Who Brings Good Things to Life?

Friday, June 30, 2006

Page 15

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

Who Brings Good Things to Life?

By J’AMY PACHECO

A great deal has been written and speculated about the effect of outside influences on a developing baby. I’m beginning to think expectant mothers who play Mozart for their tummies may actually be on to something.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I went to see the film, “Toy Story.” The movie, about the “secret” life of toys that come to life when their owner leaves the room, was charming. I saw it because my niece and nephew asked me to go, and expected it to have no lasting effect.

But almost from the moment she learned to verbally express her wishes, my daughter has voiced the desire to be able to bring her toys to life.

Not all of them. She has no interest in breathing life into her Little Ponies, or her Build-a-Bear animals. This wish is pretty much limited to her beloved teddy bear, and her group of favorite Barbie dolls.

The Barbies are an eclectic assortment of Mattel-made fashion dolls. One is a collectible James Dean; another started life as Elvis Presley. The rest are Barbie-girls and little sisters of all different hair and skin colors. They all have one thing in common: they’ve been played with so much that their facial paint is wearing thin.

They’ve been in bathtubs, swimming pools, and in remote-controlled cars that have gone speeding down our driveway. They’ve been to Las Vegas, Disneyland, and on every trip to Grandma’s house. A couple of them have had to undergo major surgery, requiring body transplants.

I can think of a few good things that could come out of having the dolls come to life. My only child would have summer playmates, for example.

Several years ago, somebody made a movie about a Barbie-type doll that came to life by accident when a little girl tried to resurrect her dead mom. It wasn’t a creepy movie; it was rather sweet, in fact. The doll – Eve – was filled with innocence and wonder, and was good for quite a few laughs. Eventually, however, Eve realized she didn’t belong in the real world and decided to return to her plastic home in Sunnyvale.

Other movies showed what could happen when dolls come to life and go bad. Remember Chucky? And the aggressive action figures in “Small Soldiers?” I can’t begin to imagine what our little world would be like if the bad guy in my daughter’s adventures – Max Steele — came to life. He came with knives.

I recall an episode of an old television show – I think it was “Night Gallery” — in which a woman was terrorized by some kind of native doll that came to life and tried to shish kabob her with his tiny spear. It was scary – right up to the point where she cooked him in her oven.

Yikes!

My daughter has been wishing – and has even asked Santa for — a device that would operate like the magical cupboard in “Indian in the Cupboard.” Like the boy Omri, she would like to be able to place her dolls inside, turn a key, and find living, breathing companions inside.

With a twist — she would like to have the option of bringing them to life in toy size, or life-sized.

Since she loves rolling my yoga ball down the stairs so the dolls can play “Indiana Jones,” I always assumed she wanted them to come to life so she could have marvelous adventures with them. But when I asked her what she wanted from the dolls, she surprised me by saying, “It would be nice to know their opinions.”

She said she would like to know more about their hobbies, but I suspect she would like to know if Lara really likes being married to James Dean, or if she’d rather go out with Elvis. Or maybe she just figures they could drive her around.

I can think of other things that would be good about having life-sized doll companions. When my husband travels, for example, I usually invite a niece to stay and keep us company. If I could fill my house with a bunch of life-sized living dolls – well, who’d bother us?

On the other hand, if they truly were alive, we’d need a lot more bathrooms.

I suppose some wishes are best left unfulfilled, and this is likely one of them.

But I have bigger concerns right now. I also saw “Crimson Tide” when I was pregnant, and my daughter has been asking a lot of questions about submarines…