The LLama Butchers: Gratuitous Halloween Ranting

October 31, 2006

Gratuitous Halloween Ranting

Flipping through the archives, I'm rayther surprised that I haven't cranked about Jack-O-Lanterns here before. Halloween gingerbread houses, yes. Pumpkin carving, no.

Well, while trephining my own Mr. O-Lantern last evening, I got fuming on the matter again. And what, may you ask, is the problem? Well, Wikipedia spells it out pretty nicely:

Traditionally the carved pumpkin would be a face, often with a simple crooked toothed grin. But toward the end of the 20th century, artists began expressing every kind of idea they could imagine on pumpkins. Today, it is common to see portraits of political candidates, celebrities and cartoon characters, just to name a few. Some artists do full three-dimensional sculptures and others work with the idea that the lighted pumpkin will project in what amounts to three shades. Cut out holes will appear white; unpeeled portions will appear black, and any area that is peeled or carved to different depths will appear as various shades of yellow/orange.

We hates designer pumpkin carving. To me, the traditional learing face, lit from within by a candle and sitting malevolently on the front steps, is about the only thing left that still links modern "Halloween" with its original All Hallows' Eve sense, evoking the occult, the macabre and the blurring of the line that separates us from the spirit world.

The more "creative" designs that have become so popular these days have none of this magic about them, instead smacking of swank, vanity and frivolity (which, after all, are the dominant themes in our culture, such as it is). Going out and getting the kit to carve one of these things is bad enough. But I also understand that people buy them pre-carved. This is akin to having somebody else decorate your Christmas tree and when I am Emperor of the World, will constitute a flogging offense.

Hmph.

UPDATE: Now this is the right idea.

YIPS from Steve-O: I have a feeling Robbo is going to take a liking to this Althouse piece.

Posted by Robert at October 31, 2006 09:21 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Hear, hear!

Posted by: rbj at October 31, 2006 10:17 AM

I hate carving pumpkins at all and definitely prefer the traditional face, if carving must be done. My children don't agree though, so since I'm carving the blasted things for them, I wound up making a skull and a kitty cat face this year.

Posted by: Jordana at October 31, 2006 10:23 AM

Mine had Ebola virus this year. Lots of oozing from the traditional triangular cutouts. Totally gross.

Posted by: sarah at October 31, 2006 12:14 PM

My six year old and I had a blast carving the pumpkin, and it turned out alright. This is no small thing as it was done freehand, and my wife is far better at all things artistic than I.

Posted by: KMR at October 31, 2006 12:21 PM

Flogging's too good for them. Boys, get a rope.

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at November 1, 2006 12:17 AM

I believe that the carving should be quick, maybe a rough outline, but that's it. My favorite tool is my little old paring knife. No fancy tools for this family.

Posted by: Sarah G. at November 1, 2006 09:23 PM

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Posted by: Janni at November 3, 2006 12:09 PM