Bill Maher explains how politics ruined Halloween

Bill Maher made a compelling argument of how both conservatives and liberals have taken the fun out of Halloween.

There isn’t much time left before Halloween. Chances are you already have your costume ready and your plans set. But as Bill Maher explained on Real Time, there is also a pretty good chance that you may upset some people.

During his New Rule segment on the Oct. 26 episode Maher made the case of why Halloween should be moved far from its traditional Oct. 31 date. The reason being the holiday’s proximity to election day. For Maher, Halloween has been politicized enough already.

He starts the monologue going after his favorite target: conservatives. The way he lays everything out, it’s surprising that there haven’t been more stories of conservatives looking to ban Halloween. The free handouts, the pagan heritage, the provocative costumes are all similar to things conservatives have warned us about.

But Maher didn’t just go after one side on his Halloween rant. Liberals and the self-proclaimed “woke” have perhaps done far worse to the holiday. Maher’s take on the political correctness of Haloween costumes has been a point of his for years. 

Maher again makes a strong case for why costumes that have been around for decades shouldn’t now become offensive. This isn’t Megyn Kelly trying to justify blackface. This is Maher saying that dressing up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame shouldn’t cause outrage on Twitter.

It is a similar approach that many comedians use towards stand-up comedy. The reach of social media has meant that material can be taken out of context and a loud minority can appear to be a majority. But there is an understanding when going to see a comedian that it is a performance. It is not meant to be politically correct or to take into account each individual’s feelings. Maher seems to be making a similar claim regarding Halloween costumes.

Bill Maher closed out the segment by providing statistics on just how many people disapprove of politically correct culture. It has become a side effect of social media that enough tweets can get a costume pulled off the shelves or the spirit behind a holiday changed. Maybe Maher’s right and Halloween in May is the solution.