-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [anarchysf] Harry Potter -- Ha! Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 13:46:07 -0400 From: Emily Pohl-Weary <emily at openflows.org> Reply-To: anarchysf at lists.tao.ca To: anarchysf at lists.tao.ca References: <000201c25a7e$834f8100$120cff3e at c5n9t5>
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09072002/gossip/pagesix.htm
> The "Harry Potter" toy broomstick from Mattel has a vibrating feature
> that has proven to be too popular with teenage girls.
>
> The "Nimbus 2000" is a plastic battery-powered replica of the
> broom used in Quidditch matches by J.K. Rowling's boy wizard in
> "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The $19.99 toy features a
> "grooved stick and handle for easy riding," according to Toysrus.com,
> and, "enhancing the excitement are the vibrating effects."
>
> The Web site's review section is full of comments from parents who
> are amazed at the toy's popularity with their young daughters. One
> mom who bought the broom for her son writes that his sister
> frequently "fights him over it" and complains that "the batteries
> drain too fast."
>
> Another notes, "When my 12-year-old daughter asked for this for her
> birthday, I kind of wondered if she was too old for it, but she seems
> to love it."
>
> An equally enthusiastic parent marvels that "even my daughter's
> friends enjoy playing with this fun toy. I was surprised at how long
> they can just sit in her room and play with this magic broomstick!"
>
> One astute New Jersey mom says of her daughter: "It wasn't until
> after she opened her gift and started playing with it that I realized
> the toy may offer a more than sensational experience. The broomstick
> has cute sound effects and vibrates . . . what were the creators of
> this toy thinking? She'll keep playing with the Nimbus 2000,
> but with the batteries removed."
>
> "As always, the well-being of children is our top priority," Mattel
> rep Sara Rosales told PAGE SIX's Jared Paul Stern. "And we in no way
> consider this toy to be inappropriate."
-- Joe R. Golowka JoeG at ieee.org Anarchist FAQ -- http://www.anarchyfaq.org
"According to the libertarian litany, if an industry or an institution is making a profit, it is satisfying "wants" whose origins and content are deliberately disregarded. But what we want, what we are capable of wanting is relative to the forms of social organization. People "want" fast food because they have to hurry back to work, because processed supermarket food doesn't taste much better anyway, because the nuclear family (for the dwindling minority who have even that to go home to) is too small and too stressed to sustain much festivity in cooking and eating -- and so forth. It is only people who can't get what they want who resign themselves to want more of what they can get. Since we cannot be friends and lovers, we wail for more candy." - Bob Black