The Geneva Conventions Do Not Apply at the Malibu Playhouse
Kerry Howley | December 19, 2005, 10:30am
On Friday, Senators Clinton (D-NY), Lieberman (D-CT), and Bayh (D-IN) introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, which aims to fine retailers who sell violent games to anyone under 17. Video games are, according to Clinton, "stealing the innocence of our children." Lieberman asserts the existence of "a growing body of evidence that points to a link between violent videos and aggressive behavior in children." Doubtful; but as long as we're snatching from little hands anything that encourages "aggressive behavior," we'll just have to ban violence-provoking plastic dolls as well:
Barbie, that plastic icon of girlhood fantasy play, is routinely tortured by children, research has found.
The methods of mutilation are varied and creative, ranging from scalping to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving, according to academics from the University of Bath.
Violence and torture against Barbie were repeatedly reported across age, school and gender. No other toy or brand name provoked such a negative response.
Stevo Darkly | December 19, 2005, 2:55pm | #
Jennifer's story abou the mass hanging of Barbies was great.
G.I Joe, and his assorted knock-offs, was a killing machine, and that was all he'd ever be. It wasn't until the coming of Major Matt Mason that non-military play became a regular thing.
I'd like to add some nuance to this, informed by my own childhood memories.
I think the original GI Joe, from the the early 1960s and before, was a soldier and nothing but. This was the kind of GI Joe that the slighly older kid down the street from me had. There was an impressive array of military gear and accessories.
However, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the growing unpopularity of the Vietnam War and the military in general, GI Joe shed his military uniform and became a member of "the Adventure Team," which was more of an explorers outfit. Although still heavily armed, 1970s Joe mostly hunted gorillas and sharks and white tigers, and had a cool HQ base and all kinds of exploring vehicles. This is the GI Joe I am personally most familiar with.
I think "Adventure Team" GI Joe's popularity faded out as the 1970s progressed, although that may just be my personal recollection because that's about when I hit puberty and my personal interest in GI Joe ended.
Then, eventually war got cool again during the 1980s, and the miniaturized, COBRA-fighting version of GI Joe came out that was more of a soldier again.
Although Jeff is also kind of right about Major Matt Mason the astronaut. MMM and non-military Adventure Team GI Joe came out at about the same time.
By the way, 1970s GI Joe got to be an astronaut like MMM and Barbie, too. He got a one-man Mercury capsule to ride in -- about a decade later than the real thing, but I guess two-man Gemini or three-man Apollo capsules would have been too big, unwieldy and expensive. Although I always though a Gemini capsule for Joe would have been really cool. An Apollo spaceship (comlete with LM) would have been even cooler.
