Are These Two Guys Dangerous To Kids?

 

Apparently so, according to the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.  They're currently running a voting campaign on their website to determine the toy or game that will be deemed evil enough to earn a TOADY award.  The TOADY award stands for Toys Oppressive And Destructive To Young Children.

 

Lego Batman?  Oppressive and destructive to young children?  Really?  Ok, the oppressive and destructive bit I'll buy...but only to criminals and mobsters and supervillains maybe.  He's definitely not oppressive or destructive to kids.  Surely they must be joking, right?  What's their complaint against the game?  Here's what they have to say about it on their website.

 

How do you turn the ultimate creative toy into a symbol of commercialized childhood? Begin by partnering with media companies to sell that toy in branded kits designed for recreating movies like Star Wars, rather than creative construction. Then, dispense with hands-on building altogether by turning your toy into a video game so that instead of deciding what to build next, children choose which cyber weapons to use to beat up their opponent. Finally, ignore the fact it was rated suitable for ages 10 & up and partner with McDonald’s for a Happy Meal toy giveaway to simultaneously promote the video game, junk food, and the violent Dark Knight movie series to preschoolers.

 

Now I'll agree that as cool as Lego Batman toy sets are, they're not as cool as a giant pile of miscellaneous Legos that you can use to make whatever you want.  But that's not to say that Lego Batman sets are bad or oppressive.  Sure the kids are given instructions to build the specific Lego sets they'be bought, but doesn't teaching them to be able tofollow instructions and to build a specific item and complete a goal count as educational too?  And do you really think that whatever they build will always stay the way it is once its built?  Hell no, it'll only be a matter of days (if not hours) before the Batmobile or whatever it is gets taken apart and is rebuilt into either something else or gets added on to in some awesome way.  That's what Legos are for.

 

I'll grant you that it is a step in introducing a kid to an incredibly commercialized property, but that doesn't mean that the game is Oppressive or Destructive.  Batman has been around since the 1939.  Multiple generations have been raised on him, and the world doesn't seem to be coming to an end.  Considering that there are a million other things out there for kids to play with that are more dangerous than a videogame (take for example kids who find a parent's hidden gun or a kid who decides to play with his dad's powertools), I really don't see Lego Batman really earning a place on this list as horribly oppressive or destructive.

 

Also, on a totally unrelated side note.  Bonus points will go to any reader who realized that in the photo of Lego Batman and Robin, there is a ladder in the puddle's reflection that isn't actually there behind them.  Woohoo!  Go bad photoshop jobs for the win!!!

 

(Via Joystiq)