Nintendo turns families into monstrosities: that's the argument of this Daily Mail story.
I have first-hand evidence that using a Nintendo turns my delightful, curious and funny children into argumentative demons full of aggression, wholly uninterested in anything apart from playing, and then playing some more.
But these monsters aren't very, well, monstrous. Although the afflicted are children, the tabloid article presents none of the customary fears of children and technology: nothing sexual, violent, deadly, or seriously subversive. The worst crimes seem to be time management, or aesthetic:
What is constructive about playing football on a tiny screen, or washing a virtual dog, or watching a hideous pink pony trot around a pink palace decorated with shells?
This is actually a species of humor, like Erma Bombeck's. And we should expect to see more of it, grounded by cultural items focused on more serious anxieties.
(thanks to Peter Naegele)
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