Halloween: are you for or against?

This discussion happens at the right moment: I talked about this festivity with a friend of mine few days ago and we wondered when it began to get a footing in Italy and why it was introduced in our country although it clearly belongs to the Anglo-Saxon tradition. We don’t even know what the word “Halloween” means and nevertheless we are ready to carve tons of pumpkins and dress up as devils or witches to celebrate “the night of the spirits”. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
While I’m writing these lines, I can’t help thinking of Linus, one of Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts. When I was younger I didn’t lose one single episode of their exhilarant adventures and thanks to them I got to know about Halloween: Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Lucy and all the other members of that gang went door by door asking ”Trick or treat?” and received candy, gum, apples, cookies, popcorn balls, and even money from their neighbours (Charlie Brown always got a rock, it was hilarious!!!). Linus didn’t accompany them: he spent the whole night sitting in the middle of the “the most sincere pumpkin patch of the town” and wait for the “Great Pumpkin” to come and bring him happiness and gifts. Of course his hopes were regularly disappointed! Well, I wish I were part of that group and enjoyed myself like that every October 31st, but up to some years ago there was no such tradition in Italy: on November 1st people used to visit the loved ones they had lost to pray and keep in touch with them, no mention was made of ghosts, monsters and horror films.

photos by google images

I don’t know how it happened or who decided to “import” witches and wizards from the USA, but now everything has changed and if you have exhausted the chocolate and sweets supplies, on Halloween evening your house could become the target of hordes of angry children! I’m joking, but I’m afraid that our culture has welcomed this festivity simply because it is another occasion to spend money going to parties, buying gadgets and hiring videocassettes and DVDs. Last Monday we discussed what the word “culture” means and many of our definitions contained the terms “history”, “traditions”, “habits”: Halloween is an expression of American culture because it's a festivity rooted in the past of that country; although I’m one of those who look forward to wearing a witch hat and having fun with her friends, I have to acknowledge that the Italian version of “Trick or treat?” is just a rough copy of the original festivity. I think that the attempt to spread one country’s habits for economical purposes makes us lose the capacity of seeing and appreciating the beauty in the difference.