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I wanna grow up, but I’m a Circuit City kid.
by blank at 09:11 PM on August 22, 2003
Back in the ’80s to early ’90s, when I was a kid, what did I do for fun? I didn’t listen to CDs, surf the internet or watch much TV. Living in rural Missouri there wasn’t much to do if you weren’t interested in sports or farming. I remember a few G.I. Joes, tons of Legos and Nintendo. I used to draw a lot. I even had my own comic book series that I would mail out to a friend in Iowa who would publish them with his second-hand copy machine. Paper routs on my BMX bike would occupy my time after school and earn me some cash – something sports practice would never do – and afford me to buy some new toys.
I think I answered my own question, which makes me a bit sad. My life really hasn’t changed much. There still isn’t much to do. My BMX has turned into a mountain bike, Nintendo is now a Playstation 2, Spiderman and X-Men have become Blade of the Immortal and Preacher, and my paper route has turned into a 9 to 5 job that affords me more toys. But, things are a bit different. Legos just plain suck now and Todd McFarlane took the “action” out of action figures and made everything collectable. Toys are now a huge corporate enterprise. From video games to Barbie, everything is covered in celebrity endorsements and cross marketing. I remember plugging in Super Mario Brothers and instantly, I’m squishing mushrooms. Now I’m stuck with watching a minimum of three arbitrarily animated corporate logos dance on my TV before I’m able to even get to the start screen and play the latest Star Wars game. The instruction manuals even have a few pages of ads! This also extends to DVDs. You can’t fast forward through the FBI warning or corporate logos like on VHS. What is this “operation prohibited by disk” bullshit? I bought the fucker. I want to watch it NOW.
I’m getting off subject. My point is I’m 26 and still playing with toys, and I’m not the only one. Places like Circuit City are just big toy stores. Everything I used to play with has matured with me. There used to be a huge outcry at Mortal Kombat because of the blood splatter, now no one blinks an eye at bloody gibbs splattered all over the screen in a game of Unreal Tournament. Most of my video games now are rated “M” for mature. Comic books are not for kids anymore either, and are chock full of violence. Comic shops are full of fat, sweaty, antisocials who oogle at naked anime chicks. Jenna Jameson has her own line of anatomically correct action figures. Even Mattel is marketing to older girls with its Gangsta Bitch Barbie “Flavas” line. Every time I see a six-foot, twenty-something pulling tricks in an X-Game on his tiny BMX bike, like I used to have, I wonder, “Is that what I am? A full-grown kid pretending to be an adult?”
comments (8)
Wow
by douchenation at August 23, 2003 1:01 AM
It took a while to master the controls but I can now play FIFA with my son on his PS2. But I much prefer playing Mario on my original Nintendo, which I forced my wife to obtain on eBay. It came shipped from Canada in it original box with all the games and instruction booklets. Sweet!
by anna at August 23, 2003 9:12 AM
One button and a joystick. Those were the days.
Blank, we're all just big kids looking for a better game. Whether it be video or otherwise the results are the same. BMX to mountain bike. Atari to X-Box. Doesn't matter. Entertainment comes in all forms and our toys just get more expensive and, sadly, violent as we get older. We're a product of our society and environment. The games just reflect that.
by Ezy at August 23, 2003 9:20 AM
The thing that makes me really wonder is why is it this away for this generation and not for past ones? My parents and grandparents didn't realy have tons of toys and they still find a lot of ways to be entertained.
by MrBlank at August 23, 2003 2:25 PM
Old folks say their frugal ways has to do with surviving the Great Depression but I'm not buying that. If I'd live through that hell I'd be spending like Tony Montana in Scarface.
by anna at August 23, 2003 2:37 PM
i bet in ye olde days, when kids grew to adults and got real swords, they still snuck out back to the barn to really wail on something with their old wooden play swords.
by lajoie at August 23, 2003 7:43 PM
Somewhat off-topic, it does seem that the marketing/advertising/media juggernaut (or the "military-industrial-entertainment complex" to X-Files paranoiacs) is conspiring to keep everyone in an infantilized state. For decades marketers have been in a love affair with the youth market... it provides endless streams of money spent mainly to bolster self-esteem and social identity. Why not keep the party going by convincing us to be teens forever? So we get such monstrosities as the "new" Snuggle Bear, whose snide quips and smirky attitude are meant to convince us to buy... dryer sheets? Sociologists are even starting to consider all of the 20's as part of adolescence. So Blank, you've got four more years to go of being a teen. And when people start to give you static, just look up that study and cite it to them. ;)
by jean at August 25, 2003 4:16 AM
I feel your pain.Well just wait 'till you're forty still buying BMX bicycles and new skateboards.I still get asked if I'm buying said equipment for my kids.I'm sure just about every other person in America can recite verbatim the FBI warning!I was unaware of the Gansta style Barbie,now I know what to get my neices for Christmas.Yes is the answer to your final question,as am I.
by Windex at August 29, 2003 8:09 PM