10.31.07
The Battle for the Toybox???
A Christian toy company called one2believe has released a huge line of Christian Action Figures aimed at satisfying a perceived need in the “Christian Community” for faith oriented toys. In many ways their objectives are quite admirable. In an NPR interview this morning for example their head of marketing discussed a desire to see parents play with their kids and spend time talking about the significance of their toys. On a certain level, this is wonderful. I would have loved it if my parents for example would have spent time with me discussing the ethical importance of society’s mistreatment of the X-man Nightcrawler for example, or the significance of Peter Parker’s devotion to his Aunt. I’m sure many life lessons could have been learned from my GI Joes (though I fear He-Man was nothing more than a metonymic substitute for pent up steroid-infused man-lust). Parents SHOULD engage their children in discussing the philosophical importance of their imaginary systems. Heck, parents should discuss any philosophical topic with their kids at all. For many families, this would be a great leap forward.
One2Believe goes too far though in pitching this as a Battle for the Toybox. (Check out their site for the scary details). Do we really need the battle to begin so young? I’m all for raising the ethical bar, but inculcating our children using dolls that repeat tenets of faith over and over (check out the talking Jesus doll for example that recites great moments in scripture) seems a tad too Orwellian for my taste. Childhood is the freedom to craft meaning from a crazily mixed up world. (All hail Eris!) No matter how we try to simplify the dogma, just the experience of growing up itself presents a kind of chaos that no amount of ideological dictation can erase. This chaos gives birth to new world views, and in this way our children outpace us and move the world to somewhere new.
Oh, and before you start dismissing all this as the ravings of an evangelical website, please understand that these toys are available at hundreds of Wal-Mart and Target stores. These will be in the hands of your neighbors kids soon enough.
I do hope though that we can ride this wave of ideological toys in some interesting directions. I would love to buy some hippie toys for example. Get junior a drop-out stoner protestor doll that recites beat poetry and emits a foul smell. I can’t wait for the uptight corporate a-hole doll that takes your pennies but won’t give them back (think of a piggy bank crossed with a black hole). If we are really going to unleash the idea virus then let’s really let it go. The world is too small to be dominated by any single imaginary system. (Go X-men!!!)