Scared of Kids?

                          (photo: pinterest.com)

When did trick or treat started to be done in the Philippines?

In the 80’s, the socialites and social climbers would only shop and do their groceries in Rustan’s. The elite flocked on the imported clothes and eau de toilette inside the department store and Pringles and Snickers were only tasted once in a while by the commoners. Brands like YSL, Gucci and even the scents of Victoria’s Secret were shipped direct from abroad

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Basically, the well-off families were the ones to visit the United States and Europe. They talked about their escapades and the events they were able to attend were fabulous! There was Thanksgiving where turkey was served; the kissing under the mistletoe during Christmas; the New Year countdown in Times Square…and of course, the trick or treat of the kids during Halloween.

The boom of information technology ushered in the different events which are famous and well-talked about. The internet particularly brought the different celebrations and interests on the fingertips of the people especially the young ones. Knowledge on the brands like Guess, Levis and other global brands became the staple. China grabbed the chance and so the birth of Class “A” brands came to the market.

It was with the advent of malls when commercialization was attached to the celebrations and holidays as part of the marketing strategies to bring people inside the malls. Valentine’s Day was attached to the young ones and most of them would be stressed once they could not give some sort of gifts to their romantic partners. Birthdays are incomplete without a cake. And of course, Halloween is an addition to the events where malls, hotels, cafes and other establishments would put a lot of efforts to mount so that people would come. The more people in the establishments, the better business will it be.

But why so engrossed with the ugly, the gory and the scary? We need not dwell on the supernatural to get scared. All we have to do is view the news on TV or listen to a politician talk. All the goosebumps in the world could be experienced through them. Yet, the scary has also a commercial value that the horror genre is not out of fashion. Even books with horror as the theme are always on the bestsellers’ list. The likes of Stephen King, Peter Straub, even the stories of Neil Gaiman and the movie ventures of the Monteverdes with the “Shake, Rattle and Roll” franchise are doing well in the market.

Another thing which seems to be en vogue is the tacking of the different phobias. There is the fear of clowns, the fear of insects, close spaces, open spaces and the more popular: fear of dolls and children.

On introspect, it seems that phobia is still part of acculturation brought about by the influences from the things we see and we read from the different media sources. During the early times when the internet was still nil, people were afraid of the dark. Their imaginations created the manananggal and other supernatural beings. When the country became accessible to electricity, we were introduced to the zombies…

We could not help but to adapt since the world is getting flat. Japan has started embracing this culture. We just have to process such things to the young and hold on to our own cultural identity since we fought so hard for our own. We need to make the things we allow dwelling on our psyche as things that we understand and we can control. We won’t allow these things to be the ones to control us.