I feel compelled to share with you that I find the Barbie vs Bratz law suits surreal. It's like a bad custody case in a cartoon (animation, not tapestry) world battled out in a real court room; Roger Rabbit X-Years On.
I remember when Bratz first came out; it was my guilty pleasure sneaking into the local toy shop looking at their clothes and accessories in total fascination; Bratz, to me, were as unreal as GI Joes, but naughtier. But then my Barbie, a hand-me-down of the scariest, super-sexed 60's version (this haircut, but these eyes) looked surreal, too. Mom preferred I played with Tammy; the doll was possibly also a hand-me-down, but my parents bought me heaps of new clothes.
EDIT: Umm, apparently Bratz Daddy Carter Bryant, at the the time Bratz was conceived, was still married to but separated from Barbie's Mom, Mattel, and wanted Dad to pay damages. In July Mattel won this case, but now in the civil court, a jury member made inappropriate remarks about Bratz Grandad Isaac Larian and from memory this has been deemed a mistrial. Here's one newspaper clip.
My 5 year old likes Barbie (who I have come to love now that I have gotten to know her), but REALLY DIGS BRATZ. Bratz are every bit as nasty as you might guess at first glance. I wsn't aware of any lawsuits, I'll have to look that up, interesting. They seem so very different to me that I can't imagine what they're suing each other over!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can just hear their language from miles away, and smell their attitude, Taueret. My mom would call them the "chewing-gum-with-mouth-side-open" kids.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that amazes me, and I may be prejudiced considering what I wrote in my previous post, is that Bratz were marketed by an Iranian immigrant family. The limited number of Middle Eastern women I know prefer to dress conservatively, and ME men like it that way, though none of the women I know wear scarves or such like, just sun hats in the Nelson sun.