Brittany

It’s hard to believe that the last week of classes has finally arrived! It’s been great getting to know everyone in the Freshman Seminar class and the fact we had such a small group helped to make the less formal and more confortable. I can definitely say that I have gained some new “vital to college” skills in the class, obviously a good thing considering that is what the class was designed to do. This was the first class in my college career that I had to do a presentation, write an oral interview essay, a grant proposal, and even a research paper. It was also the first time I’ve blogged, aside from Myspace and other internet networking sites. The discussions in class also helped to refine my reading and analyzing skills and allowed me to break out of my shell and engage in discussions and put my own opinion on certain issues on the table. It was also interesting to hear my classmates opinions and feedback on the readings, articles, and to hear their own personal childhood experiences. It’s sad to say that the days of talking about toys and reminiscing about my childhood and getting class credit and participation for it are a thing of the past. I will truly miss this class!

The presenters this week were Joey, Kyle, and Trevor. Here is just a short little bit of what I took from each of their presentations:

Joey- Great job! After reading Anne Allison’s book where she talked about Godzilla I realized that their was more to meets the eye with this monster and I was sure that Joey’s presentation would help to tie the lose ends together and answer any unanswered questions we would have. It was interesting to see how the American’s version of the Gozilla movie didn’t even mention World War II and was completely different from the Japanese version. Could the reason that the Americans left out WWII be that we were feeling a little bit of remorse and regret for what happened and Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Although I’ve never seen Godzilla and know very little about the monster I feel as though with the help of Joey’s presentation and with Anne Allison’s own research on Godzilla I am now more aware of the culutral significance of Godzilla and how he helps to represent history in the sense of the atomic bombs.

Kyle- When I heard Kyle was researching Wii I was a little curious as to how much information there was out there on the Wii. It’s a pretty new toy so it seemed as though it would have a pretty short history. But Kyle was able to get a lot of research and information which was relayed to the class through his presentation. Although I do not personally own a Wii my boyfriend’s family does and I’ve played the game there on numerous occassions. Kyle talked a lot about appealing to the family as a whole which is definitely true of my own experience with the Wii. Me and boyfriend enjoy the game, we are 19 and 20, respectively. His grandma and grandpa also enjoy the game, they are in their early 70s. On New Years Eve a family came over that had a five year old son and he was begging and pleading to play with the Wii. So from the five year old to the 70 year old we have about a 65 year gap, with people in different age groups inbetween, who all enjoy the game. Aside from board games it seems as though the all inclusive family game was a thing of the past and something that we wouldn’t see in the future, especially in the form of a new invention. But Wii managed to do what many people thought couldn’t be done. Like the question I raised in class, are we going to see a whole new generation and generations to come of kids who don’t play outside? Will the playground and swing-set soon become nostalgia? Are the days of sports on fields going to become sports in living rooms and inside gymnasiums where kids take turns hitting softballs with their wii remote? These are just some questions to ponder and obviously questions that can’t be answered until years from now after we witness the possible changes.

Trevor- A great presentation to end the semester! It’s really neat to see how people’s views towards people of color have changed and how those views were reflected in comic books. The fact that Ebony White was a monkey was very degrading and something like that would definitely not be accepted today or even a deacade or so ago. The Japanese superhero as well as Apache Chief and El Dorado were also interesting in the sense that they were only needed to perform certain actions and duties that fell into their “cultural” realm, like El Dorado helping to translate Spanish. Although very, very wrong the parody groups were hilarious. With the stereotypical Jew, Indian/Arab 7-11 owner, Black, Asian, and Native American. I really enjoyed Trevor’s presentation and I think it could even help to develop some more questions and analysis of race in the past, for example, in children’s books, sitcoms, and newspaper comics. These could all be things to look into.

So as I conclude my final blog post for this course I would like to wish everyone luck on your final exams and I hope everyone has a great summer!

Tags: toysashistory09

Just a few short weeks after the completion of my paper and presentation on The Many Controversies of Barbie, Mattel goes out and releases yet another controversial doll. Here is the link in case any of you are interested:

http://www.tba.org/TBA_BH/bh75.html

Enjoy!

Tags: toysashistory09

Yet another great week of presentations. I can easily say that with each new presentation I am definitely learning something new about the specific toy or concept presented by my classmates. This week the presenters were Lauren, Rachel, Carlie, Madeline, Meghan, and Andrea. I really enjoyed all of their presentations, especially the ones that dealt with toys/shows from my own childhood.

I think Lauren made a really good point in that Barney’s target audience is 2-5 year olds and when older kids make fun of Barney they are simply showing that they have outgrown the phase in their lives. Although I never lit any of my Barney toys on fire I can clearly remember when I had reached that pivotal point of being “too old” for Barney. Suddenly I was embarassed to have ever loved this big purple dinosaur and any evidence that I had liked him needed to removed from my life ASAP. Although I didn’t burn, boil, or crucify anything I certaintly packed up all of my Barney toys and put them away, maybe for a yard sale or a younger family member. Could it be that the people who have videos or pictures, either online or just at home, of them or others torturing Barney are simply ashamed that they ever liked such a childish creature?

I really enjoyed Rachel’s presentation. Growing up, and even still today, I was never a big Muppet Show fan. Although I was not familiar with the skits in the show I was however familiar with the main characters like Miss Piggy and Kermit the frog. I thought it was interesting how Kermit represented racism. His song “It’s Not Easy Being Green” was meant to be able to relate to people who felt that it was not easy having their skin color as well. His song, “The Rainbow Connection” was also used by many people as aspiration to achieve their dreams and a sign of hope for things to come. It’s truly amazing how puppets, or rather muppets, have made such an impact on people’s lives. I could never imagine that the theme song from any of my favorite shows would be of any use of inspiration in my personal life. Another thing that Rachel talked about that I found interesting was how Miss Piggy was such a feminist icon. I guess when I think of a feminist a stuffed pig usually doesn’t come to mind which is what makes Miss Piggy such a good representative for women, she is a friendly and non-controversial figure. I also liked how the Muppets are being used today in areas such as Palestine to help children deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts as well in Sub-Saharan Africa to help kids deal with epidemics such as HIV/AIDs. It’s truly amazing how the Muppets are being used as a medium for very important causes.

Carlie did a great job as well in describing the characters from Toy Story. First of all, I loved the visual aids, the Woody and Buzz Lightyear action figures, that she brought to class. My little brother LOVES Toy Story and I have at least five Buzz Lightyear toys lying around my living room as we speak. It had been a while since I had seen either of the movies and Carlie’s presentation helped to get the gears of my memory moving. One thing that she talked about in her presentation that I remembered from the movie was this whole idea of Woody v Buzz Lightyear. I can remember always rooting for Woody, he was the originial toy and I felt bad for him because in came Buzz Lightyear, some arrogant hot shot, and took his place as Andy’s favorite toy. Even after Buzz Lightyear realized that he was just a “toy” and came to grips with that fact I was still a big Woody supporter. Carlie also showed pictures of the toys that came in kids meals at fast food places which brought back a lot of memories for me, I probably owned at least 75% of those toys.

Meghan’s presentation on Furby and the concept of a “must-have” toy was really informational. The fact that 1.4 million were sold in one Christmas season truly blows my mind. I only had one and I really didn’t even like it that much. To me, Furby’s were annoying and scary. One Furby was enough for me, I didn’t need any more! I thought it was intersting how Meghan associated certain characteristics with what makes a “must-have” toy. The cute factor, variety, the “hype” factor, interaction, and mobility were all characteristics that Meghan associated with “must-have” toys. The Wii definitely falls into this category, as seen in her PowerPoint. One “must-have” toy that comes to my mind are Cabbage Patch Dolls. Although I don’t personally remember this one toy I can remember hearing my mom talk about and I also saw it on VH1′s show “I Love the 90s” (sad, I know). Apparently the Christmas season in which this doll was popular it was literally impossible to find one of these dolls in stores. Parents would arrive and ungodly hours in the morning to be the first one in department stores to get their hands on these dolls for their children. To me, the frenzy of Cabbage Patch Dolls definitely qualilfy it as a “must-have” toy.

I thought Madeline did a great job of connecting the American Girl Dolls with the American Dream. I would’ve have never thought of doing that! One thing I found interesting was the fact that the American Dream has been associated with “material prosperity” and yet American Girl Dolls are material posessions that requite constant buying for. First you buy the doll, then the accessories, then the books, then a friend for the doll, etc., etc., etc. Could it be that if you can buy these dolls and all of the stuff that comes with them that you yourself have achieved the American Dream? I can remember growing up my mom would never buy me these dolls because they were too expensive and she figured I would just wind up getting her dirty or breaking her anyway. But I can remember getting the catalogs every month with the dolls in them and dreaming and longing for MY own American Girl Doll. Another thing that was brought up in the question/answer session was the fact that this company is only marketed and targeted to girls. Could there maybe be an American Boy line down the road???

One thing about Andi’s presentation that I found interesting was the fact the actual Teddy Rossevelt “teddy bear” story came to be changed and the difference between the real story and the story we all know. It makes me wonder what other stories have been changed throughout history to be more appealing to the public? Although Teddy Bear’s will always be known as a “classic” toy I still feel as though their popularity and demand are fading away. My little brother doesn’t own a single one and the only one I own was one that I made a Build-a-Bear last May. I think Teddy Bears are becoming more for babies and as you grow older you can adventure out into different animals. I also liked how Andi incorporated Care Bears into her presentation. I was never into the Care Bear fad but I knew, and still know, plently of girls who were/are. To me they were not “teddy bears” but were just characters from some show (and movie) that I was not interested in. Overall good presentation and cute video to start of the speech!

Great job on all of your presentations this week! And I look forward to hearing Trevor, Kyle, and Joey’s presentations next week!

Tags: toysashistory09

…..my presentation is over!!

Well, I’m glad that’s over! I always feel like a big weight has been lifted after I complete a big test or presentation and I’m definitely feeling that way now that my final presentation is over! The process of searching for pictures for my PowerPoint and putting together my speech really helped to put all of my research into perspective. Although I’m glad that the semester is winding down it was sort of sad to know that all of my researching of Barbie is over as well. I’ve come to the harsh realization that I will probably never be able to discuss Barbies, Ninja Turtles, Barney, or Pokemon in any other of courses at college. The off-topic conversations that we got into in this class will be truly missed!

Mara and Bryant both did an excellent job today in their presentations. Mara talked about Fashion Dolls and Body Image and Bryant talked about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A lot of the issues that Mara addressed in her presentation I had also come across in my own research of Barbie. One of the things that Mara said that really caught my attention was when she talked about how if Bratz were scaled to actual human proportions their skulls would be over 5 feet in circumfrence! WOW! Just looking at these dolls it is clear to see that they have a very oversized head but what gets me is that some little girls might actually consider this to be a desirable trait for themselves. Too me Bratz are not dolls to envy, where Barbie could be argued to be, but rather dolls that are funny as well as funny looking. I think the issue of mutilating one’s Barbies will be a common theme in some of the upcoming presentations including Lauren’s presentation on Barney.

I also really enjoyed Bryant’s presentation. I think Rachel said it best in class today when she said that she was “illiterate” on the Turtles. I can agree with Rachel in that the TMNT are also a foreign topic to me as well. I thought Bryant’s PowerPoint was put together very nicely and I liked how he showed the pictures of the different transformations and “resurrections” of the Turtles. He did an excellent job of talking about the Turtles from an all-knowing perspective and putting it into simpler terms for the population of the class that is “illiterate” on the TMNT. The idea of a female turtle and the fact that her name was Venus was also very interesting. Bryant made an interesting point in that the male turtles are named after makers of art whereas Venus herself is named after the art piece, an object. I can easily say that I learned a lot from Bryant’s presentation today.

Bryant, Mara, Kevin, and Luis have all done an excellent job with their presentations this week and I look forward to hearing/seeing the rest of my classmate’s presentations and learning more about different toys and aspects of childhood in the upcoming weeks.

Tags: toysashistory09

So, the research paper was completed and turned in last Tuesday and now I’ve begun preparing my PowerPoint/oral presentation for the class on Thursday, April 9th. My panel, appropriately titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Barbie?, consists of myself as well as Mara and Bryant. My PowerPoint presentation is coming along great. I’ve found some really good pictures online and I made sure to include the adequate amount of text in other words I’m not rewriting my paper for all to read in ten minutes. Some of the images that I have used in my presentation are pretty funny and I hope that my presentation will be humerous as well as informative for the class. Although public speaking and presentations have always made me super nervous I feel pretty confident about this week’s presentation mainly because we all had a chance to stand at the Podium last class and to get a feel for what the presentation will be like. I also feel as though all of the class discussion throughout the semester and getting to know some of my classmates on a better level have helped to ease the tension and to make it feel as though I am not talking to a bunch of “strangers.”

Having written a good sized paper on my topic, The Many Controversies of Barbie, I feel as though I have aquired a great deal of information and feel very prepared to give a ten minute speech to my classmates as well as answer any questions they may have on my topic. Although a lot of the information that I gathered while writing my paper was used in the actual paper there was a still a lot information, as well as other Barbies, that did not make their way into the paper. I think I have a lot of information and will be a very knowledgeable “panel member” to my classmates. I am going to type up a handout in case technology fails on me on Thursday and so that I can still give my speech as well allow my fellow pupils to be interactive by having images and text to follow along with. Also, I asked my little cousin to borrow her Pregnant Midge doll and she said that she found the belly but not the actual doll so my aunt took another one of her Barbies and attached the belly to her to make her look pregnant. I’m still going to bring the doll into class but will be sure to explain what happened and that this doll is not the actual Pregnant Midge.

I look forward to sharing my research with my classmates on Thursday as well as getting a chance to hear my classmates research and to learn more about other toys and games.

Tags: toysashistory09

This week’s readings consisted of articles from from several different classmate’s research. One of those articles was one of my own. This articles was “New Ken Doll Rings True With Gays.” I choose to submit this article because I found it to be one the more interesting articles from my research. Earring Magic Ken was one of the Barbies I had no prior knowledge of before beginning this research project. I found him to be very interesting in the fact that 1) he wore a charm on his necklace that resembled a “cock ring” and also because 2) he was criticized for appearing to be homosexual. In today’s society homosexuality is something that is becoming more and more accepted with tv shows such as Will and Grace and lots of activist groups such as GLAD fighting for gay rights. But Earring Magic Ken wasn’t fortunate enough to have been released during these times but rather he was released in the early 1990s, a time when homosexuality caused mixed views amongst Americans and when the media was not as friendly towards them. The reason I choose to submit an article about Earring Magic Ken was because I felt like with Ken and also a lot of the Barbies I came across that were controversial was that had they been released in a different decade or period of time then they might not have been as controversial. The main reason for many of the dolls being controversial is the period in which they were released and the people of society’s views about the doll.

I really enjoyed Lauren’s article about Barney. I grew up with Barney and therefore I have and will always have a special place in my heart for him. One of the main things abour Barney that was mentioned in this article was the fact that the kids watching Barney communicate back to him. I have found this to be a common theme in a lot kid’s shows today, including Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues. Children enjoy shows in which they can feel totally involved. The new level of involvement allows them to be engaged in a whole new way in which they are completely emerged in that show. I believe that shows such as these have such a high fan rating because of this involvement and how you too feel as though you are a part of the show.

Most of the videos that were posted were videos that I had seen before. One of the soccer videos, the one featuring Ronaldino, I had rememered from my friend from high school who was on the soccer team posting the link for on his AIM proflie. I think that Kevin choosing this video will have a profound impact on his research. The fact that the video features little kids and the concept of never growing up and doing what you love plays a big impact on the minds of children who play soccer. I know that soccer is a sport in which those that start out playing at a young age continue to play up until adult life and remain fans of the sport for many years after that. The concept of the soccer ball being a popular toy plays into this theme in that it is not just a ball but rather a tool that aides in the game of soccer, a game that many people will be involved with for the rest of their lives, whether directly or indirectly.

The webpage for Buzz Lightyear seemed like an interesting webpage for children who are fans of the toy. I even let my little brother who is five-years-old get on the computer and play around with it for a little while. I’m very interested to hear about the background behind Buzz Lightyear and even Woody and how they represent certain figures and themes throughout history.

John Quelch’s article “Selling Out the American Dream” was an interesting one. Quelch talked about how the idea of the American Dream has changed over time. He talks of how many of the immigrants viewed the American Dream as an opportunity to set and achieve goals honestly. In today’s society we have a new version of the American Dream in which our goal is to aquire more and more stuff. He blames both right-wing and left-wing politicians for this change in the concept of the American Dream. Both sides seem to frame the American Dream in material terms and how from time to time Americans were encouraged to get out and spend money. We are encouraged to be consumers first and citizens second. This article was interesting to me because no matter what time period you look at there has always been a concept of the American Dream. While the definition of this dream may change from generation to generation the dream still remains.

The article posted on Blackboard, “My Favorite Things,” was an educational article in the sense that you could relate what the authors were saying to your own life. Objects help us to form a sense of self as well as helping to define our relationships with other people. The article also talks about how when people lose all or most of their possessions in something like a natural disaster it is looked at as a tragedy and also as a violation of the self in America. This theme can be seen in different cultures. Here in American it can be seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how many families lost precious possessions. It can also be seen in poverished areas of Mexico in which many people hold religious icons as their most prized possession. Towards the end of the article the authors posted results to a study that they had conducted in which they related material objects to their forms of attachment. One of the ideas that they talked about what gender assocation with certain objects. The results showed that U.S. women were more likely to pick handicrafts and antiques as their favorite item whereas U.S. men were more likely to choose functional objects and plants. Throughout this article we can see how material objects have become such a vital part of our lives and how we use certain objects to associate with certain things as well as feelings. This article connects with John Quelch’s article in that the reason why many Americans are aquiring more and more stuff is because they feel a sense of attachment to certain objects and are trying to get more objects to have more to connect and associate with. Quelch’s argument seems to suggest that we should stop trying to aquire stuff. Yet the “My Favorite Things” article talks about how important stuff really is and why we do aquire it. With the evidence shown in the “My Favorite Things” article it is hard to believe that Americans will watch how much stuff they aquire, which is what John Quelch would like.

Tags: toysashistory09

Unconvinced that I had enough sources to write a 7-8 page research I decided to write my paper over Spring Break only to prove myself wrong. It seems that I had too many sources and was able to write eight whole pages on my topic: The Many Contoversies of Barbie. I was kind of upset and a little disappointed because I thought that I did not have enough secondary sources to make my article credible. But what I decided to do, since there are no secondary sources directly on the Barbies I wrote about, I made connections all on my own. I checked lots of online research databases including JSTOR, Academic Search Plus, Project Muse, and I even used my boyfriend’s login to check Virginia Tech’s online databases. With the exception of Teen Talk Barbie, these sources did not give me a quotes or information on specific Barbies. What I decided to do instead was to find articles written about that time and to use information from those articles to represent what was going on in the minds of Americans when these Barbies were first released based on what was happening in history at that time. One example I used was Growing-Up Skipper who came out in 1975, during the second wave of the feminist movement. I connected the contoversy that Skipper caused with what many people who were afraid of the feminist movement and those who were against it were probably thinking. To them this doll represented the exploration of a woman’s body and full expression in new ways. Many people at this time were probably frightened that this doll would bring about wrong ideas to little girls who played with the doll.

The main thing that I have to work on with my research paper now is just organizing all of my sources and completing my bibliography. I also need to go back through my paper and get rid of the parentheticals and add footnotes/endnotes instead. I’ve also set aside some time next week to go to the Writing Center on campus and to get advice for what I need to change in my paper. Overall, I have really enjoyed researching this topic. Barbie is something that has always been dear to my heart and researching this topic was a long process yet it was also fun at the same time.

Tags: toysashistory09

Just for the record I had already intended on using this title for my blog post on Pokemon before I saw that Anne Allison was using it for Chapter 8, so that being said, I am going to keep it.

I was very excited when I saw that this weeks readings were going to be about Pokemon. While reading Millenial Monsters I had a lot of flashbacks to my own Pokemon experience. A lot of the things that Tajiri Satoshi talks about when he explains his vision for Pokemon and the appeal that he wants Pokemon to bring to its audience are all of the qualities of Pokemon that attracted me to the cartoon as well as the collecting of the cards. Satoshi said that Pokemon was used as a way for children to relieve their stress because being a kid today is hard. I know for me, personally, Pokemon was something that you could espape to but rather than to avoid stress I retreated to Pokemon when I was bored or frustrated. If my mom was yelling at me I would pull out my card collection and just start looking at them and I would do the same if I was bored. Satoshi talks about he collected insects when he was younger. He would raise and grow the insects until they became larger and developed into a larger insect. Satoshi’s bug collecting is much like Pokemon in that you take a creature that is young and undeveloped and through your nurturing and caretaking the creature evolves into something greater. I could relate my own childhood to Satoshi’s bug collecting in that while I was growing up I collected many different things. One could say that I was a collector of collecting. I went through many phases including rocks, coins, Barbies, and Ty Beanie Babies. I guess it was only natural that I fell into the Pokemon craze as well.

Allison talks about how a main characteristic of Pokemon is evolution and the fact that they evolve through time. Pokemon is not the only game in which we see this happening. I know in class we talk a lot about a game called Spore in which evolution plays a major role. Although I’m not a big gamer myself I feel as though I can say with certainty that Pokemon was not the first video game to include the concept of evolution and probably will not be the last (in fact, we know it’s not, because Spore has followed after.) Evolution and the concept of constantly evolving is something that appeals to many fans of video games and games in general.

While Allison talks about the consumerism of Pokemon and how big of a frenzy Pokemon became I immediately flashed back to the first chapter of this book in which she mentioned the Pokemon Airplane which was decked out from head to toe in everything Pokemon. Pokemon had transformed from being marketed on simple everyday items such as pencils and notebooks to objects that were larger than life like the Pokemon (Pikachu) airplane.

Whether intentionally or not Satoshi seems to include essential qualities for life in the making of Pokemon, these include: communication, bartering, and work ethic. Communication is used in the sense that one must communicate and talk with other players through trading and also through social skills such as conversing with other children on the schoolyard about Pokemon. Bartering, or rather, trading is emphasized through the trading of the characters with the cards. One must learn how to trade well in order to aquire a significant return for their Pokemon(s). Work ethic is seen displayed in Pokemon in the sense that the owner of the characters must work and build up their characters over a period of time to become strong and be suitable for battles. This requires time dedication as well as hard work which reflect a good work ethic.

On page 204 Allison says that a child risks being excluded if he or she lacked the adequate knowledge of Pokemon. I know for me that was probably the number one reason why I began watching and collecting the Pokemon cards. Everybody around me was into Pokemon and knew all about it. I didn’t want to be the only kid in my class who did not own a single Pokemon card. I wanted to be included and to fit it and most of all to avoid humiliation when the other kids found out that I was not into Pokemon. Allison really hit home with this comment because for me this is exactly the reason why I got involved with Pokemon in the first place.

Allison mentions the idea of gift giving in the Japanese society. The reference to Pokemon that I gained form the Japanese’s idea of gift giving was that trading a Pokemon with someone gives away hard work much like a gift gives away hard work in the sense that your hard earned money was used to pay for it. Although you received another Pokemon in return you also had to let go of your own Pokemon that you had once cared for and sought after so much. Pokemon trading can be related to real life in Japanese society in that instead of receiving another Pokemon in return you receive the sense of knowing that your wealth has been used to make someone else feel happy as well as a sense of friendship in the sense that your gift was used to strengthen a relationship or friendship that is important to you.

On page 218 Allison talks about “cash value” and how important this idea was in the collecting of Pokemon. People continued to buy the cards because they believed that one day the cards would help them to earn a fortune. This concept was one minor reason why I collected the cards but this idea was the major reason that I collected Ty Beanie Babies. I believed that each of these objects would one day be worth lots of money and I would be so happy with myself for saving them for so long. To my disappointment when I searched on EBAY a couple of years ago to find out the “cash value” of a Ty Beanie Baby today I was very upset to see that they were only selling for about $5 on average. This was mainly a huge disappointment because instead of the value going up just the slightest amount it had actually decreased. When I was collecting Beanie Babies the average cost was about $7.

Throughout the reading Allison keeps referring to Satoshi who I believe to be Ash from the American version of Pokemon. She also talks about how Pikachu is the only Pokemon to never be pocketed. I guess I had known that at the time but until I read it in the book I had never “really” thought about it. Could the reason for this be that Pikachu was “tiny yet dangerous?” By displaying Pikachu in every scene and never having Pikachu “pocketed” helped the image of Pokemon. Pikachu was cute, appealing to the female fan base, yet dangerous, appealing to the male fan base. By Pikachu always being around both female and male fans were continually being reminded of what it is about Pokemon that they like so much. Pikachu’s constant pressence was also helpful to the Pokemon company because it gave fans as well as prospective fans an image/character which they could always relate to the company.

Tags: toysashistory09

In chapters 4 & 5, Anne Allison focuses in on two main themes found in the Japanese toys’s culture: Superheroes and “Fashion Action.” She talks about Superheroes and how they were so popular in Japan during the re-building of the country.  To me the great popularity of superhero type characters in Japanese culture was reflective of the reconstruction of the country that currently going on. These two ideas intersect in that the rebuilding of Japan would be a superhero’s job. Allison also talks about how in the superhero stories, like that of the Rangers, there is constantly an antagonist and also a protagonist (be it one person or a group of people.) In these types of stories the enemy is defeated in that specific episode but each day (or rather, episode) brings about a whole new enemy. This could be reflective of the Japanese culture in that each day they faced certain problems and when the day was over they woke up to a brand new day faced with a different set of problems. No matter what happens with each day or episode there is always an enemy to defeat. Another theme Allison mentions that can be found in Japanese “superhero” stories in which there is a group rather than an individual hero is team work. Team work is emphasized by having groups of individuals put all of their powers together to create one mega power, an example of this can be seen in the Power Rangers.

On page 99, Allison says that “empowerment is a feature open to everyone, including women,” in describing the addition of women to superhero groups such as Power Rangers. It seems as though as society was becoming more open to women and recognizing their importance in society they in turn were incorporating female heroines in the world of heroes.

Allison also mentions how the United States occupation of Japan helped Japan to create a new constitution (with American influence). The new constitution focused on the idea of eliminating militarism, the glorifying of war. Could it be that the superheroes, such as Go Renja, were an outlet for the Japanese people to express their love of military acts such as martial arts? Acts that these people were no longer partaking in as they used to were now enjoyed not through personal experience but vicariously through superheroes and super groups.

On page 103, Allison says that “machines need humanity to be good,” when talking about the relationship between mankind and machines (i.e. robots). She gives numerous examples of how robots were portrayed in Japanese culture and how their relationship with humans were established and rather or not they had good of bad outcomes. One example, which is not Japanese at all, that I thought of just as another modern day example is the movie featuring Will Smith, “I Robot.” In this movie the robots begin to take over the world (if my memory serves me correctly) and eventually the humans (the people who created the robots) have to find a way to stop the robots from complete takeover. This is much like what Allison was talking about with the how machines “need” humanity to be good. We as society fear that robots could form a mind of their own and eventually plan to takeover, whether it be the city or the world.

One of the main points in this reading that really stood out to me is found on page 120 when Allison talks about how Power Rangers were made into politically correct enterprises. It seems as though Saban, in his trying to make Power Rangers more PC, actually helped to focus in on and even extend everyday sterotypes to a new level. The “girly girl” Power Ranger wore the pink costume, the Asian wore the yellow costume, the African American wore the black costume, and the white “all-American, average Joe, good-guy” was the red power ranger, who was obviously the leader of the group and the head hancho. So, while trying to make Power Rangers more PC they acutally helped to make Power Rangers more centered around common sterotypes.

Reading about Sailor Moon was a very “enlightening” experience. Personally I was never into Sailor Moon, I can’t even recall watching a single episode nor owning any merchandise with Sailor Moon on it. The only real memory I have of Sailor Moon is actually of a boy that was in my Fourth Grade class who was obsessed with her. He loved to draw and his favorite thing to draw was Sailor Moon. After reading Allison’s analysis of Sailor Moon and of her sexual attraction to the male species with her innocent school girl look it makes me look back on this young boy and I can’t help but to wonder if he too was attracted to her in this same way. Sailor Moon was clearly aimed at a person his age, to young girls in a sense that they wanted to be like Sailor Moon (she was powerful and also had a “normal” everyday life in that she had a boyfriend, friends, and was a superhero). But to this young boy, clearly not a young girl, what was his attraction to her? Did the marketers of Sailor Moon purposely try to have this effect on young boys in the sense that they too would be attracted to her but rather for her sexy school girl look?

Allison talks about the attraction to Sailor Moon by young girls by saying that Sailor Moon is a “Cinderella-type story.” (page 137) Could characters like Sailor Moon have been a catalyst in the craze we see today known as the Princess Culture?

Sailor Moon is different from the other superheroes in many ways, one very important way is that she is “scantily clad” and her costume is a very revealing one. One connection I found to this that can be traced back in the history of American pop culture is Wonder Woman. She was a hero much like that of Superman, Spiderman, and Batman, yet she wore very little clothing. Is the idea behind nearly nude women superheroes that they have to be half-dressed for anybody to pay attention to them? Sure, the Power Rangers had girl rangers, but they were a part of a group that included men rangers as well, they were already thought to be serious and a “true” fighting group. But when the woman is cast as a superhero by herself, or even in an all female group, for example, the Sailor Scouts, she must resort to certain measures and attain certain characteristics to be thought of as worthy of watching. These characteristics include: “klutzy, inept, sexy, [and] pretty.” (page 136) Characteristics that it seems women must always attain no matter what.

One last important point that Allison makes in her book can be found on page 142 in that “friendship saves eveyone.” This theme is one that could be found in post-war Japan in that after the war the only thing that many people had left was not their house, their posessions, nor their money, but rather it was their friends. A major war can take away a lot material things but unless the life is actually lost the friend still remains. Going through hard times, such as WWII, probably brought a lot of people closer together and made friendships even more stronger. Friendship was all that was left after the war for many people and in return this theme was potrayed in a lot of Japanese stories.

This reading (chapters 4 and 5) has probably been my favorite reading thus far in the sense that it was more relateable to myself on a personal level. I grew up watching Power Rangers and different superheroes during my childhood and through this reading I was able to view the characters I once loved in a whole new light.

Tags: toysashistory09

After World War II and the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Japanese found themselves in a state of misery while beginning the search for their new “national identity.” Two of the major areas affected by the war were the areas of play and imagination. These areas both seemed to flourish before the war but after the war the lack of resources and the preoccupation with building up what was left of Japan seemed to take the focus off of the toy industry. Once the Americans began to help the Japanese rebuild Japan through the use of the SCAP forces there seemed to be a small ray of light shining on the toy industry or rather the “soon to be” toy industry. One toymaker used the tin can lids left behind in the garbage by SCAP forces to make his Kosuga Jeep. This jeep found tremendous success and popularity with American children. Soon after many more toys began to circulate out of Japan, all required to have “Made in Occupied Japan” printed on them. The large sucess of Japanese toys today such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh!, and tomagotchis are not necessarily new “ideals” in the toy consumption of Americans. It seems as though even from early post World War II years American’s were beginning an obsession with Japanese toys. One such toy was Newsboy who was even manufactured to appeal to Americans.

A lot of the appeal that Japanese toys had on Americans back then that they no longer have today is that they appealed to children whose fathers had defeated the Japanese in the war. To these children these toys appealed to children as being foreign but also because they were from a place that they felt they could connect with, a place that they heard war stories being told about whether from fathers, uncles, or family friends. The foreign appeal can still be seen today in the popularity of Japanese toys with American children but rather because the toys are completely foreign and a new concept to them whereas after WWII the toys were not so foreign in a way.

Godzilla! I have very little personal experiences with Godzilla. I haven’t seen a single Godzilla movie nor do I know much about the effects or the monster itself. In her book, Allison mentions how one of Godzilla’s major appeals was that he could transform. This theme seems to be one that has been a constant from as early as 1954 with Godzilla all the way up until today. This theme can be seen portrayed in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Transformers, and also in books such as Animorphins (which were very popular when I was in Elementary School). These everyday figures could all transform into monsters, animals, or superheroes, they all combined reality with the element of fantasy at the same time. Allison says that Godzilla satisfied the Japanese’s desire for destruction, just a question to ponder, what are some American examples of this? What do we as Americans watch or even partake in that helps to satisfy OUR desire for destruction?

One of the filmmakers that made his version of Godzilla was a man named Tanaka. In Tanaka’s version of Godzilla the Japanese people are made out to have no responsibility whatsoever for the emergence of Godzilla. Was what Tanaka was doing by portraying the Japanese as completely innocent just a “view” that he shared with all Japanese. Were the Japanese made to believe that American’s deserved what happened at Pearl Harbor? I’m not trying to throw my own view point on this situation into this blog but maybe Tanaka was just simply conveying in his film what he and a lot of the Japanese population believed to be true of what happened to Japan during the war. Later on the Americans even take Godzilla and do their own makeover of it and re-release the movie for American audiences. But as with most things that cross cultural borders a lot of Godzilla’s Japanese appeal and authenticity was lost in the American versions. What the American audience thinks of Godzilla is probably very different from what the Japanese audience thinks of Godzilla. The American versions obviously had better effects and screenplay than did the Japanese versions, due to a much larger budget and many more resources. But even though resources were scarce the Japanese still made up for it through creativity. The American and Japanese versions were different in many different aspects which leaves the question, could it be that Godzilla, or rather Gojira, was lost in translation??

Another character that Allison writes about is Tetsuwan Atomu (Mighty Atom). Mighty Atom was similar to Godzilla in that they both came to be following a high-tech accident (representative of the atomic bombs). One of the things about Mighty Atom that stood out to me was the fact that his character had abandoned his career in the medical field. This is representative of the aftermath of WWII on the Japanese people. Many people had to abandon careers as well as career paths due to the horrible state of the country after the war. In a time when the Japanese economy was down and out it was probably very hard if not impossible to continue higher education.

On page 53 Allison talks about large cards that were used to tell stories, these cards were called Kami Shibai. Could these cards which came about in the late 1940s be a sort of “foreshadowing” for the Pokemon cards? They are both cards and they both tell a story. Could Pokemon be a miniature version of the Kami Shibai cards?

Throughout the reading we get a good dose of post WWII Japanese culture and how a lot of the characters and stories that are synonomous with Japan today (i.e. Godzilla) came to be and how they reflected the culture of Japan at the time of their creation.

Tags: toysashistory09