For decades, Halloween has been an opportunity for children to dress up as ghouls and ghosts for one night a year. In the UK, a costume described as a “Burnt Zombie Child” has sparked controversy, with many parents thinking the costume tasteless in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in which 18 children died.
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This past June, an inferno erupted in the Grenfell Tower public housing building, resulting in a total of over 80 deaths and 70 injuries. It took more than 250 firefighters to extinguish the blaze, which lasted roughly 60 hours.
An investigation was launched in September to determine the cause of the fire, with reports claiming it will take until 2018 to determine a final death toll from the tragedy. Early reports claim that the source of the flame most likely occurred in a fridge-freezer before quickly spreading to consume the entire building.
The Mirror claims that, of parents surveyed over whether they’d allow their child to wear the costume, 99% wouldn’t allow it.
It’s important to note that, in preparation for Halloween, stores put in orders for costumes as early as a year in advance, and as late as April. Given this timeframe, Escapade couldn’t have made the costume with any awareness of the tragedy. Regardless, it doesn’t change that the tragedy happened and that the horrific events have drastically changed the social reception of such a costume.
The costume manufacturer sells a wide range of costumes for children that interpret horrifying subject matter, ranging from Headless Horsemen to Killer Clowns and a variety of zombies. The manufacturer can’t fully take responsibility for their costumes, as they’re motivated by demand for these outfits.
One of the most popular series on television is The Walking Dead, based on the comic of the same name. In the series, the world has been overrun by zombies, with survivors banding together to find some semblance of life in the horrifying situation.
The AMC series runs with various viewer discretion notices, but regularly features gruesome special effects to portray violence against the undead and against the human characters. The series is entering its eighth season this fall. The series isn’t the sole program that has aided in the normalization of violence and gore, but is one aspect of the normalization and acceptance of subject matter typically reserved for adults.
[H/T Mirror]
