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Feb 12

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Toddlers and Tiaras

What is the worst thing you have ever seen on television?  If you asked me, or Charlotte Trigg’s from People Magazine, it would have to be TLC’s Toddlers and Tiara’s.  This television series follows the behind the scenes action of what really goes on in a child’s beauty pageant.  In the pageants there are girls of all ages.  You are never left wondering when the next temper tantrum is going to be because the show is full of them. Even though, if I were four years old I’m sure I’d be throwing a temper tantrum the size of these poor girls hair as well.  Prepping and preparing for these pageants are a full time job for mothers and daughters alike.  The girls spend hours practicing routines and singing songs to get them ready for the big day.  They are also put through the ringer with the amount of make up and hair appointments the mothers drag them along to.  What I find most disturbing is the mothers that whiten their daughters teeth, or take the daughters to get waxed.  Why anyone in their right mind would take a four year old to get their eyebrows waxed is completely insane.  To me, a great example of the type of exploitation of kids is in the case of Shirley Temple; whose parents exploited her talents and cuteness to captivate the country during the Great Depression.  Shirley was forced to spend long hours on set, nearly seven days a week filming, so that her parents could reap millions.  In John Kasson’s “Behind Shirley Temple’s Smile” he states how one of her directors scolded her for playing, saying “This isn’t play time, kids,” and later Temple recalls him saying “it’s work.” As a child, what is important is just having fun and being a kid, not being on set all day trying to please their parents by making them look good, or by making money with their acting.  How do we expect our kids to grow up, if they are not spending time with other kids, learning and developing their minds to become adults.  This type of exploitation has to stop because it’s not doing anyone any favors.

 

Feb 12

Modern Family – ‘Little Bo Bleep’

Modern Family is a comedy sitcom that premiered on ABC in September of 2009. This mockumentary style series was created to appeal to the everyday American family by featuring three different families that can be characterized by modern-day circumstances. However, this past January, the show found itself in the midst of a controversy. Episode 13 of the show’s third season, titled ‘Little Bo Bleep’ was centered on one of the young daughters, Lily, learning and repeating the F-word.

Although the word was beeped out and her mouth was blurred each time she said the curse word, the episode drew negative attention from advocacy groups such as the Parents Television Council, which claimed that the show was exhibiting “poor taste” and a mild form of child abuse. The actors responded by saying that it was no way child abuse because the child actress actually said the word “fudge” during filming.

Reading these articles and watching this episode of Modern Family, I cannot help but relate it back to our class discussion of Shirley Temple. Many American viewers during the 1930’s were concerned that such a young girl such as Shirley Temple was being exposed to the actions and behaviors of adult women. The ‘War Babies’

Lily and her fathers (Cameron and Mitchell) right after she says the F-Word during a wedding.

video clip that we watched during class showed very young children portraying the lives of young adults. While watching Shirley Temple in this video, I realized I had conflicting emotions about what I was seeing. A part of me was disturbed by the kissing and sexual innuendoes being expressed by the kids, but the other part of me was highly amused to see these children behaving like adults.

I experienced this same phenomenon while watching the ‘Little Bo Bleep’ episode of Modern Family. I thought it was absolutely hysterical to watch Lily say the F-word out loud, especially when she does it in the middle of a wedding. However, it does become uncomfortable when you think about such a young child actress being trained to say the curse word. In the end, I think it is absolutely ridiculous for the show to be criticized for this particular episode. Modern Family prides itself on presenting an accurate portrayal of all aspects of family life, and this situation is something many families can say they have experienced.In response to the child abuse accusations, if the young girl was indeed saying the word “fudge”, the show’s producers were in no way abusing the actress.

Feb 12

It’s Time to DUEL

Yugi picture from http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6800000/Yami-Yugi-yu-gi-oh-6816369-1024-768.jpg

Growing up as the only child in my house from age 10 onward, I had a good amount of alone time and as a result had the privilege of exercising my active imagination. I would spend hours combobulating elaborate adventures for my action figures and was gravitated to fantasy worlds portraying heros that would fight evil to save their friends. “Yugioh” (a graphic novel in Japan before expanding to other forms of media here in the United States in 2002), allowed children this opportunity to project themselves as a hero, just as Jerry Siegal “saw Superman as a kind of projection of his own self-image or his own fantasies about himself” (Hajdu, pg. 30). The plot of “Yugioh” was one in which the protagonist, a young boy named Yugi, played a card game known as “Duel Monsters” to save the world and become “the King of Games”. You can probably decipher from that what the next step was for an entrepreneur looking to capitalize.  Any possible “Yugioh” memorabilia you could imagine you could obtain; from blankets, movies, and video games to lunch-boxes, toothbrushes, and whitey-tighties. This economic demand for all that was “Yugioh” highly inflated prices, allowing for some of the rarest trading cards to sell for hundreds of dollars (http://most-expensive.net/yugioh-cards). With great hype though, especially around products targeted to children, comes controversy. At my school the cards were eventually banned as it reportedly caused kids to partake in stealing and other violent acts. I can even recall a story in the national news reporting that a child killed their parents because the parents would not buy them more “Yugioh” cards. I do not intend to trivialize murder but, it seems ironic looking back upon that story after reading about similar happenings during the “Ten-Cent Plague” in which the mother of a boy who killed himself “told authorities that the boy was an incessant reader of comic books and was re-enacting a scene from one of them” (Hajdu, pg. 88). It is eery how history tends to repeat itself. I believe though, parents are quick to blame the media for any acting out that occurs because there is no way their kid is the rotten egg. For the most part, parents do not really understand the new fads that are taking place among children. Just as we determined in class that comic books did not depict gruesome violence page among page, but were rather stigmatized, “Yugioh” cards became the same. Yes, you did compete with “monsters” and “spells” in an effort to lower your opponents “life points” to zero, but the game was more strategy than anything. It took hours to establish my deck that could counteract every possible scenario so that I could win. Also, rather than playing alone in my room it allowed me to meet a different niche of people and expand my friends outside of just sports. Besides that, “Yugioh” was just downright cool. The show possibly has the best theme song for any cartoon ever. Take a look below!

Feb 12

Sexy Simoleans

The first Sims game released in 2010

Growing up, I enjoyed playing video games that made me feel like I was watching a movie. That is, I appreciated games with a specific plot that allowed me to participate. The Sims is an interactive computer and video game that basically allows players to simulate daily activities of people in a suburban household. It was developed by Maxis for Windows in 2000 and cost about $60. The game has since been released on MAC, PlayStation, Xbox and GameCube.

To summarize the game is relatively simple. Players, first, get to design each member of the family. You choose their name, skin color, clothes, face, ect. You then spend time in “build mode” designing every detail of the home from size to wallpaper to windows. Once the structure is complete, the player enters “buy mode” and spends money purchasing furniture for the home. Finally, you can enter “live mode” where you essentially become the Sim. You control everything your character does including going to work, going to the bathroom, eating, and interacting with others. The characters also work on building skills such as reading and creativity as well as making sure their needs are met such as satiety and sleep. As the player, it is also your duty to maintain your finances and take care of children if you choose to have them. Many people would say that this sounds like a game that could teach children life skills but there has been some controversy involved with this game over the years. When the game was first released, it was not well censored.

Sims Trailer

When players develop relationships with each other, it is possible for that connection to progress into a sexual one. In the current version, when this occurs, the act is blurred out so nothing can be seen, However, in the original version, this censorship did not exist. There was also a recent “bug” that caused this suppression to fail. The culprit was likely one of the people who have been asking Google, “How do I take the censor off?” Apparently, there is a “Nude Patch” that players can download to be able to permit their Sims to bear it all (for whatever reason). Needless to say, this is the sort of loss of innocence in the common child is exactly what Stearns describes when he says, “…parents worried deeply, if not always effectively, about their degree of control over the entertainment their children received, and about the appropriateness of the entertainment offered.” (Course Packet p. 6)

“Players can allow public nudity, fondling of partners’ buttocks while kissing (both of the same and opposite sex), characters burning to death, and even polygamy (a male can marry numerous females, but a female can marry only one man). Could this game be teaching sexism?”

Appropriateness aside, The Sims continues to maintain popularity from girls and boys of all ages. The have since released multiple Sims continuation games including House Party, Unleashed, Hot Date, Vacation, and Superstar. The franchise has sold more than 100 million copies and I’m not ashamed to admit I am the face of 3 of those!

Feb 12

Colonel Mustard is a Bad Man

Board game "Clue" comes in a very suspicious box.

While reading The Ten-Cent Plague, by David Hajdu, a book about the scare that violent and gory comic books caused the parents in America, I began to think about toys in my childhood.  One game that really stood out to me was the game Clue by Hasbro toys.  Clue is a game where you have to figure out through the course of the game, who committed the murder, in what room, and with what object before your opponent could.  A little history of the game clue, it was invented in 1944 by Anthony E. Pratt who originally named it Cluedo.  But then in 1949 the Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game in the United States and renamed it just Clue.  The original cost of the game was just a couple of dollars, but now the remodeled game can go for over $20.

 

A sarcastic look at the Suspects of Clue, it consists of "Murderers"

Now this game has a lot to do with what Hajdu talks about in The Ten-Cent Plague, that comics are desensitizing the minds of children about violence and crime, and in some cases causes them to commit crimes themselves.  Hajdu writes, “fictional deeds of crime, bloodshed, lust, or immorality, which tend to incute minors to violent or depraved or immoral acts” (Hajdu 207).  While in the book Hajdu for the most part talks about comic books in the 1950s, it relates a lot to the game Clue and how it could have affected children who played the game.  John Locke talks a lot about the idea of a blank slate or tabula rasa in that what forms a child is what they grow up with and what they experience.  In the case of the game Clue, it can cause kids who have a very easily influenced mind, to start thinking about murder, or ways that someone might be murdered.  Instead of kids thinking about more educational games like Life or Uno, they are thinking about if Colonel Mustard committed the murder in the billiards room and whether he did it with the revolver or the candlestick.  In my case I don’t think playing the game Clue affected me at all, just like there were a lot of kids that weren’t affected by reading violent comic books.  But there is something to be said just about putting the thought or ideas in children’s minds, and John Locke’s tabula rasa.

So while Hajdu never talks about violent board games, his ideas about the “scare” also apply to Clue and the board games of my childhood.  So next time you see a kid playing Clue, or even playing a game like operation, know that we’ve been through this once before, and David Hajdu might just have a lot to say about the

Feb 12

Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat (kidsactivities.net)

As a child I loved listening to and reading Dr. Seuss books. I remember sitting around my teacher as a child listening to her read these books. She would read Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat In The Hat. I remember us actually making green eggs in ham in class. The ham was not actually green, it was pink, but the eggs were definitely green. I loved how the illustrations were drawn; they were like nothing you had ever seen before. These illustrations and the concept of the books were created by Theodor Seuss Geisel. The name “Dr. Seuss” came from his mothers maiden name Henrietta Seuss Geisel. Many of his ideas from books came from her as well as childhood memories. These childhood memories can be seen in most of his books. Seuss was born in 1904, ten years before WWI started. Though he was born in this era, he still managed to have a joyous childhood. Postwar, Peter Stearns would say this is the time when children were becoming bored. However, this was not the case for Seuss. He enjoyed his childhood and with that was able to create books for children to enjoy. He gave children something exciting to read. Suess’s books allowed children to use their imaginations. That what I enjoyed the most, I liked how I was able to use my imagination. It allowed my imagination to wonder to so many fantastic places. I enjoyed seeing the vibrant colors. I absolutely loved and adored Dr. Seuss.

Feb 12

Kitchen Playsets

"My Very Own Kitchen" by American Plastic Toy, $32.99, Amazon.com

When I was younger, I, like most of my friends and family, had a miniature kitchen playset. I had plastic bowls, utensils, pots, and even plastic food. I loved to make multi-course meals that I would force my brother to “eat.” I logged so many hours over the stove that eventually, many of the knobs, doors, and handles fell off, leaving me with a long laundry list of household repairs, much like my parents encountered in real life.

While modern kitchen sets have not always been around, I’m sure kids have been playing with their parents’ pots and pans since the invention of the pan, until someone finally thought to create miniature sets for play. A variety of companies make them and they come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. My brother even had a mini grill, complete with sound effects. They’re affordable, in the range of $50 to $200, and they come with all kinds of fun, fake accessories.

I think that one of the main appeals for these mini kitchens is what Cross talks about when he explains the necessity of mimicry (43). Mimicry is a form of learning and is something most kids do in order to associate themselves with the adult world. Mimicry is fun, although I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older that the things kids imitate are usually not as fun as they are when you’re pretending. I hate cooking and doing the dishes, which are two of the very things I used to do with my kitchen set.

In class, we talked about toys for boys and girls, and I think that kitchen sets can be very gender neutral, which is another reason for their popularity. Yes, some are clearly meant for girls (the bright pink ones) and others for boys (the grill my brother had looked “manly” in red and black colors), but many of the sets on Amazon have gender neutral colors and show boys playing with them in the pictures. My brother always played with mine when we were little. Maybe this gender neutrality is recent due to shifting gender roles, or maybe not, but either way, I think that kitchen playsets can be for boys or girls. I don’t think that there is any stigma about boys pretending to cook, especially since many men cook now.

However, I can’t say that other types of toys are always gender neutral. I remember the year I stopped getting the same toy as all my male cousins. It was sad to see them all shooting each other with their nerf guns while I stared at my stupid charm bracelet wondering how I could steal my brother’s gun without my parents noticing. However, life goes on.

Kitchen playsets are a fun way for kids to imitate their parents and enjoy their childhood. If only doing the real action were half as fun as pretending.

 

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