American Doll: The Movie

[pegkerr]

I am the mother of an eight-year old and eleven-year old girl, so you know what I was doing last night. Yes. With my children, I was watching Samantha: An American Doll Holiday. For those of you who are not parents of elementary school girls, let me inform you that American Doll is a marketing juggernaut owned by Mattell, which promotes books, toys, clothes, and especially dolls and all their fabulously expensive accessories. There are, oh, six or seven dolls, scattered throughout American history in the main line (Felicity in Colonial America, Addie, daughter of slaves during Civil War, Kirsten, a Norwegian immigrant in American West, Kit, who loses her home during the Depression, etc.); each doll has several books about their history, all following a rigid formula, the same, with interchangeable titles: _________'s Surprise, ____________ Saves the Day, Changes for ____________, etc.

Fiona discovered American Girls through the books, and initially I was all for this. What a great way for her to learn about, say Colonial history, by reading a story told through the point of view of a little girl like her. And yeah, the books are thin, but it got her interested, and started her on a binge of reading other books that explore American history through fiction, which led to the (rather better) Dear America series, and other biographies and histories. We warned her that we wouldn't be buying her the doll stuff, but they have fond grandparents who are perfectly willing to do that.

After watching the movie, I spent a fair amount of time thinking about why it irritated me so. I suppose the problem was that I could see the manipulation so obviously, and the derivativeness of it. Take Sara Crewe and Mary Lennox and Anne of Green Gables and Little Orphan Annie and Jo March and, oh, maybe Heidi--you don't even have to file the serial numbers off. Throw them in a blender and serve the bland result slightly warmed over with a sprig of Christmas holly. Have Samantha discover the horrors of child labor in factories at the turn of the century! She can give a speech decrying it and feel virtuously brave and prosecuted because she didn't win the scholarship prize because she ruffled the feathers of all the rich people who came to hear the school program! She can persuade her aunt and uncle to adopt the little poor orphan girls and still get to be waited on by a maid and have the enormous Christmas tree! To really warm hearts, have the little mute girl finally speak at the end of the movie! There won't be a dry eye in the house!

Well, except mine, maybe.

And perhaps the critic at the New York Times. She saw right through it, too.

The girls get enormous pleasure out of their dolls, and they devour the books and are learning from them, too. That's fine, but I will continue to gently prod them to explore further, now that their interest in history is piqued.

Comments

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

I used to LOVE history when I was a kid, and I know I've got a pile of books around here somewhere that all had spunky, self-assured heroines going through rough times in an at least somewhat historically accurate setting. I'll be glad to type up the list of titles and ISBNs for you, if you'd like a nice list.

The one that's in my brain now that I really loved was The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, which may explain my fondness for pirates. It won a Newberry (or a Caldecott, whichever is for writing and not art.)

Oh, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond, I loved that one too.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I got as far as TRUE CONFESSIONS in your post and thought, as I kept reading, "Gotta tell her about WITCH OF B--oh." :)

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

*LOL* They go together a bit, don't they?

Mmm. Kidsfic.

Dolls Up North

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

My brother-out-law (my sister's live in boyfriend) is working on a book about one of the associates of Louis Riel (considered by many to be the father of Manitoba, who was executed for leading a revolt against the Canadian/British government). I did a little research for Carl & discovered that there's a "maple leaf" version of the American Doll series.

Good work on not buying into the AD juggernaut, and for helping your girls use it to spark an interest in history.

There's a lot of history reenactors locally (mostly Fur Trade Era), and they do a lot of educational work. Page Ringstrom (sp?) is involved in this, and your girls might like to do a "day trip" sometime.

Oh...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

...I forgot to mention that I caught the tail-end of S:AADH, and loved picturing the main character as a tiny little Emma Goldman.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

There were only 4 dolls when I had a daughter of the appropriate age.

K.

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

There were only three when *I* was of the appropriate age.

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

I was working in a bookstore when these books started showing up. They seemed to me as you say -- whitewashed history, sure, but better than no history. A good jumping-off point.

I had no idea they'd developed into a marketing juggernaut. Oh, well -- at least it beats Barbie or Bratz.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

I was of just the right age to be sucked in when that company started -- my parents permitted me one doll, and no accessories (that's the scary part -- would you like a plastic watercress sandwich for your Samantha?), and made me read every book for Kirsten before I got her. (Not that they needed to insist much.)

My mom and I watched the movie last night; the costumes were more interesting than the acting. The script was just painful. At least we resisted the marketing brainwash...

[chavalah.livejournal.com]

I still remember when I got my Molly doll in elementary school (my sister was the one who got Samantha.) Those were some of the best times of my life- reading up on this fictional character, collecting some of her "belongings"- it even got me into some good conversations with my grandmother about growing up in the 40s- a real feat to get that woman to sound interested in much.

I guess I was a teenager when the company really started expanding- to six dolls, and then those "girls of today," (which I loved for the creative writing aspect of chronicling a modern girl, using the accessories they provided as props,) but once the magazine and clothes started coming, I was cynical enough to realize that this was more of a marketing ploy than some special bond between girls, dolls and history. (And also that I was probably too old for dolls... if you can ever outgrow them. *sobs*)

Still, I can't seem to rid myself of the nostalgic connection, and I've been debating with myself whether or not I should watch this movie- because logically, though I know that TV movies usually mean bad, I can't forget those good American Girls memories. So thank you for your thoughtful response to the thing; I suppose I'll be rational and just skip it.

[pinkfinity.livejournal.com]

Did you read this in Salon today? I think you need to view a commerical for a daypass, but it's worth it.

[daedala.livejournal.com]

I was going to recommend that.

My niece is definitely a princess. Scary. She's more femme than anyone else in the family...

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

Ehh, I wouldn't worry too much. When I was four to seven years old you couldn't get me out of a dress and Mary Janes. My mom tried; she wanted me to wear pants.

I think I turned out pretty strong and independent, and I haven't bought a tube of mascara since Halloween three years ago. Girls just seem to go through that phase -- I don't know that it really means much in the long term. Not that it wouldn't freak me out a little, if I had a daughter. :)

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I used to like the books and dolls back when I was a kid and there were only three of them. Yes, the stories are formulaic and the dolls are scandalously expensive, but I think they had something going before they completely sold out and were bought by Mattel. My problem with the dolls was that they were expensive and so I was not allowed to take mine backpacking or into the tree house. What fun is a doll that you can't play with?

[sundancekid.livejournal.com]

Oh man, American Girl dolls. I didn't know they had movies - when I was into it, there were only four (Addie was added just as I grew out of them), but I had the Molly doll and lots of the books.

In retrospect, they are stupid, but I LOVED them at the time. They're probably half the reason I'm a history major. :p

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

If the American Girl dolls had been around when I was a kid, I would have been devastated, because my family could never have afforded to buy me all that stuff, and I would have wanted it more than anything in the world. In fact, I was highly tempted by them as an adult.

I don't see these dolls as much different from the Ginny dolls and doll family I adored back in the 1950s--except that American Girl comes in more ethnic varieties and might actually interest a kid in history and/or reading. Ginny had clothes and accessories and furniture and a baby brother and sister and two teenaged sisters and a teenaged brother and they all had wardrobes.

I didn't see the movie, but it seems to me that most movies, and especially those made for TV, are manipulative and derivative. Heck, IMHO most art of any kind is manipulative and derivative. How many artists don't care about manipulating their viewers'/readers'/hearers' thoughts or emotions? How many artists create totally new things that are not derivative of anything?

How non-manipulative and non-derivative, after all, were Sara Crewe and Mary Lennox and Anne of Green Gables and Little Orphan Annie and Jo March and Heidi? Sara Crewe, for example, was originally written in 1888. It was adapted as a stage play, and then rewritten by Burnett, incorporating material from the play, as The Little Princess in 1905. In rewriting and expanding the story, Burnett gave Sara a much more appealing personality, one more in keeping with society's ideal children--for what possible purpose other than to manipulate readers into identifying/empathizing/ sympathizing more with Sara?

Ann Rinaldi

[theresamd.livejournal.com]

If your girls like history, try anything by Ann Rinaldi, my favorites are The Last Silk Dress, In My Father's House, and Time Enough for Drums. They may be a little difficult for Delia, I'm not sure what her reading level is, but I think I started reading them when I was about 10

Re: Ann Rinaldi

[morganmalfoy.livejournal.com]

I *loved* Ann Rinaldi as a kid, and it got me into later reading Sharon Kay Penmen (who I still love). I still remember bristling in 10th grade when I told my english teacher I liked historical diction and she replied, "oh, romance novels?".

-MLM

[catmcroy.livejournal.com]

You know...for good historical kids fiction, check out Barbara Smucker (especially her book about the Underground Railroad...darn been a few years), and of course the classics - Little Women (read it when I was 9) and other Alcott's, Anne of Green Gables (read when I was 8 - still a favorite of mine as an adult), The Witch of Blackbird Pond...

[catmcroy.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, anything by Janet Lunn is *absolutely* amazing. I'd recommend maybe Doublespell (since it features dolls LOL) or The Root Cellar...oh and Kit Pearson's books rock too.

The whole AD thing is new to me - the hot new doll when I was a kid were Cabbage Patch Kids LOL

[skyfading.livejournal.com]

I am glad I am not the only one that thought that sucked. My mom and sister were in tears and I was like "...this is not the book."

[naomikritzer]

I grew up in Madison, which is where the original Pleasant Company was founded, so I got probably one of the very first catalogs. (We should've saved it. I bet it's a collector's item now.) I think the original three were Kirsten, Molly, and Samantha. I was old enough that I only felt a slight pang at the catalog full of beautiful, insanely expensive dolls.

My mother's response to the dolls has pretty much always been one of cynicism. She wanted to know where Louisa the Little Sharecropper Girl was -- though they've since introduced Addy and Kit. The marketing strategy of these dolls is brilliant. They are seriously overpriced (they are better quality than the similar dolls sold at Target, but not $80 worth better) but that's part of their mystique. My sister spent a summer working at a homeless shelter in California when she was in college and said there was a little girl there with an American Girls doll, and every other child in the shelter recognized it as a hugely valuable doll and the little girl was accorded additional status because of this.

Anyway. I now have a child named Molly who will almost certainly need glasses at a young age, so a doll with glasses named Molly is likely to be very appealing. My parents are much more indulgent as grandparents than they were as parents so she will probably get one of these dolls at some point.

Meh. I just wish I'd thought of it FIRST.

[morganmalfoy.livejournal.com]

While I'm sure the movie was horrific, I really liked the review from the NYTimes because it pointed out something I think very few people have looked at lately; namely that the role models and playthings of children are simply scandalous. It's either Hilary Duff, pop princess; Lindsay Lohan, pop prostitute; Bratz, weirdly shaped midriff-baring dolls; or something along those lines. While this is uber-sugar coated history, as I noted to someone earlier, I definitely read the books, I own Samantha (no acessories--one of my friends had EVERYTHING), and I grew into a great love of historical fiction. So Samantha was my favorite, do I think aristocratic class separations are a good thing? No. Am I somewhat of an elitist? Probably, but not because of the books. I think they do a good job of teaching little girls a little bit about what life in another time period would be like.

I mean, look at the Little House on the Prarie books. 'The First Four Years' is no one's favorite because everything goes wrong. The Long Winter is a good one because they triumph over adversity. The happy ones are everyone's favorites, and the bits where they get into terrible debt or can't survive on the farm, or are looked down upon for not being rich town girls are all glossed over.

Actually, if you're interested, I know that they have expanded the original Little House books to several generations before Laura as a way of writing historical fiction about other time periods, and some of those weren't too bad.

-MLM

[eilsor.livejournal.com]

When I was little I used to take every American Girl catalogue that came in and cut it up, using the photos of the dolls as paper dolls and the photos of their props as, well, paper props. I never read an American Girl book and I never showed an interest in the actual dolls, but I still have my cigarbox filled to the lid with cuttings.