Hitler is never OK because… Hitler.
I decided to go quite literal with this one. Only the third option doesn’t include parts I disagree with.
It is tasteless, and shouldn’t happen. But it shouldn’t be punished unless the child knew what they were doing. Halloween is for dressup, not necessary scary monsters. Hitler does qualify as a monster, but no longer a scary one.
No one woudl argue that it’s not okay to depict Hitler in a disparaging light, and Zombie Hitler is one such example. (Whether it’s okay for kids to dress up as him is different. But the answer never quite says that.)
I’d just dress up as the Kung Fury Hitler instead.
I keep threatening to dress up in an orange prison jump suit. With the back reading “Unregistered Sex Offender”.
My peeps tell me not to do this.
The thread title and OP don’t ask the same question as the poll, but if we’re specifically talking about a child wearing a Hitler costume to school then it would probably qualify as some sort of dress code violation. IMHO a lot of school dress codes are stricter than they need to be, but I also think it’s reasonable to have some rules regarding what is appropriate dress in an educational environment.
Dressing as scary monsters is certainly a well-established part of Halloween, but it’s probably even more common for kids to dress up as characters, historic figures, or professions they admire. A Hitler costume could just as easily be taken to mean “Hitler is my hero” as it could to mean “Hitler was one of history’s greatest monsters”. (The monster interpretation seems more likely with a Zombie Hitler, but not 100% – I wouldn’t necessarily assume that someone dressed as Zombie Elvis hated Elvis.) At a purely social event like a private Halloween party then if someone is wearing an offensive or questionable costume then other guests are free to voice their opinions, avoid that person, or just go home, but kids in school don’t have this same freedom. So I’d consider a Hitler costume at school more problematic than one worn to a private party.
Good. They should be taught what a monster Hitler was. Those who do not remember the past…etc., etc., etc.
Bolded by me for emphasis.
All very good points, and I completely agree. You said it better than I managed to.
I don’t like any of the poll options, and so am not voting.
I think dressing as Hitler is iffy, and should only be done in a context where you know your audience, and know that your audience will not make assumptions about your (racial, religious) beliefs based on your costume.
That means that wearing a Hitler costume to school is a bad idea-- unless you are in a one-room schoolhouse or something.
I would not dress as Hitler myself, under any circumstances that I can think of.
I would strongly discourage my hypothetical child from dressing as Hitler for any School-based Halloween event.
It is OK as long as he wears a baseball cap that says…
Mustache rides
5 cents
Just thought of a possible “its not so bad” scenario for an adult dressing as Hitler.
They have a damn good costume. AND they look like Hitler to start with.
And when the two are combined, everyone goes “damn, did Hitler get a time machine or sumptin?”
A possible case where the excellence mitigates the offense.
Halloween is about dressing like scary things for fun and it’s almost entirely fictional characters or tropes. Hitler’s a bit too real. Stalin would be weird too.
This is assuming that you’re in the UK or another area where Halloween is not just a general fancy dress competition and you could go dressed as anything at all, scary or not.
I don’t think it’s inherently bad to dress as Hitler for Halloween. That said, it’s almost always a bad idea, even when it’s not a bad act.
I don’t think it’s appropriate to kick the kid out of school, though. The best result would be that everyone just rolls their eyes and ignores him. That way he doesn’t go home early thinking he’s an edgy martyr.
In high school (this was back in the early 70s), for the German Club Halloween/Octoberfest costume party, as part of my costume, I wore a yellow 6 pointed star with the word “Jude” written across it. I sort of wanted to wave a bit of a middle finger at all the Bavarian maidens and the like there.
No, Hitler was a man. It’s because the Americans have mythologized Hitler. The real Hitler and the actual history have been buried and replaced with mythologized versions of both. In this theatre Hitler plays the role of the ultimate evil – w, hich makes parodying him, or the Nazis in general, sacrilegious. It’s not always easy to follow the logic behind American response to WW-II tropes unless you keep this in mind, although of course most of the Western world have partaken in this to some extends. Can’t see dressing up as Hitler would provoke much controversy around here though. Here’s an interesting documentary btw. The Living Dead, Adam Curtis
Gotta beef up that military, because those that do not remember the past, will have the goddamn heathen Swedes invading like they’ve done numerous times before. In fact if history tells us anything, then a preemtive attack on Sweden is the safest course of action.
Would a girl dressing up as Hitler be better? It kinda emasculates him. Certainly nobody can be in doubt that would not be because they think Hitler was a great man or anything.
My mind boggles at the number of people in this thread who have no problem with a child dressing up as Hitler in school. Seriously?
I see it being ok if done extremely well; haircut and 'stache done for reals and some ability to shout nonsense phrases in German. Or a sexy Hitler, cause, well, sexy.
On a related note I’ve always thought it odd that a pirate costume would be perfectly acceptable, whereas in the 17th and 18th centuries when they operated they were despised as hostis humani generis, enemies of mankind, murderers, rapists and pillagers. It’d be like people in the 23rd centuries dressing kids up in ISIS costumes and eating breakfast cereals with little cartoon jihadists on the box.
No, it’s not okay for a kid to dress as Hitler. I’m sure whoever allowed the kid to do that is aware of how scary a monster Hitler was, but a kid isn’t old enough to appreciate the full extent of the horrors Hitler represents. The kid shouldn’t be punished, but it’s too bad we can’t get to the person who should be.