Saturday, October 25, 2014

Are We Breaking Bad On Hypocrisy ?


I have a confession to make. I have never watched #BreakingBad. Not a single episode. I have no interest in watching a TV show about drug use or manufacturing drugs. No matter how wonderful the acting or writing may be, I already know enough about the damage drugs can do to a family and society.  

So the recent brouhaha about "action figures" created from the show being sold in Toys R Us barely even registered with me. I thought the mom was overreacting. 

Then Toys R Us pulled the damn things off the shelves. 



They claimed they were placing the actions figures on an "indefinite sabbatical". Well, hell. Now I am kinda pissed. Because some mom in Florida, who admitted watching the freaking TV show about drugs but was: 

  1. Too lazy avoid the adult toy section of the store when she was shopping with her children.
  2. Too afraid to have a real conversation with those children about drugs and why they were bad.
  3.  Too dumb to realize that if someone actually was stupid enough to give her kids a Breaking Bad action figure, she could remove the little paraphernalia.
Come on people. My kids were given toys all the time that included small pieces that I hated. The first thing I did when we opened those toys was to take those pieces away "for safekeeping". Our Barbie Dolls never wore shoes and the Power Rangers didn't have any weapons.  

But what is really torquing my hypocrisy wagon here is not JUST the Breaking Bad watching mom in Florida and all her 9000 plus signature followers on this Change.Org  petition.

I am upset that people are such followers also. Its a stupid doll. (Don't get me started on action figure vs. doll. I don't give a rats ass about that.) Use it for something good if you see it,(have a conversation with your kid) otherwise avoid it. But there is a bigger issue here. 

Why is it just this toy at the toy store? They sell other items that I once would have never allowed my young sons to have anything to do with, despite their begging me to buy the item. Video games with mature ratings, clearly intended for the over 18 crowd. Expensive radio controlled cars and planes that no child could ever use more than once. And don't get me going on the fact that Toys R Us sells freaking drum sets. I think that is just cruelty to parents everywhere. Its just wrong. 

Collector edition action figures also clearly intended for adults. How many little kids should be watching The Walking Dead and want to play with a Phillip doll, complete with a machete? Or maybe A Star Wars figure is more appropriate... Princess Leia is available in her slave outfit. Can Florida mom explain that to her kids? Leia comes with at least two weapons also. Bet that will make the explanation easier. 


I went to Toys R Us website. The Collectors Corners showed a wide and fun assortment of action figures. Freddy Kruger, Jason, Predator and many more. It's too bad none of the one's I just listed are currently available despite being featured prominently on their website header and page.

I just don't understand what Toys R Us is doing.

Pulling a toy because of a few thousand people and then still selling other items that are clearly marketed for adults is hypocritical. Make up  your mind. Are you a toy store for kids? Or are you going to sell "toys and action figures and games" that are clearly intended for adults only? Do you believe that the parents who shop in your store and use your website are smart enough to avoid a clearly marked section that warns then, "Hey, big people stuff here...Don't let small people look!" or do you believe we are too stupid to actually be good parents and need  a corporate toy store to monitor what our children see? 

I know that this has been all over the place so here is how I feel about is all.
  1. Leave the Breaking Bad doll alone. If you have enough money to waste on the stupid things, you don't have kids anyway.
  2. Toys R Us needs to grow a pair and either stop selling all grown up marketed items or bring this one back. 
  3. I don't care about Breaking Bad. 
  4. I don't care about Toys R Us either. 
  5. I simply hate hypocrites.
  6. Sometimes I can be one.
  7. So can everyone.
  8. People need to stop thinking they can control the whole world. They can't. They can only control themselves and try to raise good, smart kids. To do that they need to TALK to them, not hide the world from them.
  9. BTW...Florida Mom, stay off Amazon and eBay. Those Breaking Bad dolls are all over those sites.  

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