I should probably clarify that I had no idea what Monster High was until I saw these plush dolls at Target. Apparently they were released this past summer, and include cartoon movies, stationary, and plenty of other merchandise to market at kids—joy. They’re also made by Mattel of Barbie brainwashing fame.
They even have their own website where you can play games, listen to a really stupid theme song, get text messages from the monster girls, and even “Monster” your photo to look like one of theirs. As silly as it sounds, I suppose it’s better than morphing yourself to look like Barbie—or the whole “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” theme that the pretzel companies seem to be loving these days, for that matter. Still, I’d much rather girls (and boys) be taught that they look wonderful they way they are—especially with Love Your Body Day coming up next week.
Aside from the “change how you look” theme, marketing madness (including cartoons I haven’t watched yet and probably won’t ever do), and the general sameness and thinness of the plastic dolls, their bodies are also made from PVC, which may concern many parents.
All of that aside, I still am madly in love with the plush Monster High girls and intend on buying myself one (or perhaps even making my own version, with tweaks?) for my birthday next month. These are just the creepy-cool things that Tim Burton lovers like me would have loved during our own childhoods; the best I had was a Gremlin doll. (Of course, those creepy dolls, or living dead dolls, or whatever came out when I was in high school, and by then I considered myself too old for them—even though they were pretty cool and my dear friend “Spooky” owned a couple of them. They have these goth dolls now, too.)
Each doll is based on a classic monster rather than a girl, and sort of look like the Ugly Dolls that have become so popular—only, in my opinion, cuter. What do you think of the Monster High creatures? Would you buy one?