Most people don't put so much pressure on it. It's just a fun holiday where you get to dress in a costume and go running around the neighborhood getting candy.

on TV and it seems to be a stage managed

That's the TV part.

kids dress up and everyone buys candy for everyone else's kids

Yup, that's the holiday in short. You also get "spooky", which is like scary but no one is scared.

It's one of the best holidays because the entire point is "fun" and the stakes are low.

Yeah, but it's one of those traditions that is just good to keep up once in place. I got the benefit of free candy from neighbors once a year as a kid, so it's just the right thing to do to give candy to kids now. Pay it forward to the next generation. America needs to maintain what little selfless collectivism we have, even if Americans are really just being tricked into it under the guise of holiday tradition.