Arthur and I have been big fans of the original Lego Star Wars game for a quite a while, it's the only computer game either of us have ever really played. We've been playing it on my Mac. Then recently we got very excited because we saw a bunch of ads for the new Lego Star Wars Original Trilogy and went out to get that too. But you can't seem to get it for the Mac. So I raised the idea of getting a PlayStation.
We've always resisted before, partly out of middle-class guilt and snobbishness, partly because I was worried it would start to burn up my time and displace some less essential activity (like sleeping) and partly because he'd never really asked that deeply. But we'd always assumed we'd relent sometime, if nothing else because it seems like familiarity with a joypad is a requirement for basic cultural literacy.
Anyway, in the typical parental way I tried to defer the moment a bit (to give the impression that you can't always get something just because you've decided to want it) and said maybe Arthur could have PlayStation and game for Christmas. He wasn't happy about that but he did OK with it.
But then Anne really surprised me. And I really love that after 20 years together she's still, in many ways, completely unpredictable. She said that she didn't want to get Arthur a PlayStation for Christmas, if we were going to get one we should get it now. I imagined it would be a reason to do with not spoiling Christmas day etc with us all gathered around a machine. Or to do with avoiding a Christmas day hyped up with technological maleness. Or something.
But really it was because Anne doesn't think Santa's elves are capable of making games machines and sophisticated electronics. Anne's image of elves doesn't tie in with computing and consumer electronics and she thinks that getting presents like that from Santa diminishes the myth. I suggested that maybe she was guilty of the worst form of stereotyping, her prejudice consigning elves to being locked in a craft economy, never creating a strong, wealthy, educated middle-class and never being able to overthrow their tyrannical oppressor but I think she probably has a point.
Anyway. We now have a PlayStation and our lives will never be the same. In a small way.
When Arthur gets bored of Star Wars II, we'll swap you a loan for a loan of one of Finlay's games.
Posted by: neil | September 17, 2006 at 05:19 PM
Good game Lego Star Wars, good for kids without being patronising or demeaningly simple like most kids games.
Posted by: Rob Mortimer | September 18, 2006 at 11:38 AM