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When Cartoons Become Whores |
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Written by Jeff Katz |
Thursday, 28 January 2010
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| Tags: rainbrow brite, strawberry shortcake, hallmark, cartoon makeovers |
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Well, maybe not whores. But clearly more adult, less innocent and more provocative. Rainbow Brite is the latest little girl (and gay boy) idol to get a revamp, with Hallmark announcing they will begin rolling out the new Rainbow Brite doll shaped after the image seen above.
That girl has more eyeliner on then Adam Lambert post-Saturday night. And she just looks a little bitchy, to me at least. More than just a physical makeover, the Rainbow Brite collection got a new look, too. Gone are the Color Kids, who each represented a different color of the rainbow, and instead are replaced by two “white” sidekicks. Critics are quick to point out the while the makeup has been increased, the diversity has been dramatically decreased.
This isn’t the first cartoon character to shrink in waist size and increase in bust. Dora The Explorer went all teenage on us last year, and Strawberry Shortcake had some work done before that, though her’s wasn’t so much slutty as just unnecessary.
But are any of the makeovers necessary? Disney characters never receive more adult transformations and they stay beloved to children and adults alike. Aren’t the companies behind these “upgrades” reinforcing the unrealistic expectations on little girls (and gays) that people have accused Barbie of for years?
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