As decreed by certain parent and school organizations throughout the country, the list of politically incorrect Halloween costumes continues to grow and now approaches the NASDAQ index in size.
Some of the prime offenders:
* Bum/Hobo: Ridicules the homeless, prejudges non-traditional lifestyle of hopping freight trains, dining on cold beans, Ripple, etc.
* Old man/old woman: Demeans the elderly, already reeling from cancellation of "Golden Girls" and possible revocation of senior citizen discounts at movie theaters.
* Witch: Glorifies the occult, takes a gratuitous slap at plain, hook-nosed women who prefer to dress in black and chant incantations around a bubbling caldron.
* Devil: Encourages satanism and the construction of small altars in the bedrooms of suburban teens, complete with charred remains of farm animals used in sacrificial rites.
* Fat man/fat woman: Pokes fun at the obese, questions their commitment to the universal cause of good health, i.e., why can't these people mix in a salad once in a while?
* Indian: Lampoons Native Americans, who ask only to live in peace and operate their plush, 3,000-seat gambling casinos.
As for which costumes are considered appropriate by these PC moms, dads and schools, high on the list are -- ta-daaa! -- the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
This is something I just don't understand.
Here's a show that causes children to sit slack-jawed in front of a TV with an ever-widening swath of orange Doritos stains forming around their mouths.
Here's a show that stars a sullen group of garishly costumed teens who spend their days kicking bad guys in the groin and duking it out with cheesy renegade space monsters.
In Norway, they've even dropped the Power Rangers show following the violent death of a 5-year-old, apparently at the hands of her playmates. And yet a Power Ranger costume is perfectly OK to the PC crowd here, while if a kid wears a bum outfit, he's . . . a bum.
"Power Rangers costumes are very big now," confirms Mike Sachs, 27, owner of Party City in Pikesville and Catonsville, stores that specialize in Halloween costumes. "We had 1,100 to 1,200 per store. It's the No. 1 [costume] of all time."
For the record, Mr. Sachs seems not to subscribe to the idea of politically incorrect Halloween costumes. ("You're looking at the one day when adults get to go out and be kids, and kids get to be whatever they want.")
