Is Day of the Dead too Americanized?
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| Day of the "DED!" (Kelsey Fugere/LAW) |
Prepping for Halloween? It's probably a good bet that some of you will have costumes that include colorfully painted skulls or dancing skeletons.
If you do, you should know those images originate from
Dia De Los Muertos, the Mexican "Day of the Dead," a religious and cultural holiday of family [ancestor] remembrance, which begins on Sunday night (Nov. 1-2).
Each year there seems to more and more of this imagery around -- even mainstream craft stores like Michael's stock a vast array of products.
But some people of Mexican ancestry are wondering, Has it gone too far? When does this embrace of the holiday become commercialized appropriation?
"La Cucaracha" (comic)
GUEST:
Lalo Alcaraz is a Chicano (Mexican-American) writer, satirist, cartoonist, and creator of "
La Cucaracha" -- the first nationally-syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip. He came into the
KPCC radio studio to give the "Take Two" show his take on the new American craze of celebrating the traditionally Mexican
Dia de los Muertos.
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Elaborately decorated skulls are crafted
from sugar and given to friends as gifts. Colorful designs
represent the vitality of life and individual personality (Karen Castillo FarfĂ¡n/SCPR).
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