Adrienne Raphel goes into a very extensive and detailed essay about the popular American Girl dolls. She begins by telling the readers of her history with her American Girl dolls, then goes on to talk about the country's history with them. She notes which dolls came out when, and when they were retired. She talks about the various accessories and online trends that came with the dolls, and how the dolls and the marketing strategies have changed over the years. The point that she tries to make with all of this is that over the years, the American Girl dolls have ceased to try to make the girls who owned them identify with the girls in the stories. Now, the dolls are made to become more and more like their owners. Raphel praises the brand for making the dolls inclusive of various different cultures, but laments their loss of identity.
The article is pleasing to read, albeit very long; almost too long. The author went into way too much detail about how the dolls were sold. I can see that she was trying to make a point, but she could have used less information. The vocabulary was adequate, and the approach was not strictly formal, but direct and appropriate. She was able to identify with the topic, adding a twinge of sentimentality and nostalgia, but not too much nor too little.
No comments:
Post a Comment