An interesting story about European toys appeared in the Economist this week, What European Toys Say About European Views.
The two toys they talked about are ones that I constantly trip over in my house are some of my favorites – Playmobil and Lego. As opposed to the US and other English speaking countries, made in China, plastic toys, licensed from movies and TV shows and featuring Pentagon approved weapons, are not popular on the continent.
Examination of Playmobil figures reveals interesting things. Europeans are squeamish about warfare and armies. American shelves groan under tanks and muscle-bound action heroes; European parents are less keen. Playmobil tanks and warplanes “could certainly make big money,” says Mrs Schauer, since children write in demanding such things. But Playmobil will not make them. Europe's history, especially Germany's, rules it out. The firm also avoids links with violent licensed brands, such as Spiderman, saying it prefers older stories that leave children's imagination free to roam.
Perhaps I’m a bit squeamish too. Both Lego and Playmobil offer knights, pirates and such but, as I learned at The Waldorf School:
The difference is philosophical…There are no more knights and pirates, so their combat is a “resolved story”. Modern war is “really horror”. .. “it is more honorable to fight with a sword, somehow.”
As Lego goes more and more “American” expanding their licensed products and increasingly adding violent themes, I mourn and tend to be more careful buying them. (Does anyone see shades of my rant about Scholastic here?) We stick to Lego City and other non-licensed offerings.
And, Playmobil more and more turns out to be my toy of choice… and that of many moms whose children are slowly growing out of the wooden toy stage. OK- so we move them to plastic but, at least they are not made in China and are a little less commercial.
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008
What European Toys Say About European (And Increasingly Many American) Views
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9 comments:
My DH is a military vet so he has bought the kids a toy tank, a GI Joe fighter jet, and Star Wars "laser" blasters. I'm not thrilled about it, but I remember that my parents refused to buy toy weapons & my 2 brothers simply constructed their own out of Legos and whatnot. Boys will be boys...
I'm not surprised Playmobil won't consider building tank and warplane toys. They'd have to tread very lightly indeed to avoid making little plastic Luftwaffe or Waffen-SS.
I know that ultimately Lego and Playmobil would love nothing more than for us to buy more and more of their products. But there is some solace in that they refuse to tie into film and television characters.
I wish I had a good way to explain why it seems that historical violent figures are OK and modern ones are not. You could say that ancient or medieval warfare was at least hand-to-hand and didn't involve machinery. But then what about siege weapons? You could say that there is something more "noble" in hand-to-hand fighting...but is that really true? Can a child be more imaginative playing pirate than GI Joe? I'm not sure.
Ack! Blogger ate my comment. It's actually similar to henitsirk, in that I don't get the "resolved story" justification that differentiates pirates and knights from today's inner city gun violence, sniping, knifing, and declared (or undeclared)warfare. I wish I did. Pirates and knights would be fun ... but, for me, I can't justify introducing them to a preschooler.
Ahhh- all my favorite thoughtful bloggers commented! A couple thoughts...first Lego makes me nervous with their slide into licensing of characters...Indiana Jones is next..PG-13 rated movie...
Second, I'm parroting the Waldorf line a bit with the knights/swords/honor thing...though as I've told my husband...I'm not sure most women "get" honor" as it applies to war like men do...(wouldn't it be better if we just negotiated a bit harder)- that might just be me though.
I guess I buy the fact that ancient warfare can resolve around a "resolved story" in other words, the story can take the lead in the play as opposed to the killing, but like Toddler Planet, I probably wouldn't have introduced my son to knights/pirates etc. were it not for my husband - I think I share that view with many moms - in my RIE parenting books though it says that "weapon play" for boys is about power not about killing and they will make a gun out of anything.
So, I think I'd rather direct that play toward learning about history, understanding the concepts of that elusive male thing, "knightly honor" and storytelling.
Any of my male readers want to weigh in?
I'll be your male reader.
My comments are a wee bit too long to fit in this thread, so I've posted them (Concerning Violent Toys and Violent Play) over at my blog. The short version: I think that violent play is entirely normal in boys, and that it plays an important function in developing an understanding of violence, its limits, its legitimate (and illegitimate) uses, and the virtues of courage, perseverance, and magnanimity. And as far as militaristic toys are concerned: I think most toys made these days are junk anyway, but I'm not specifically opposed to the weapon-like ones. I'd prefer that the kids use their imaginations more, and learn to start improvising and even crafting their own toys. If they happen to improvise and craft military toys, I don't have a problem with it.
That's just the short version, though. I explain my reasons at great length over at my blog.
If you want to respond to my thoughts, go ahead and respond to them here. I'd hate to be accused of stealing someone else's commenters. :)
Thanks Tim,
It's not stealing- it's sharing - I'm on my way over to your blog to continue the discussion.
I think your point here about making toys is a good one...that is what we do...we try not to buy guns (though occasionally a tiny Playmobil one slips by in a set we bought) but, have no problem with him making them.
I was just discussing this issue on a debate board I frequent. Many people don't feel comfortable with *any* violent toys--fantasy or otherwise. I'm more of the camp that there is something very basic about this type of play, and I tend to only somewhat manage it. I don't buy toy guns or army figures or licensed action heros (but we have a few of the later from well meaning relatives). But I recognize that there is something really quite human in my three boys' need to work out the whole "good and evil" tension. And they seem to be working out notions of power. I let them do it (sticks, fingers, legos are transformed into "shooting guns") but I make sure that they understand that they can't shoot *at* someone. And they can't *actually* chuck their lego gun at their brother. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, although they are young, I try to introduce the notion that there is a difference between play fighting and real fighting.
And I also love Playmobil. Except for the gazillion little plastic pieces from the castle we now have that I step on with bare feet. Those helmets hurt!
I'm no expert on the subject, but as a mom raising 2 boys I've decided I don't want to buy guns for the kids. They will absolutely make pretend guns out of their fingers, blocks, sticks, etc. if they are so inclined, and I'm okay with that.
I've found that moms much more than dads are opposed to guns. though the overly realistic weapons available as toys seem to bother dads too!
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