Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Dear No One in Particular,

As someone who once wrote an extensive -- and dead serious (sounding*) -- essay on the ethnographic merits of Borat, this article about Candyland as a metaphor for the American Dream is fascinating. I wish I had thought of it.

In related news, I freaking loved Candyland. Never has a game board mesmerized me so. I always wanted to be Princess Lolly, and Lord Licorice freaked me out. His character design always felt too similar to Disney villans of the time.

What about you? Any fond memories of Candyland, or any other classic children's games?

--amanda

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*
It was definitely one of those "how far can I push this?" assignments. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to really test my bullshitting skills on a final paper -- good thing it worked out in my favour!

3 comments:

em for mighty said...

it was 'clue' for me..i loved the teeny-tiny weapons..i carried the revolver on me for years. & i liked the house a lot too..& may have had the hots for professor plum--or was it professor from 'gilligan's island'?

Lesley Myrick said...

I loved Sorry when I was a kid. My dad had this super vintage version that didn't even have dice, it used cards to determine how many squares you went. My brother and I played it all the time, until our cat threw up into the open game box one night. Ick.

amanda said...

mighty jo: My knowledge of Clue is limited to the movie! I played it once, when I was about 15. The game was missing pieces (we replaced the rope with a peppermint) and cards, so it wasn't nearly as fun as I had hoped. There's something about the smart ones ... ;)

Lesley: I have a serious love/hate relationship with Sorry! It's a game based on passive-aggression. But your dad's version sounds fantastic! Vintage boardgames FTW.