Turnabout Theme Shows its Age

Tyler Yakimisky, Staff Reporter

This year’s turnabout theme, Candy Land, received mixed reviews, ranging from “it’s a bit outlandish” to “it sounds fun.”

But to me, Candy Land seemed too childish and outdated.  The last time I played it with my family was when my youngest brother, who’s now 9, was 4.

Brendan Grubb, freshman, agreed with me.

“I think the theme is a bit out there and a little outgoing,” he said.

Candy Land does seem radical when compared to the top five high school dance themes listed in Seventeen.com, a teen fashion magazine. It’s not quite like the others, which were Masquerade Ball, Yule Ball, Hollywood, Carnival and Paris.

Candy Land actually made the list, but it was number 13 out of 14.  It might have ranked so low because the top five seem more mature than Candy Land for a teen audience.

In other words, the theme was a bit youthful and unfashionable, as Candy Land hasn’t been in the public eye for a while.

For example, on the website of Hasbro, the game company that created Candy Land, it lists the big accomplishments for Candy Land over time, and the last one was in 1999 when the game celebrated its 50th anniversary. Since then, no big accomplishments have been highlighted on the website.

Not only does this suggest the game is outdated, but the fact that it is a board game does as well. It’s not something that can be played on technology. Maybe the theme should have revolved around a popular game that’s now also a smartphone app.

But in all fairness to the students who developed the theme for the dance, I thought the decorations were pretty good, as they incorporated the Candy Land board, gingerbread figurines and other candy-aspects of the game. Even though I was and still am in defiance of the theme, I believe the School-Wide Executive Board deserves praise for their decorations.

Kylie Hecht, senior and School-Wide Executive Board member, said in an e-mail, “I am in agreeance with the theme! I believe it was the best idea of the ones we came up with; there were the most decoration options, and we generated the most ideas correlated with this theme.”

And there were students who don’t usually go to the dances who even liked the theme.

“I don’t really go to dances, but it seems like [the turnabout theme] could be really fun because the theme makes people want to party,” said Christian Loar, sophomore.

Like any good theme should do, Candy Land probably motivated some students to attend the event.  Even I went, despite my views on the theme.  I just think it would have been more intriguing to have a less childish and outdated theme.

But instead of simply complaining about it, I could have been more proactive and become more involved with the turnabout-theme planning. In the future, students like me should make more of an effort to offer up their opinions sooner rather than tearing the theme down later.