Search Archives

Philadelphia Weekly

 

 

 

 

 

Advertise in Philadelphia!

« Late Night Drive-Thru | Main | Will Bunch Clearly Not Being Paid By Word »

December 10, 2007

Halloween Costumes Create December Uproar

121007statetech.jpg
All hail the latest collective outrage: Penn State students dressed up like Virginia Tech students for Halloween. That's not so bad. Well, uh, they were Virginia Tech shooting victims.

Surprisingly, this story wasn't broken by Jenice Armstrong. No, but it's been all over the news since the photos were posted to Facebook.com; a local TV station in Roanoke, Va., did a story on the costumes and wouldn't show them because they're too offensive. What?

It's not just adults who are getting in on the angry action. No, uproar over Halloween costumes can come form anywhere.

As a response to the controversy, senior Jay Chamberlin created a new online group through Facebook — “Penn State STILL Supports Virginia Tech.” By Friday evening, it had attracted more than 250 members. Chamberlin, a former president of the University Park Undergraduate Association, said a Virginia Tech alumnus suggested Penn State students distance themselves from the costume antics.
“I was very saddened that people would take what is a very somber, tragic event and try to make light of it,” Chamberlin said. “ ... This is something we want to take very seriously.”

Also, apparently because of these costumes, people died.

The heavy attention that the Halloween costumes received this week fits into larger media trends, said Ronald Bettig, an associate professor of communications here. “It’s clearly in line with ‘If it bleeds, it leads,’ ” Bettig said.

Anyway, nobody let any of the offended see this page, their heads might explode.

See also:Campus outrage as Penn State students dress as Virginia Tech massacre victims, New York Post

Posted by D-Mac on December 10, 2007 11:44 AM
Posted to Halloween In December , Offensiveness , Penn State , Virginia Tech

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6759

Comments

Just wait until the Va. Tech people get a load of the people next Halloween who dress up as Michael Vick's oft-raped cornhole in pound-him-in-the-ass federal prison.

Posted by: Anonymous at December 10, 2007 12:43 PM

I thought Jocelyn Kirsch went to Drexel not Penn State

Posted by: chrissmari at December 10, 2007 02:51 PM

There's always going to be some tasteless assbag that dresses up in something inappropriate. These 2 were just dumb enough to post the pictures online and have them discovered by the media.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were others at different schools that did the same.

Posted by: friendlynerd at December 10, 2007 07:32 PM

For Christmas, I'm dressing up as a Nebraska mall-goer.

Posted by: Sub at December 11, 2007 11:01 AM