is this normal?

Update (1/6): Lauren (on Facebook) pointed out that this may simply be a new version of this video.

Last night Maggie and I attended a dinner party at the home of some new friends from New Com. After an amazing prime rib dinner, the host’s husband and I headed spent some time playing his new Wii. It was a blast: lot’s of laughing and groaning (at poor Wii abilities) and talking.

And then… there’s this. Seth Godin wrote that this was the most disturbing video he’d seen all day. It’s a bit long, but like a train wreck or Christian television I couldn’t stop watching.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

I went back and forth while watching this. On the one hand, taken by themselves each video snippet is a glimpse at a child’s happiness at receiving a strongly desired gift. We’ve all been there. On the other hand, when these snippets are put together they seem to portray a vision of our collective selves that is almost too much to bear.

Not yet having children it’s too easy for me to make some snap judgements about the families in this video. But if I can withhold those initial reactions, I’m still intrigued by what the consistently jubilant (religiously ecstatic?) responses of these children to a rather expensive toy say about some of our cultural priorities.

Finally, did you notice that almost all of the families in the video are white? Any significance there?

David Swanson

January 5, 2009

culture, funny, video

12 responses to “is this normal?”

Anna

January 5, 2009 at 12:58 pm

ok–i’m going to fall into the camp of somewhat disturbing–I couldn’t watch it all. i might be tainted by the fact that my daughters got a wii last year for Christmas and i recently heard one of them saying–“I don’t want to play wii anymore, it’s too old, I want something new.”

i think what’s scary about it all is that it’s how we adults act and feel all the time. always looking for the next best thing…

Reply
Linda

January 5, 2009 at 3:04 pm

Christianity Today has an article about Marketing Jesus in the Jan. issue. It discusses how marketing causes us to define ourselves by the next big thing, hoping to find our hopes/joy met in it. Things can’t meet that deep place in us–and if we’re “using” Jesus to meet our needs, even He will let us down. Very intriguing.

I’m like Anna, I couldn’t watch it all…. I know I’m like those little kids, finding incredible moments of passing joy in possessions, answers, events that don’t last. I’m easily snookered! I fall into belief in the momentary satisfaction and then out of it almost immediately if I’ve put too many expectations into what possessions, answers, events will give.

Reply
Bob

January 5, 2009 at 7:46 pm

I’m headed to Camp Discouragement with Anna, but… I did force myself to suffer through the entire video.

It would be interesting to show this video to all the participants at some point in the future (6-to-12 months) and solicit feedback from both kids and parents…

Each kid would be asked, “Now that you’ve had your wii for a while, is there something else that you think would have brought you more joy?”

Each parent would be asked to rate their “wii buyer’s remorse” on a scale of some sort.

There’s an interesting initiative out there to “Redefine Christmas”… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/22/causecast-how-to-redefine_n_152906.html

Redefine it Again? Can’t we just stick with the original definition… Jesus’ Birthday!
.

Reply
jujbird

January 5, 2009 at 9:25 pm

Hey David, a fellow New Comm-er here. I’m going to say that I didn’t watch the whole video, and so I’m making this comment a little bit based on the ages I remember being. I’m also kind of torn on the issue, not necessarily in regards to this particular video, but in relation to other material items that are sometimes more exciting than reading the Bible can be (cough, blogs, cough), for example. But I’m going to flush out some of my thoughts on this video.

I think it is one thing if you have a 15 year old who is extremely “religiously” jubilant over a something like this. But I also think that there is a definite reason why we are asked to be as children when we think of our relationship with God. The Wii is a something that these children have had their minds fixed on… (for me, it was always those really colorful bright round suckers that you could get at circuses, amusement parks, and other places. My parents refused to buy those for me because they said I would never finish it, wouldn’t like it, etc). Children have short attention spans and are easily swayed into fixing their attention on anything. But what is so great about Children and what I think we as adults often miss in our own lives, is a jubilation for anything, let a lone God. What I see in this video that disturbs me the most, is just how self conscious I am of my love, excitement, etc, of God’s gift to us.

However, I don’t think it’s fair to judge a child’s reaction to something they fixed their minds on, without knowing the child. That sucker that I had always wanted, wasn’t nearly as good as I had dreamed it would be, but you better bet my reaction was just as outrageous as some of the first couple of kids I saw on here, when my mom finally bought me one 🙂 . With that said, I think that if this is something the kids are setting up a shrine to, and praying to for all their ills and wishes, then most definitely this would be a problem. However, I think this is a more positive look at how much joy we have as humans to express, and a call for us to become more expressive of our love of Jesus!

Reply
David

January 5, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Thanks for the comments. It’s always helpful to read how others are interpreting these types of things. Maggie and I re-watched it tonight, and I’m still ambivalent about how to feel… though I know something doesn’t sit right.

Thanks for the link Bob. I hadn’t heard about the redefine Christmas campaign. I’m with you though, how ’bout a genuinely retro Christmas that celebrates Christ’s birth?

jujbird- I hadn’t thought about this as evidence of the human capacity for joy. Whether or not these kids are exhibiting joy might be debated, but I like your angle on this; it’s a helpful reminder of what we’re made for.

Reply
BenM

January 5, 2009 at 10:55 pm

I don’t know what to think about it. Honestly, I don’t really know what to think about much of anything these days.

One thing I thought about was, “What if the kids had responded with anything less than ecstasy?” My guess is that there would have been some pretty pissed off parents who would have thought the child ungrateful. My sneaking suspicion is that the inordinate jubilation is accompanied by an inordinate, yet largely hidden expectation of gratitude by the parents. I don’t know what this means, but my sense is that we’ve gotten ourselves into some cycle that isn’t easily broken.

All this kind of reminds me of romance movies. On one level, we hold them up as some sort of ideal bestowing the virtues of love and self-sacrifice and human connection. On the other hand, they also have the effect of making everyone feel like crap. Women end up unrealistically longing for guys to love them like in the movies and guys end up feeling like crap because they wish they could do that. What is more is that it doesn’t just expose longing, it creates it. It changes the expectations just enough to make them impossible all the while masquerading as “love”. Drinking saltwater certainly exposes our capacity for thirst, but doesn’t it also unnaturally exacerbate it and create it?

Those kids don’t seem to be much different. While I am sympathetic to the notion of revealing a capacity for joy, I’m a little skeptical about its true nature. Is this simply a created capacity for something unrealistic, even distracting from our true joys? Parents aren’t immune either. They’re just as caught up in the need to validate themselves.

I’m probably too cynical to give a good insight. I’ve grown quite weary of my own motivations and have a deep mistrust of my good intentions. When I saw this video, I was saddened for myself as much as anything. I really don’t know what to make of it, but I know that I feel a deep sadness at the endless traps we make for ourselves. Always looking for happiness, but never really finding. Always wanting to please, but inevitably failing.

Reply
otakudad

January 5, 2009 at 11:24 pm

I don’t know… I think it’s simply that these are all put together that make it anything other than happy children getting a gift they didn’t think they’d get.

I remember back in 1986 when my dad got us kids the original Nintendo. To this day, playing that with my Dad is one of my fondest childhood memories. Sure it’s a thing, and sure it’s an expensive thing. But just because it’s a thing and/or expensive doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, I’d say that if you’re going to get a child a video game system, Nintendo’s Wii is the cheapest in a long, long time. Look back at how much all the older systems cost, and the strength of the dollar back then. Quite honestly, (and I mean this with respect, and because you all know you can take the criticism,) I feel like this is a bit of white, middle-class remorse, being projected on a pretty innocent thing.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting your child a gift (if you can afford it – if you’re spending money you don’t have on extravagant gifts and you’re not giving, or whatever, then sure, it’s a problem. But who are we to judge these people we don’t know???), nor is there anything more sinister about a video game system than there is for any other toy. Especially since the game is intended to be social, rather than a GI-Joe or something that’s typically pretty a solitary experience.

Anyway, I’m a bit biased because I’m an avid gamer and find games to be a great way to spend time with kids, as well as release stress. And perhaps people won’t read beyond that sentence (like how I put it at the end? 🙂 ) But seriously? It’s a bunch of kids being really happy. They’re kids. They. Are. Kids. They should be happy. Now, if there was a kid who said things like “I didn’t want a wii, I wanted a _____” and there was a lack of gratitude or something, sure, that’s sad. But I really think this is harmless and we’re picking it apart as if it was something evil. In my opinion, it’s this criticism of people we don’t even know that’s more disturbing to me.

Reply
thom

January 6, 2009 at 1:20 am

The overwhelming thought I had after reading this was in regard to what happened during the dinner-to-Wii transition. When you retired to the game room to play Wii where the dishes cleared and the clean-up finished? Now this makes for an interesting conversation regarding normalcy.

The video, I am not quite sure about. Is it such a terrible thing? Is is disturbing? The mundanity does become a sort of punctuation; however, the context created by this video provides a false sense of reality due to the manipulation, and this is coming from a person who is extremely sympathetic to the effects of a consumer, “needs” based culture. So, what does it say about our culture? Is it a next “new thing” deal or is it the promenence of identity or the need for virtual interaction and stimulation? A large part of me thinks it says more about the involvement of parental reproduction of culture than it does about the undefined cheers of children, since we do not know the independent circumstances that would create such an outburst over a Wii. All of these kids seem genuinely surprised which would lead us to bellieve that they weren’t expecting to receive such a gift. A far cry from the current gimme, gimme, gimme “sweet sixteen” reality craze sweeping the nation.

Some interesting things to note:

(1) Many of the recipients embrace it (the disturbing part) but does extravagent giving make us feel special and provide a sense of self-worth?

(2) The second boy’s parents act surprised saying, “We couldn’t find it at the stores” whereupon the boy then says “Santa rocks!” Santa must be real. If they couldn’t find it in the stores then he must have made it.” Although, this boy does take an immediate break and pick up all of the wrapping paper and place it in a garbage bag. Now that says something about child rearing and gratefulness. Doesn’t it?

(3) One parent makes the comment, “Know what that means? It means that Wii love you.”

Reply
Bob’s Friend

January 6, 2009 at 10:30 pm

I’m Bob’s friend. He forwarded this to me to see what I thought. I replied to him via email but decided to post my response after writing everything down. I also read people’s comments after I wrote it.

I didn’t make it through the video, not because I was so disturbed but it became relatively uninteresting to me. Basically, I think it’s pretty normal.

They obviously chose videos where the reponses were overly dramatic. I guess the way I look at it is this… Imagine if it weren’t Christmas and these videos were shot. Sure, it would still be too much for what the Wii represents, but it’s always fun to see such joy in your own kids.

The problem is not that they get too excited for the Wii, it’s that they either don’t know that there is something that much better or they haven’t really experienced it (or Him to be more accurate). These videos only prove to me that everyone is capable of worship and long for deep satisfaction in their souls. And, like you, we both know that after a year that excitement will fade and will have to be replaced with something else. For these kids it’s the Wii. For some men, it’s football. As much as men won’t get emotional over Jesus, they sure will experience uncontrollable passion at a football game. I remember my daughter’s face after the final parade at Disney World. It really looked like it was the happiest moment of her life. It made me happy (and a little nervous), but it made me hope she will one day have that face with regards to Jesus.

And lastly, I feel the same way as some of these kids in the video, and for just as meaningless and menial things… like winning a poker tournament or a ping pong tournament. I think it’s what makes us human and hints to us what we’re really made for. Like C.S. Lewis wrote:

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

That really is the basis for John Piper’s “Christian Hedonism”.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1797_We_Want_You_to_Be_a_Christian_Hedonist/
http://www.christianhedonism.org/

I think that is also what John 2 speaks of as Jesus makes wine for the wedding party, that he is the real source of true celebration and exhiliration and joy. I don’t think we should be dismissive of the fact that Jesus made wine for people to drink (and probably get more drunk on) at a party. I know some preachers try to dismiss this because they don’t want to offer license to drink, but I think we would be missing one of the most crucial points of that passage, that Jesus is the Lord of the Wine, that the celebration and exhiliration and joy that is sought after in the wine is really found in Him.

Here’s my favorite sermon on John 2 that touches on this.

[audio src="http://download.redeemer.com/rpcsermons/storesamplesermons/Lord_of_the_Wine.mp3" /]

Reply
Joyce Brusca

January 7, 2009 at 8:05 am

Watching this video was kinda interesting to me. First off some of the kids looked like they were possessed lol as I continued to watch only half of the video, that is all I could take, I started to see how our society has become obsessed with having to buy expensive gifts at the holidays. I remember when I was young and getting a doll boy was I was so happy! Today the kids expect so much more, sometimes more that we can deliver, and it’s hard for some in these economic times. It’s great to see kids happy, but this video is alittle overwhelming to watch because it me it really isn’t normalcy. Look at the kids in other countries that don’t have anything, it’s pretty sad….This Christmas we just gave gifts to the kids, and the gifts consisted of money, so they can buy what they want instead of getting them something that they will use maybe once or twice and toss it aside….and besides it’s all about love, not the gift……isn’t it?

Reply
Keith

January 7, 2009 at 8:56 pm

The kids are happy. This is wonderful.
Other places that you might see such expressions of joy: end zones after a touchdown, in the stands (on your couch, in the bars, etc.) after a touchdown (or goal or any sporting win), in church when folks are slain in the Spirit, in church when folks are worshipping, anywhere a woman is surprised and delighted by a marriage proposal, at concerts when the band comes on, Beatles and Elvis concerts from years gone by, American Idol auditions, etc.
If someone took the time to compile snippets from events above, I expect similar conclusions regarding the disturbing nature of these people could be made.

This year my kids were most excited by the box of Ritz Crackers they each received. My son jumped up and down and hugged my wife and exclaimed joyfully, “Yes, Yes!” He also got a Wii Ski game.

Reply
David

January 7, 2009 at 9:58 pm

Keith- love the fact that your kids got most excited about Ritz Crackers. That’s perfect.

Reply