Masquerade

The other day I got a phone call from my friend in New York. He asked if I could guess what his Halloween costume was going to be. I tried to come up with something clever and timely, "A Federal Indictment?" Nope. "What do I do every year?"
Then I remembered: Evil Clown. You have to love a guy who knows a classic and sticks with it. He's now in his second decade of the Evil Clown bit - and this year was really special. Big tie, big shoes, funny hat, and white contact lenses to make the whole thing - well - evil.
That being said, I reflected on a conversation we had lo those many moons ago, when the first Evil Clown appeared. We were both on our way to becoming chemically unfit to operate machinery of any kind, but before everything became too squishy, we agreed on this: People tend to have just a little bit of their character peek through their Halloween costumes. Sometimes it's a known thing, like an Evil Clown. Then there's the other end. Couples who show up to the party dressed "as each other." I can appreciate the easy access to costume. I can understand that it can be very cathartic to do a little role-playing in any relationship. Still - what are we saying with that one?
On the other end of the spectrum is the guy who came as a fireman - complete with oxygen tank and ax. Maybe he always wanted to be fireman when he was a kid, right? Well, he was a fireman. Talk about your incredibly grounded personalities.
My costumes tend to lean in the villainous/monstrous vein. Masks are a source of comfort for me, and have been since I bought my first Frankenstein mask in Disneyland when I was ten years old. Make of this what you will - I already have.
This year my son will be Darth Vader. My wife is Princess Leia. I considered joining in on the theme, but chose instead to go with the DEVO radiation suit and the newly acquired Energy Dome. I'm in touch with my new wave side, after all.