# Inappropriate? Define "Inappropriate".



## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

As a guy, punch his father 

Tough call on trying to explain it to the kid.


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

I would do the salute "My Heirch!" (whatever they said). After he takes the candy and turn around, kick him on the but!


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

No more inappropriate than Jack the ripper or any other historical murderer. But then, I am not easily offended.


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## Killamira (Oct 14, 2009)

Satire can be offensive to some who don't get it. I would personally not dress as such, but Madame Leota does have a point. Also there WAS a show on Comedy Central a while back with lil Hitler. Lil Hitler, lil bush , lil gore.. it was kinda fabulous!


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## Reynard Muldrake (Oct 29, 2004)

Why would a little boy be making a satirical statement about Hitler? It would seem to me that his parents were Neo-Nazis who were hurting their child through their bullcrap, or that his parents were using him and HIS costume to make some stupid "satirical statement". Either way I would be unhappy with the parents. 

As for Jack the ripper, I'm not even sure how you'd dress up as him, but I'm not really in favor of dressing up as any real life killer. That said, I think it would be a slightly different situation because I can't see any political motivation behind jack the ripper, and because there's so much myth surrounding those murders. I still wouldn't personally care for it, but I wouldn't view it the same way.


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## Guest (Oct 16, 2013)

A five year old dressed like Miley Cyrus saying "Twick or Twerk"


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## Scary Firefighter (Sep 13, 2009)

"Inappropriate" is NOT decorating your yard for Halloween.


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## The Auditor (Apr 2, 2006)

Lil Hitler, huh? If it's a little kid dressed as the Fuhrer, I'd be taken aback, and seriously wonder what his (or her) parents were thinking, but I'd treat the child like any other ToT. If it was a teen or adult, "Get the **** off my property."

That said, is it inappropriate? Well...no. We see a lot of demons and devils and evil creatures costumes on Halloween. And since I think Adolf Hitler was the embodiment of evil, the Devil Itself walking the Earth, I'd have to say it isn't inappropriate at all. Insensitive, offensive, disgusting and cruel, but not inappropriate.


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## Helena Handbasket (Oct 21, 2012)

Halloween is a time to dress up like monsters, right? Who's a bigger monster than Hitler?


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

I wouldn't give this much thought. The kid obviously is not old enough to know the history of the uniform, and the parents could be neo-nazi nuts, but probably a box of rocks. Who knows? Check around online with our National American costume outfitters. They offer plenty of nazi costumes for adults and kids. It's Halloween folks. As a former Marine, if one of my kids wanted to go as hitler, I'd have no problem. It's Halloween folks and he was a monster. As far as the site Wolfman........anyone can create a site with their panties in a wad, haha. Happy Halloween all and make sure it's safe.


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## moonwitchkitty (Jul 22, 2012)

Wow thats a hard one


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)




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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

Which one is the worst here


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## osenator (Nov 3, 2009)

Damn it, Texmaster, you beat me to it!


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

osenator said:


> Which one is the worst here


Trojans but the funniest one is the booze and cig

I actually have one thats worse but not going to show it here


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

Haha. It's all the Spirit of Halloween we all love and try to share so much. If you can't push the boundaries, what's the use, haha. What the youngsters see these days....??? I for one am just an old fart and welcome it all. But I'm prepared to be shocked, haha.


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

texmaster......is it the one with the gigantic nuts??????? Haha.


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

Madame Leota said:


> No more inappropriate than Jack the ripper or any other historical murderer. But then, I am not easily offended.


Excellent point


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

Its Halloween....I don't do the politically correct BS on that day. Can't we just have fun with out all that nonsense? Really??


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

Madame Leota said:


> No more inappropriate than Jack the ripper or any other historical murderer. But then, I am not easily offended.


Excellent point


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

oaklawn Crematory said:


> Its Halloween....I don't do the politically correct BS on that day. Can't we just have fun with out all that nonsense? Really??


Just on that day?


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## texmaster (Aug 25, 2008)

VinceMacPaul said:


> texmaster......is it the one with the gigantic nuts??????? Haha.


Pm'd you


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## oaklawn Crematory (Jun 25, 2010)

VinceMacPaul said:


> Just on that day?


Some people do that PC crap 365 days a year....Just asking if they could forgo it for one day. I loathe PC ......


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

Thanks for the pm tex,,,,that was sick, haha., glad ya didn't post it here (some would have taken offense I'm sure). But you know it's kinda true in a weird sort of way, well, maybe not so weird, BECAUSE THEY DO IT and it's been proven in Court. Haha. What we gonna do?


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## matrixmom (Oct 29, 2010)

His Dad might be dressed in KKK outfit. Like father like son.



texmaster said:


> As a guy, punch his father
> 
> Tough call on trying to explain it to the kid.


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## Sp00ktacular (Sep 30, 2013)

"A five year old dressed like Miley Cyrus saying "Twick or Twerk" 

HAHAHAHAHA Now that was funny I don't care who you are LOL

On a side note I would have to dig a grave for the mother for allowing her kid to do that.


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## DayTek (Aug 20, 2005)

To me, that's inappropriate. 

My Great-Grandfather died in Italy during WWII because of Hitler. He was 31. My Great-Grandmother got a telegraph in the mail like many other widows. She never even got to go to his grave site. Here's where he lies: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=55913826

What are you teaching a child letting them dress up like that? Maybe it's for satire, but I don't find it funny...And I've got a pretty good sense of humour. I'd let the parents know that and they can explain to their child why they didn't get any candy from this house.

Sorry to go all "serious", but that one strikes a nerve.


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## Saruman of Many Colours (Sep 8, 2010)

'South Park' did this way back during its first season: http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/149895/hitler-for-halloween (Link possibly NSFW.)


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## Dadoo1971 (Sep 6, 2013)

Hitler is both a monster and scary as hell. I have no problem with it at all personally. I think it is more appropriate for halloween then a 13 year old girl dressed as a sexy...anything.


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## Penumbra (Jul 28, 2011)

A costume is a costume. Simple as that.


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## VinceMacPaul (Oct 31, 2009)

It's Halloween folks. I'm sure they'd be panties wadded up in London in the time of Jack the Ripper if they had Facebook or this forum at the time. hitler was a monster and we should be proud that his legacy is portrayed as such today I feel. Go back to the original post and see this is all hypothetical.
I'd be scared out of my skin if a little tike knocked on my door with an oboob mask on. But I'll leave politics alone here of course, but it would scare the crap out of me......


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## hauntedgraveyard (Sep 8, 2008)

I think those of us who had family members directly affected by Hitler don't find it funny. My father was put out of his home for three years because of Hitler. Luckily, no one from my mum or dad's family lost their lives. This is still an open wound for many people.

I think some of the "questionable" costumes aren't appropriate for kids. They won't understand the irony. When someone understands what they are doing, fair game. Kick Prince Harry in the *** for wearing a Hilter costume....that's right he was and far worse! Talk about a low point for the royal family!

Funniest costume at one of our parties? Zombie Gaddafi. It was hilarious! He walked in and said in a very deadpan voice "I'm not dead yet".


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm not easily offended but I gotta tell ya...I'd be a little pissed if a kid showed up dressed like that to my house. I wouldn't necessarily take it out on the little kid but I WOULD be suuuuuper offended by it. 

To be honest, I haven't had any family directly affected by him (other than my grandfather who fought in WWII) but I just think it's one of those lines that you do not cross. 

Also, Jack the Ripper didn't murder millions of people and his ancestors aren't still deeply feeling that pain TODAY...like some of the people who were affected by Hitler. 

I just kinda think it's bad form to put a kid in that costume. 

If you want to be a nazi...be the soup nazi. That's a way better costume anyway.


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## dawnski (Jun 16, 2012)

Oh my gosh, the baby stripper on a pole. Gack!



Wolfman said:


> Hypothetical scenario- a little guy shows up on your doorstep Halloween Night dressed as Hitler. Brown jacket, tie, swastika armband, toothbrush moustache and the hair rakishly swept to one side. How do you react? Me, I'd get my camera. But there's a website that's running a series of "inappropriate" costumes, and Little Hitler is one of them.
> Have a look, punch in innappropriate halloween costumes for kids. 20 pix of the worst. Heavy.com


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## Nypdwife (Oct 13, 2013)

The kids probably dont know. The parents probably set them up with it.. I figure the kid is in costume and just give him his candy and yeah Id get the camera too ~ Pat


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## Michael Myerscough (Oct 21, 2012)

Forget Hitler, did you all see the Suicide Bomber? That's even worse. Yeh a kid dressed up as the Fuhrer, bless his soul, but wouldn't get in a fuss about it. But the SB, i would ask where his mum/dad was and give em hell


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## BarryJ (Oct 17, 2009)

I think there's a line between political correctness and poor taste that is often hard to discern. PC is discouraging traditional Halloween symbolism so as not to offend someone's religious beliefs. There's another thread where someone has made human skin lampshades - I find that in pretty poor taste because of the historical connotations. The kid dressed up as a condom is in poor taste. On an adult that costume would be less offensive. 

I also don't like parents dressing their children up in offensive costumes that the child may not understand.


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Wow! Some pretty sensitive peeps out there. I thought, after seeing the photos, you'd realize he's just a little guy (Isn't he PRECIOUS??!!), and not a neo-nazi or a fascist, you'd soften up. An adolescent, that's another story. Having said that, you wouldn't want to take this tiny TOT to the Halloween Costume Contest at the Jewish Community Center, or out treating in a predominantly German neighbourhood...


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## Palladino (Aug 29, 2013)

BarryJ said:


> I think there's a line between political correctness and poor taste that is often hard to discern. PC is discouraging traditional Halloween symbolism so as not to offend someone's religious beliefs. There's another thread where someone has made human skin lampshades - I find that in pretty poor taste because of the historical connotations. The kid dressed up as a condom is in poor taste. On an adult that costume would be less offensive.
> 
> I also don't like parents dressing their children up in offensive costumes that the child may not understand.


Well said.


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## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

DayTek said:


> To me, that's inappropriate.
> 
> My Great-Grandfather died in Italy during WWII because of Hitler. He was 31. My Great-Grandmother got a telegraph in the mail like many other widows. She never even got to go to his grave site. Here's where he lies: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=55913826
> 
> ...


126 of my relatives died in Nazi concentration camps and not a one of them was Jewish. I'm not at all bothered by the idea of a kid dressed as Hitler for Halloween. In fact, I'll note that the costume described would be the Hitler of the Beerhall Putsch era, well before he took control of Germany and asked for the Final Solution, let alone got the answer.

I occasionally get involved military reenactments. Among my costumes are several WW2 German uniforms. Why? There is a lesson I learned as a small child - you can't play cops and robbers unless someone agrees to be the bad guy.


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## mariposa0283 (Aug 15, 2012)

am i the only person that would probably crack up laughing if i saw a little hitler walking up my sidewalk on halloween? 

doesnt make me a neo nazi or an anti semite.. i just have a sense of humor, albeit slightly twisted and dark.... but usually that sort of non politically correct stuff makes me laugh, not cringe. 

though really at the end of the day, it does depend on the parents motive behind dressing their child up in such a controversial outfit.. is it for laughs or is it because they think hitler had the right idea? if it was the latter, i'd be inclined to slap the sh*t out of the dumba$$es, but the kid is not at fault for their parents idiotic views.


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Yeah, there IS a lot of stuff that is more "inappropriate" than a toddler done up as Hitler. But nobody's sensibilities should be affronted on Halloween. Like they say on Monday Night Football, "Come on, Man!"


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## Tyrant (Aug 19, 2013)

Well, if Halloween is about dressing up as something scary and monstrous, there are few that can match Hitler. However, doing so is about as tasteful as the costumes floating around the Internet after 9/11 of the person dressed like a plane running into the person dressed like one of the Trade Center towers. 

Honestly, no one in their right mind is going to let their kid dress up like Hitler unless they're trying to make a statement of some kind. As Halloween generally isn't about making statements of that nature, one can just dump the candy in the pail and watch them go without engaging the situation.


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## Countess No (Sep 20, 2014)

Tyrant said:


> Well, if Halloween is about dressing up as something scary and monstrous, there are few that can match Hitler. However, doing so is about as tasteful as the costumes floating around the Internet after 9/11 of the person dressed like a plane running into the person dressed like one of the Trade Center towers.
> 
> Honestly, no one in their right mind is going to let their kid dress up like Hitler unless they're trying to make a statement of some kind. As Halloween generally isn't about making statements of that nature, one can just dump the candy in the pail and watch them go without engaging the situation.


Or they just want attention, instead of celebrating halloween.

People like that can be attention wh*res (sorry for the bad word), and they use their kid as a prop. Instead of letting the kid have a normal halloween and dress up like something the kid wants to be.

If adults think it is so hilarious to have a Hitler-riific halloween, why don't they dress themselves up as Hitler? Don't be shy, get into the Hitler costume yourself and stroll about.

And putting a pic of your child dressed like Hitler on the internet? Then the kid will always have a picture of him dressed up like Hitler passed around the web for eternity.

I think fantasy horror and monsters are different than real life monsters, like Hitler. Hitler brought real death to the world, which I am not down with.


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## huchon (Oct 15, 2010)

I would say it's just bad taste not necessarily inappropriate. As for those that would not give him candy, remember he is too young to know what he is dressed up as or it's implications. This is more his parents doing so don't punish the kid punish the parents. The shame is you could easily make this less provocative with a few changes, say a little brother dressed as the devil poking him with a pitchfork.

For me to consider it to be inappropriate it would have to be more focused or an event still fresh in our minds. Examples being this costume in a Jewish neighborhood or at an event honoring ww2 survivors.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

I'm OK with Hitler Junior... along with Jack the Ripper, Attila the Hun, Stalin, Ivan the Terrible, Nero, or any other scary historical figure. After all, the real Dracula wasn't exactly a beloved lovable type... and how many adorable little Draculas show up on our doorsteps every year, not to mention all the generic axe murderers and chainsaw killers?

This is our latest local tempest in a teapot: 

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/national/halloween-fun-or-inappropriate-pittsburgh-mans-ove/nhgGr/


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## Loogaroo (Oct 19, 2008)

People at work get offended by Halloween in general, people have said my yard is "a bit too much" and complained and I had people talk smack about my son's costumes in the past. I don't dig the Hitler costume, but whatever. I draw my line where I'm comfortable. For some it may be too much and for some, not far enough. My answer....Meh.


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## Milky (Oct 9, 2014)

As far as some people use costumes of different kind of bloody killers, i.e. scary stuff, I think that that person from the German history is just one of these bloody and scary elements and that's all. I think something like Helena.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

I might feel a little differently about it if Halloween costumes were _all_ about monsters. But little kids dress like heroes, too--Superman, Spiderman, Batman... I have no idea where the kid's parents were coming from, but there are a million costume choices-- let your kid pick something non-douchy that he's into. It was a good point above about attention-who#$ parents using their kids as props.

I see Hitler as vastly different from Jack the Ripper. No one currently alive suffered from Jack the Ripper's actions. Jack doesn't have a vast, still-active political following. 100 years from now, if there are no Neo-Nazis left in the world, then a Hitler costume might be appropriate for a kid. Not now.


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## DavyKnoles (Dec 5, 2009)

Little kid dressed up like Hitler? No worries. Height of satire and all that. A puppy in the doggy Hitler costume? Now that's where I draw the line. Bad dog! Bad dog!


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## CrypticCuriosity (Aug 18, 2012)

BarryJ said:


> I think there's a line between political correctness and poor taste that is often hard to discern. PC is discouraging traditional Halloween symbolism so as not to offend someone's religious beliefs. There's another thread where someone has made human skin lampshades - I find that in pretty poor taste because of the historical connotations. The kid dressed up as a condom is in poor taste. On an adult that costume would be less offensive.
> 
> I also don't like parents dressing their children up in offensive costumes that the child may not understand.


Thank you, you hit the nail on the head here. It's absurd that people roll their eyes and call things like this "being PC". Just because it doesn't affect you directly doesn't make it a useless complaint. I think it's inappropriate, just like I think it's inappropriate to dress like stereotypes of races or do blackface on Halloween as well. It's not "in good fun", because these are still attitudes and images that actively hurt people. And it's not "satire" because true satire is supposed to strike upward toward the oppressors/dominating groups and not the victims of it. Regardless, what does a small child know about satire? Either his parents think they're being super ironic and cool, or they're white supremacists. Either way, it doesn't jive with me.


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## Dulcet Jones (Jun 27, 2013)

Way back before TV got homogenized the 3 Stooges got a lot of mileage out of Hitler. Personally, I wouldn't send my kid out as Hitler, but I wouldn't get overly reactionary if one came to my door.


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## Boone6666 (Aug 22, 2014)

agreed,but you sure want to say something too the parents. But would they be against retaliation


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

LOTS of Newbies here. Thought I'd revive this old thread...


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## bumpkin (Oct 20, 2015)

ohh creepy! The kid would make a great Damian also.


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## Pumpkin5 (May 17, 2012)

On Halloween, I'm just grateful for kids that come in costume. And nothing really offends me on Halloween. (well, I'm not wild about the 18 year olds that come in their long white t-shirts, waistbands around their knees, with their hands out, no costumes, no "trick or treat", just hands out) For those special "tots" I have the bowl of dum-dums.....


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## Ugly Joe (Jan 13, 2004)

My question is: were the parents dressed as concentration camp inmates, and if not, why?
I've had a number of children - seems a fitting group costume.


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

Whew...ouch...a little Hitler would be tough for me to swallow BUT H'ween is a time for pushing the envelope and outrageous costumes have always been a tradition! So, Little Hitler gets his giant-size Reese's just like everybody else! Nobody could ever possibly please every single person. And for instance I laughed despite myself at the scene in Eurotrip where Scotty is in his girlfriend's father's apartment in Germany and the little brother draws a mustache on his face with markers and starts goose-stepping.

So I totally get outrageous humor.

Remember when that Caitlyn Jenner H'ween costume came out in late summer, I think it was? People freaked out...my boss had me write an article about it for his site...Meanwhile, Catilyn herself said she didn't mind one bit!

I don't know how "inappropriate" really fits into H'ween as it's a time for pushing the envelope and being outrageous.  Great subject for a thread! I can always count on you, Wolfman.


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## Bruzilla (Jun 3, 2011)

Funny you mention the Hitler costume. A guy my Dad worked with in the 70s was a serious military buff, and he had a Nazi Heer (Army) major's uniform someone had brought back from the war, and he wore it to a Halloween party one year. Then without thinking, he took it to his regular dry cleaners to have it cleaned with the rest of his stuff. The owner of the dry cleaners was a Jew who had been in the camps, and he threw Dick and his uniform right out the door. It took him a minute to realize what an idiot he had been, and he apologized profusely and never took that uniform to be cleaned there again.


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## LadyMage (Aug 15, 2014)

I don't really have a problem with it. To me we're far enough removed from WW2 for it to be much a problem. I'd rather see the little guy in the picture dress up as something that means something to him rather than a historical figure he knows nothing about, but an older kid who knows who hitler was, and chose it, ok, I get it. Halloween is all about monsters and things that scare you, and he was a scary figure who did scary things. 

Tasteless is something that's still in the public consciousness. If there was a way to recognisably go as someone involved in 9/11, or one of the school shootings in the last couple decades, I'd have a problem with that. Very few people living can remember WW2.


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

LadyMage said:


> I don't really have a problem with it. To me we're far enough removed from WW2 for it to be much a problem. I'd rather see the little guy in the picture dress up as something that means something to him rather than a historical figure he knows nothing about, but an older kid who knows who hitler was, and chose it, ok, I get it. Halloween is all about monsters and things that scare you, and he was a scary figure who did scary things.
> 
> Tasteless is something that's still in the public consciousness. If there was a way to recognisably go as someone involved in 9/11, or one of the school shootings in the last couple decades, I'd have a problem with that. Very few people living can remember WW2.


Actually, people seem more sensitive about Hitler now than they did at the time it was current. There are tons of 1940s and 50s cartoons featuring Hitler and Nazi imagery and I'm not just talking about political satire, I'm talking about Bugs Bunny and others that were pure entertainment. Hitler was the villain of the day and before we all got so damned sensitive it was apparently just fine to have a good laugh at the expense of the bad guy.


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## screamqueen2012 (Aug 2, 2012)

this is an old thread, i am wondering why bring this forward again? what ever parents do with their children is their concern but for me, i think theres some social lines that i do not cross and yes are age appropriate or for whoever it will be around or exposed to. kids have far too much access to media and unsupervised things they can get into in many negative ways where it gets way out of control.. even in pretend and getting positive feedback by being a very negative image is not a good imprint on them....and i am far from a stick in the mud. somethings do not need to be a choice to do and are an extreme disrespect to the people that survived or died at the hands of the worse real homocidial maniac ever to walk this earth. really is someones creativity that limited? thats pretty pathetic.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

While Hitler's image was used in comedy during WWII, he was always the incompetent butt of the joke. There was no question whether he was being viewed as hero or villain.
The man himself has been dead a long time, but the ideology he promoted is still very much alive, and Hitler is still glorified as a hero among many people today. I wouldn't have any problem seeing a kid dressed as Hitler if the kid him(her)self and everyone who saw him so dressed would assume his was a villain costume. It's the possibility of it being seen as a hero costume that bothers me.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Inappropriate is defined by the setting and people viewing it. 

I personally don't like using some real life "villains" as costume or in haunts. For truly heinous people I don't personally like seeing them "given a second life" so to speak but this is very subjective unless there's a major consensus.

Using WWII villains in pieces at the time isn't the same as using them later IMO. They were the enemy the world was fighting so caricatures, cartoons, etc. made sense for the day and time. I would never dress a kid as Hitler though.


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## themyst (Sep 4, 2012)

Honestly, I'm getting very sick and tired of being goaded by public and media pressure into following Popular Opinion. 

If some kid comes to my door dressed as Hitler, he'll get his candy just like everyone else. He is an historical figure, and plenty of other historical figures are responsible for plenty of other heinous crimes, even on the Allied side. No one likes to talk about that, though. And if there comes a time that too many kids start coming to my door dressed as the latest and greatest unpopular characters of Public Opinion and it starts getting to me, then I'll just stop giving out candy altogether and quit Halloween.


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## ooojen (Sep 4, 2014)

themyst said:


> Honestly, I'm getting very sick and tired of being goaded by public and media pressure into following Popular Opinion.


I don't think anyone here is trying to pressure anyone to act or think in any particular way. We're just doing that Internet thing where we get to give our opinions and pretend that people we don't know care what we think.


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## themyst (Sep 4, 2012)

ooojen said:


> I don't think anyone here is trying to pressure anyone to act or think in any particular way. We're just doing that Internet thing where we get to give our opinions and pretend that people we don't know care what we think.


lol - I wasn't insinuating that anyone here was. 

I was just pointing out that it seems there is a political wind that blows for certain subjects, and if a few have an opinion that goes against that wind, it seems no one can have a simple debate anymore over it, there is a full blown effort to ostracize you for simply having your own opinion. 

I noticed it one day not that long ago looking at comments random people had made on certain news stories (completely unrelated to the OP's subject), and it got me thinking about it and now that I look around more, I see it happening all the time. You know, like if you buy a green car, all you notice is all the other green cars on the road, too! I live in a small town, and even in the most recent edition of the local newspaper, the editor wrote a piece that made it seem like anyone with different opinions than his own was just wrong, wrong, wrong. And I had grown up thinking that there is no right or wrong opinions, simply different ways of looking at things.

That is one reason I do like coming here, everyone seems to be more respectful than usual to each other.


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## CrypticCuriosity (Aug 18, 2012)

Madame Leota said:


> Actually, people seem more sensitive about Hitler now than they did at the time it was current. There are tons of 1940s and 50s cartoons featuring Hitler and Nazi imagery and I'm not just talking about political satire, I'm talking about Bugs Bunny and others that were pure entertainment. Hitler was the villain of the day and before we all got so damned sensitive it was apparently just fine to have a good laugh at the expense of the bad guy.


You have to consider that during Hitler's reign, the general population wasn't made fully aware of what he and those under him were doing. The atrocities have become more and more apparent over time. and as people have told their stories and more has been unearthed, we learned about the kind of man he was. Charlie Chaplin made a satirical film based off Hitler in 1940, and later went on to say if he had known the full extent of the holocaust at the time, he wouldn't have ever made the film. 

Some people handle tragedy through humor, others do not. If you want to talk sensitivity, why do people get so angry when their particular brand of humor isn't widely accepted?


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Inappropriate, to me, a kid dressed in KKK gear... Not funny.


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## craftynick (Sep 7, 2017)

KKK.. living in Howell Michigan sometimes you almost expect to see some teenager do exactly this. But so far.. haven't seen any! 

Reading this thread from the beginning, I think people put to much thought into things. If I saw a cute little kid with his hair swept to the side and he was drinking chocolate milk and got a mustache and he happened to remind me of Hitler.. yeah i get it. The parents might have said.. hahaha.. how cute! Let's dress him as Hitler for Halloween. Young parents these days might not have learned the entirety of what Hitler did. The kid is adorable, last minute costume.. no thought of the repercussions of older generations who could be offended.
Just my opinion.

Society has become way to sensitive.


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## dane82 (Sep 24, 2012)

two points--

first, with halloween, i think the rules are much different than for the rest of the year. that's not to say nothing crosses the line, but things that would be completely tasteless at another time are at least acceptable with a grain of salt on halloween.

second, as with just about everything else, the two extreme ends annoy me--the "everything is offensive" end, and the "[expletive] the haters, get over it!" end. i can understand for instance that if i had just lost someone close to me in a car wreck, a person dressed as a car wreck casualty would probably make me feel pretty bad, and even worse if they had a dismissive attitude about it. on the other hand, people who pick apart every little thing looking for something to be offended by really annoy me. 

bottom line--have fun without worrying on halloween, and try to live your life in such a way that if you do something upsetting, you make up for it on the balance.


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

dane82 said:


> two points--
> 
> first, with halloween, i think the rules are much different than for the rest of the year. that's not to say nothing crosses the line, but things that would be completely tasteless at another time are at least acceptable with a grain of salt on halloween.
> 
> ...


Very level-headed. Great points.


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## HazelLenore (Sep 12, 2012)

The big difference between Hitler and Jack the Ripper, is that there are still people alive who lived through Hitler's atrocities. You think someone would get away with dressing as the Twin Towers with an airplane sticking out the side? I wouldn't say anything to a young child in a costume like that, but I'd sure make note of the parents. 

I can see the whole satire angle (which a young child won't understand at all), but when you can literally dress as anything, why would someone choose a symbol they KNOW is going to be an issue for many people? It's really not that hard to have some scary fun AND also have a little consideration for the other people in your community. I mean, if you decided that you wanted a front yard display depicting slaves hanging by nooses in your trees, you'd be stupid not to expect a huge amount of people demanding you take it down. (But hey, it's scaaary right? What's the problem?) 

And for the record, I think that also goes the other way, as well. If you're an extreme religious nut who thinks Halloween is the devil and is demanding everyone take in all their jack o'lanterns, well... yeah. Maybe stay inside if a squash is that bothersome to you? 

In short: Halloween is no reason to be deliberately ****ty to your neighbors.


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Excellent post, HazelLenore, I fully agree, respect the neighbours. We used to live next door to a retired widower, Bob. Older guy, living alone, pensioner. Every Halloween he'd have all his lights off and TOT's would walk right by his place. Until we moved in. Then you had hundreds of kids, then over 1,000 coming out to our place. We had TV crews doing live feeds from the Graveyard, going through the walk- thru. Bob started having kids trudging up his sidewalk, up his stairs. IHe never complained, but I had an image of old Bob in his living room, in the dark hearing the screams, the laughter, hearing the knocks on the door, the bell ringing, and plaintive cries of, "Trick or Treat". And I felt bad. So we started buying big bags of candy for Bob to hand out. It became a family tradition, bring over some candy for Bob.
in Samoa one year, we had an elderly neighbour, a lady who was dealing with cancer. It was time for me to set up the graveyard. But, thinking of old Mary, looking out her kitchen window every morning at GRAVEYARD....I couldn't bring myself to do it. Until Mary spoke to our daughter, "When is your Papa going to decorate for Halloween?" Seems she looked forward to it every year as well. The Tombstones went up that very afternoon...
Inappropriate? Don't go there, Girlfriend...


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## CaliforniaMelanie (Sep 8, 2008)

Wow, Wolfman, how sweet and considerate of you.


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## HazelLenore (Sep 12, 2012)

Yeah, I think you handled everything pretty perfectly in both those situations. It also helps that you obviously took your neighbor's feelings into consideration. It's one thing to do stuff just to be deliberately provocative and then get mad if other people don't like it (which, if you have the right to do something in public, other people have an equal right to tell you they don't like it), and it's another to sort of accidentally find your way over that "line." I have a feeling that if your neighbor's daughter came over and said she was really bothered by that graveyard, you'd be inclined under the circumstances to change your plans. 

I'm weirdly reminded of a random story I read online about how someone got some major flack for wearing a Nazi uniform in public... because he was coming home in costume after performing in a local Sound of Music production. I don't remember why he was still wearing the costume, but... sometimes context is key. Nonetheless... just say no to Nazi Halloween costumes, okay?


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## JLWII2000 (Sep 13, 2010)

I get tired of people who are offended. IMHO getting offended is a choice unless they say something absolutely over the top derogatory about my family. I think offense is more of an option these days to gain some sort of leverage than a genuine feeling. If I don't like a costume or a haunt, I simply shy away from that person/place. I always tell people they can ask me absolutely anything and I won't get offended, but that's just how I am.


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Anyway, getting back to the Hitler costume...
Whatchall think?


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## lilibat (Aug 10, 2015)

This is a good rule of thumb for this argument.

_



"I was reading a book (about interjections, oddly enough) yesterday which included the phrase “In these days of political correctness…” talking about no longer making jokes that denigrated people for their culture or for the colour of their skin. And I thought, “That’s not actually anything to do with ‘political correctness’. That’s just treating other people with respect.”

Which made me oddly happy. I started imagining a world in which we replaced the phrase “politically correct” wherever we could with “treating other people with respect”, and it made me smile.

You should try it. It’s peculiarly enlightening.

I know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking “Oh my god, that’s treating other people with respect gone mad!”


—Neil Gaiman

Click to expand...

_also no to hitler or nazis ever, period


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

Would a Donald Trump mask be inappropriate.


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## Cephus404 (Oct 13, 2017)

I couldn't care less. If you don't like what I do in my own yard, feel free to go elsewhere. More candy for me.


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