issue 7// vol 45 humour // no. 17 Halloween costume company pulls ‘Martian costumes for cultural insensitivity » Continues to sell costumes based on stereotypes of Indigenous people but, like, totally respectfully Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief nline Halloween costume retailer People Are Costumes came under fire this past week for selling full-body jumpsuits with big, bulb-shaped alien heads, calling the product Martian Madness. “Tt’s, like, so totally disrespectful,” said local activist Missy N. dePointe in a Facebook rant last Thursday. “We haven't even met any Martians yet, and we're already stereotyping them. No wonder they don’t want to come to Earth!” The costumes were apparently based on several fictional depictions of Martians. A social media campaign spearheaded by crowds of science fiction nerds quickly overtook Twitter timelines and Reddit threads as people expressed their outrage and disappointment in People Are Costumes, calling out the company for being “tone deaf” about the current political climate. “T can't believe the folks at People Are Costumes can look at the way the world is right now, look at how many people want to take off in spaceships and never come back, and think now is the time to start making costumes about extraterrestrials,” said proud Internet geek Beau Ringman in a YouTube video essay on the topic. “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm by it, but come on, you have to admit it’s not a good look for the company.” People Are Costumes responded to the criticism by the weekend in a 12-part Twitter thread that served as a company press release. “We definitely didn’t think this one through, and for that we're very sorry,” said the company. “Here at People Are Costumes, we want to treat everyone with the utmost dignity and respect. This completely fictional costume was truly in poor taste, and we have pulled the costumes from our stock. If you were hoping to buy one of our Martian Madness products, might we suggest a more tasteful and respectful outfit, such as our Indian Princess Deluxe costume? Or our Sombrero Bandito piece?” This calmed much of the outrage, though there were some who pointed out that the costumes that stereotyped real actual human beings might be a far greater cause for concern than the fictional Martian costumes. “Oh, sorry, we meant ‘Native American’ Princess Deluxe—our apologies,” the company amended on Twitter. Activists with vast, endless wells of patience continued to speak out against the company, carefully explaining that treating other peoples’ cultures as costumes is directly harmful and upholds racist stereotypes that persist to this day. Unfortunately, many of those who critiqued the company for selling the Martian costumes seemed unwilling to take up the cause. “I think people need to, like, relax,” said dePointe when asked about it on Facebook. “I mean, what’s the harm, really? If anything, it’s about honouring other cultures, not stereotyping them. When I wore a feathered headdress to Burning Man it was so totally about respect, you know?” Ringman had very little to say on the topic; when asked ina Twitch stream Q&A about the controversy, he said, “Honestly, I’m not really following it—that was all last week’s news, yeah? I kind of want to move on to other important topics, like whether Marvel should have cancelled Iron Fist or not.” People Are Costumes stated in a further Twitter press release that to honour the repeated requests to take down the racist caricature costumes, they plan to expand the costume lines. “With us,” the company tweeted, “it’s really ultimately about inclusivity” CC We haven't even met any Martians yet, and we're already stereotyping them. No wonder they don't want to come to Earth | had —Local activist Missy N. dePointe Image via HalloweenCostumes.ca Politicians distract from climate catastrophe by dangling keys at press conferences » With reports of dire global consequences in just over a decade, media struggles to... oh, shiny... Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief Dr. Cassandra Tolduso, when asked by the Other Press to comment on the matter. “This really shouldn't bea surprise to into his seat. “I told you there was a literal liberal media police!”) -who may or may not exist, we neither he Strawmen Coalition of Politician Stand-Ins held their weekly press conference today, this time to address growing concerns about the state of our environment and humanity’s impact on impending global climate change. The conference was called after a week of desperate distraction tactics, including (but not limited to): Inviting deeply troubled musicians to political seats of power; mocking sexual assault survivors at rallies; spouting conspiracy theories about paid protestors; claiming an entire political party that a majority of the country supported in the last election is too unstable to govern; and praising a genocidal historical figure famous for mistaking one continent for another by calling him an accomplished navigator. Finally, after all this, the media banded together and sat the Strawmen down to properly address the studies released by many credible scientific sources that called for an overwhelming and radical change to how humanity lives and interacts with the planet. “I mean, we've been saying this for years,” said climate science correspondent anyone. Still, if it gets people to talk about fundamentally changing the world so go percent of the population doesn't die ina series of natural disasters the likes of which we've never seen, I’m willing to pretend like this is all breaking news.” The Strawmen were three hours late to the conference, and were eventually dragged in by the media police- (“I told you!” shouted President Tangerine Strawman as he was forced confirm nor deny. The press conference was quickly derailed as the Strawmen first asked to go to the washroom, then to be provided with glasses of water, which they drank then claimed they needed to use the washroom again, after which they were deprived any liquids whatsoever, so they couldn't keep using that excuse. After another hour of trying to talk about literally anything else (during which President Tangerine loudly proclaimed, again, that he might maybe perhaps drop a nuclear bomb on North Korea, though very few in the audience took this threat seriously), the Strawmen were asked to please for the love of God stop talking. “All we want to know,’ said journalist Soti Red, weeping openly in frustration, “is if you've read the reports on climate change and what you plan to do about them. Please remember in your answers that we have a time limit, as in a dozen years it will be too late to fix things.” The Strawmen looked at one another and proceeded to pull key rings from their pockets, shaking them vigorously in front of the crowd. “They're just stalling!” Red shouted as the journalists around her began cooing in fascination. “I’m begging you, we have to stay on topic here! Millions if not billions of lives are at risk!” No one seemed able to pay attention, as the sight of the jingling keys distracted all in the room. This reporter for the Other Press of course tried their best to resist, but... oh, the way the lights dance off the metal... it’s just so pretty... what were we talking about? I’m sure it wasn't important...