Costumes In Public...

Either Halloween is now celebrated on July 20, or there were an inordinate number of giant geeks in Old Town last Friday. Either way, I didn't get the memo. That evening, I went on a date at Asian Bistro in Alexandria, VA (fantastic Thai food and sushi). Harry Potter and his horde of loser dweeb fans dominated the evening. The restaurant is 1/2 a block from a small movie theater (showing the feature film) and about 1.5 blocks from a book store (having a special book release party). Needless to say, the street was packed with fans of all ages, a great many of them decked out in full costume. I freely admit that it's a great thing that kids are psyched for a book release. However, there is absolutely no excuse for functioning members of society to dress up like characters from the book/movie saga. Seriously, if you're not working some demeaning advertising gig or acting on stage/screen, there is really no legitimate excuse for you to wear a costume. Acceptable behavior: dude dressed up like a chicken handing out coupons. Unacceptable behavior: 40 year-old man dressed up like a female character from a popular children's novel walking around a crowded public street.

People, once you reach the age of 10, you cannot play dress-up on a regular basis anymore without running the risk of tar/feathering. Parading around with broomsticks touting the virtues of "quidditch" is more likely to result in a visit to your proctologist than any semblence of social acceptance. Then again, if you or someone you know is truly dorky enough to buy costume supplies for a movie or book release, you might have more pressing issues to deal with. I think all of these problems really go back to JK Rowling, the author and authoritatative guardian of the Harry Potter franchise. If you're sick of these nincompoops making asses of themselves on a semiregular basis, perhaps you need to attack the problem at the source. I implore you to track down this lady and kick her square in the taint.