Childhood Toy: The Batman

    During my childhood, one hooded, mysterious figure, watched over me at all times. Sometimes, particularly when I was preoccupied with gulping down my meals, he would be perched on a windowsill simply waiting. Other times, he would be chasing robbers in his atomic-powered car, saving the mayor from the Joker, and protecting all the citizens of Gotham. Why, you ask? It’s because the city needed him.

    If you asked him for his name, he’d probably give a variety of differing responses, typically depending on how he's feeling that night. Usually, he likes to refer to himself as Vengeance, the Night, or Batman. Most people know of him as Batman. Lego Batman was the gateway into my imagination and fantasies.

    Some people could criticize that the franchise of Batman promotes heavy violence and how this could have detrimental effects on the minds of young children. Purchasing toys such as in the form of Legos, could lead children down a rabbit hole in which they consume more Batman products, such as the Dark Knight movies. These movies are obviously not intended for the eyes of young children. Additionally, Batman himself is not necessarily a figure that one wishes their child idolizes: antisocial, arguably psychopathic, and an inflictor of violence on others. However, because of the profitable market, Batman is promoted to these adolescents in the form of toys and PG-ified cartoons.

    Nevertheless, the responsibility of what a child sees and how they act lies in the hands of the parents. It’s important to have the proper discernment between what a child should or shouldn't see/do. However, children derive most of their behavior from what they see and experience at home. They are a mirror of their parent’s actions and morals. A child won’t simply start becoming secluded from society just because they enjoy playing with a Batman toy. They won’t start handing out knuckle sandwiches just because that’s what Batman does for a living. They do these things because of the hostile, toxic environment coming from their home life. Parents blaming other nonliving entities for something that should be their responsibility and their responsibility alone is as hypocritical as it gets. Protecting children should be one of a parent’s main responsibilities. However, it is simply wrong to take away their childhood by banning toys that cultivate memories lasting for a lifetime.