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| NO : 240 |
Date : Oct/29/04 10:46 |
| Name : gohomestay/ |
E-mail : <info@gohomestay.com> |
| Subject : Ghoulish looks for Halloween, Korean style |
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American brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald's have become familiar staples of Korea's popular culture diet. But what about a holiday that originated 2,000 years ago in pagan rituals, animal sacrifices and dead souls rising up from their graves?
There's nothing scaring Koreans away from the celebration of Halloween, despite its dark origins and ghoulish manifestations today.
An increasing number of Jack-o-lanterns and witches can be spotted in retail stores as orange and black become the colors of choice for the month of October.
Halloween has only just recently become popular in Korea, as an imported phenomenon. For American children, All Hallow's Eve usually measures out to happily lugging around huge garbage bags of candy after a successful night of trick-or-treating. In Korea, since door-to-door visits to homes are more difficult, it is largely a time to dress up in a costume, act a little goofy and perhaps even howl at the moon.
Park Sung-jae of Yupki World, a shop specializing in Halloween costumes, said that he didn't find anything strange with Koreans importing the spooky holiday.
"People knew about Halloween for a long time and were interested in it, but the broader public didn't really know about it," he said, standing behind a glass counter filled with whoopee cushions, goofy glasses and other gags. "But starting about three years ago, people became interested in wearing the costumes."
Park said that although the holiday is mostly popular among children, adults have been more and more interested in purchasing costumes, perhaps in an effort to get out of the standard issue work suit and slip into something a little more interesting. Costume changes could also allow adults to moonlight in different professions: sexy nurses' uniforms were popular among women, Park said.
"You really have to think of Halloween as a form of culture. I think the reason why people like it so much is because it's a form of party culture, for both children and adults."
Two women approached his store in the basement of the Migliore building in Myeongdong and timidly looked around at the ghoulish treats in his shop, eying a fake sawed off finger. As Park coaxed them into a purchase of bunny teeth with matching bunny ears, he casually placed a knife-through-the-head gag on his head. The two girls screamed with delight and settled on buying the bunny teeth.
Asked if they were off to any costume parties this year, they just giggled anxiously and said no.
Park said that Harry Potter continues to be the running favorite among children. The mask from the "Scream" movies and vampires were popular among adults. A group of children had gathered around the shop, perusing the goodies on display. They all agreed in unison that Harry Potter was the best costume. Sweet-looking angel costumes also got the go-ahead from the girls. Spiderman, a supposed favorite this year among kids, and devils were shunned by the children.
"Spiderman is bald so we don't like him," a girl said, the rest chiming in. "And we don't like devils because they're mean and ugly. But we like cute devils," she said.
Hmm. No bald, mean or ugly characters. Wonder how the political masks are faring among Korean children this year.
(imoon@heraldm.com)
By Iris Moon
2004.10.29
* Ref : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/10/29/200410290016.asp |
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