halloween to scare us stupid? Jeepers creepers — the world sure doesn’t need a mask to frighten us these days, that’s for sure.

There’s Ebola, fears of escalating terrorism around the globe, war overseas, mad men with guns and protests in North America and abroad, obesity, a plethora of addictions, lack of child safety on the Internet, politicians campaigning yet again and it’s still a few days until All Hallows’ Eve.

It’s like something out of a Stephen King novel but it isn’t — it’s more Orwellian.

Is it doomsday prepping time? Will zombies begin to dig out of graves to eat our brains, which continue to de-evolve? Will we barricade ourselves in our home sweet homes until the close is clear? Will we reduce ourselves to mob rule? If history repeats itself — yes we will.

We are creatures of habit, foaming at the mouth and ready to strike whatever and whoever threatens our way of life. We are comfortable in our bubbles. Constrained by our own lack of interest in today’s current events — unless those events are front and centre, posing a potential life-changing catastrophe to kith and kin.

We are on the cusp of a rude awakening.Is it all doom and gloom? No. Can the world be saved? Yes — by not taking things so seriously. The Joker from “The Dark Knight” said it best, “Why so serious?”

The world could use a chuckle during these hard times. It’s like the world has become one giant Gotham and The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and an entire rogue gallery of villains have crept into our un-sanitized world to wreck havoc and un-restore law and order. But, Batman or Batgirl — we are not, even though at times we want to be, no doubt.

When we walk to the corner store to buy a carton of milk, do we really need to feel as though we are in a Michael Jackson “Thriller” video? With werewolves and zombies following behind and at every turn. Do we need to build Frankenstein monsters to protect us from the evils of society? Should we aspire to be immortal as a vampire, while we combat the world’s ills? No, of course not, that would be silly. It’s make believe, you say. A cookie cutter world — a house with a white picket fence to protect a unified family with optional dog and/or cat, a high paying job for an eternity, a land of opportunity and sunshine, a lifespan to 100 plus without sickness — are not these the things we were promised when we exited our mothers’ wombs in North America?

Surely, it is an exaggeration of sorts, but the world has changed since our mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers chugged along the happy trails of innovation, wonder and supposed progress for one and all. But, there’s always been a dark side — right Darth Vader?

Humans pick and choose everyday… freedom of choice, on anything and everything — is something we should cherish and practice, when applicable.

Do we become heroes or villains in today’s sometimes monstrous but hopeful societal incarnation? Are we Mighty Hercules or Daedalus? Are we Rocky and Bullwinkle or Boris and Natasha? Or are we Dudley Do-Right or Snidely Whiplash? We should aspire to be SpongeBob SquarePants instead of Mr. Krabs, or Davey rather than Goliath, or Jack instead of the giant at the top of beanstalk.

An old “Twilight Zone” episode on television portrayed the world in which we live quite well. It was an episode entitled, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” As an online plot summary states, as aliens watch a riot from unfounded paranoia and panic from a hilltop, “The easiest way to conquer Earth is to let the people of Earth destroy themselves, as their worst enemy.”

How true. The monsters are among us and sometimes it is – we, the people.