I love the Wii, but this video is just plain unsettling.
Prepare to be disturbed.
After watching the video I found myself asking…
-why am I repulsed by this video? Is it just me? Am I a scrooge?
-what would children in other continents of the world think if they saw this video?
-how will these kids think about their Wii in a month? six months? next Christmas?
-how, as followers of Jesus, are we to help provide an appropriate balance between being generous and enjoying things – like a Wii – without allowing it to become unhealthy?
Watch it here.
Wayne said...
1Man, is that sad, but the sadness is definitely heightened by having so many clips strung together.
01/5/09 4:50 PM | Comment Link
Paul Barger said...
2You think that is bad? You have to watch this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKwCQWjTyI0
01/5/09 10:43 PM | Comment Link
Josh Dinale said...
3Nah, I don’t think you are a scrooge, it is sad, I was in shock for most of it. The other question i was wondering is “what are parents going to have to get them next Christmas”
Best Line out of the whole video “What does Wii stand for? It means Wii Love you”
and “how, as followers of Jesus, are we to help provide an appropriate balance?”
Our local Christian bookstore has a “worship” version of Sing-star for Playstation 2 :p
01/5/09 10:43 PM | Comment Link
Ag said...
4This is disturbing on so many levels. Did you notice J.R. that almost every kid used the expression “Oh my god” when they realized what it was? BUT also…in these unsettingly economical times the WII(which is extremely expensive)was not the only gift those kids got, some of the videos showed, many gifts already open and beneath trees STILL overflowing with wrapped packages. I wonder how many of those people went into debt for that WII?
01/5/09 10:43 PM | Comment Link
David said...
5Wow this is quite disturbing, perhaps a good balance would be to teach our children to give away toys just as much as they receive them. This may give them a better kingdom perspective.
01/5/09 10:51 PM | Comment Link
J Aquila said...
6I guess I’m the one in a million who did not act this way when my wife won one of these things from a radio contest.
Not gonna lie though – I can be pretty fun.
Kids are weird when it comes to Christmas gifts. I remember going nuts for G.I. Joes, but to nowhere near the level of insanity these kids take it.
01/6/09 11:12 AM | Comment Link
Karin said...
7My own son acted a “little” crazy and did a run around the house when he got a Wii last year. ( Of course, he also did a little of that this year when he got a guitar.) In my son’s case, he was very aware of the fact that the Wii was hard to come by, and thus did not expect it at all. So, he was very excited when he opened it last year. I suspect many of the children on the video were probably told this same thing, so they were shocked when they opened it. I’m sure I was very excited when I got a Barbie House and Barbie car when I was a child……I just think kids are more dramatic today from all the stimulation they receive from many sources. At least I know where my son is getting the “Oh my God” from…..he doesn’t get it from home! Very hard to get him to stop saying this, but I did show him the commandment in the Bible that forbids one from misusing the name of the Lord the other day, and the next day he proudly told me that he was trying hard to not say it. Maybe some of the balance of being generous and enjoying the Wii is to buy items for others in need equal to what you buy your own children for Christmas, and explain to them what you are doing and why (of course, if you go the Santa route, you will want to wait until they’re older. I’ve never made a big deal of the Santa thing, so I hope that doesn’t make me a bad person). This is not necessarily a great solution, but its the best I can come up with right now.
01/6/09 9:36 PM | Comment Link
DougG said...
8JR, I just don’t like the view of parents being manipulated by the kids and the parents thinking it’s going to make things better. My kids try to manipulate us, but it just doesn’t work. We recently had a discussion where they were trying to manipulate me (when I didn’t give into a demand) and I reminded them of all the good things they have, good things they received after Christmas, nice things we have done for them, etc. I have been letting that sink in until a future discussion. One of the few things I think we have done right as parents is say no to video games. We do have couple PC based games and some Webkins, but it is extremely limited. Also, we are currently in a no TV week at the house. We also have bsafeonline protection for the PC. The kids really haven’t complained much; it is so easy to redirect them to the YMCA, other activities, and just playing outside. Who is in control, again? In and of itself, these things are not evil … Eccl “There is nothing new under the sun …”
Regards, Doug
01/9/09 1:47 PM | Comment Link
Greg said...
9Great questions, JR!
I guess it didn’t bother me too bad (other than the OMG thing). Here’s why. First keep in mind that tens of thousands of these were given as gifts so this is a small sample intentionally chosen for the over the top reaction. So only a small percentage of people likely reacted this way. Also, remember the love languages book. It taught us that people perceive love differently.
For some its acts of service, for other affirmation, others time together and for some gifts. If these children were reacting so strongly to a parent’s promise to spend time with them everyday over the coming year, we might perceive this video differently. But if to them, a gift means their parents love them – so be it.
From the video, we cannot interpret how the families herein deal with Christ in their lives at Christmas. Perhaps some served a meal at Manna on Christmas Eve, others may have read Luke’s Gospel before gift opening. We just don’t know.
My wife & I love to surprise our teenagers on Christmas. Even this year when we purposedly slimed down our daughter’s Christmas due to her upcoming trip this summer, we were able to surprise the budding writier with a manual typewriter that we got for free from the local FreeCycle list.
Why not rejoice in their joy (even if it might be for the wrong reason) and hope it was used to teach a larger lesson off screen.
(I hope this doesn’t sound preachy… My apologies if it does.)
\\Greg
01/12/09 2:15 PM | Comment Link