In the picture he doesn’t look too bad - just like he’s wearing a bad costume. It may have been different in motion.
Calling 911? Definite overreaction
Being creeped out? YMMV, but definitely possible
Asking him to go the bleep away? Logical reaction
Unless he was asking people to suck his candy cane, seems a bit over the top to call 911.
He sure does!
NSFW video. Proto-South Park by Matt and Trey.
It’s pretty pathetic that the culture of fear is so deeply ingrained into people’s psyche. “Oh, something slightly out of the ordinary - PANIC!! CALL THE POLICE!!”
I hate people.
If he’d actually been dressed as Frosty the Snowman, it would have been just fine. But he’s dressed like an escapee from a mental institution who found a Frosty display in someone’s yard, cut off its head, put it on, grabbed a candy cane from the same display, and concealed a pointy knife in the end of it. Why no, I don’t have an overactive imagination at all… D:
That suit is pretty freakin’ cool in a creepy way. He looks like the monopoly man.
Seriously, I love the lapels on the jumpsuit. I would totally wear that. Just not with the Frosty head.
Creepy snowman dude is creepy!
And I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!
“Four panicked locals called 911 to report a disguised man with a four-foot candy cane was on the loose, according to the station.”
So, where exactly did they think he was “on the loose” from, and what exactly did they expect the authorities to do about it? To ticket him for creepiness? Arrest him for false impersonation, or failure to register his cane?
And what makes this a disguise, rather than an costume, anyway?
The fact that it disguises his identity by entirely covering his face. My read on the situation is that if his identity was not diguised, this would have been regarded as amusing and harmless. However, people simply do not go about fully masked in our society without ulterior motive – the exception is a few places where there are incredibly strict controls on their behavior (ie, Disneyland)
Yeah, I also agree upon seeing the picture that that is one scary costume.
That’d be a fantastic Halloween costume. Calling 911 is too much, but man, that is only holiday cheer if he’s a sidekick of the Futurama Santa.
Let me guess-he whistled “Singing in the Rain” as he nonchalantly strolled down the street looking for his next victim.
Well, SWAT teams…
Actually, some people do. One of my hobbies is disguises. I use prosthetics, hair pieces and coloring, etc. to alter my appearance such that my acquaintances won’t recognize me. (The challenge is to show up where they are without them realizing your identity.) This is all for fun, the same way people do other seemingly pointless things like geo-caching, etc. There is no ulterior motive to it, and as far as I know, there’s no reason to call the police when I do it.
Those are not disguises–they’re costumes, and when they put them on, everyone knows that they’re in a costume. Let’s not confuse the two things. The purpose of a disguise is simply to appear different, not to draw attention to oneself, and that’s not what this guy dressed as Frosty the Snowman was doing at all.
The real issue here isn’t about criminality, but rather social norms. The guy was just making people uncomfortable in the same the way someone who talks to himself on the subway does. But do we call the police when that happens? What are the police supposed to do about it? And what if this kind of get-up were to start gaining some marginal popularity during holidays? Would they outlaw it, so as not to make people feel uncomfortable?
Uh huh.
Well you sound like a normal well-adjusted person alright.
It goes with the intravenous cocaine use and fiddling.
Quick, Larry, the game’s afoot!
That’s not Frosty! That’s the guy being slowly digested by Frosty in mid-wave as he’s trying to signal for help! :eek:
Dear G-d.
I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight.