Toy Story kicks butt. It’s not up for argument or discussion. It proves something that every child knows- toys live and have emotions and love the children who love them. Genius. So the other morning my roommate Stephanie and I decided to borrow it from our school’s library. No dice. We try the public library and it had 4 holds on it. We went onto the school’s interlibrary system and found only 1 available copy at a school… about 41 miles away (which we requested for free delivery to our library, which is why the interlibrary system is still better than Netflix).
It being out at the public library I can understand, but from all the universities? Were all these future college graduates doing theses on the harmful effects of Disney on the delicate minds of children? Perhaps. Were they trying to hold onto the nostalgia of their childhood? Maybe. But I think the real reason is that people never stop being children. We just suppress it as it becomes less socially acceptable. College students are in the purgatory of life, that strange middle ground where they prepare for the “real world” while still depending on their parents and playing with their friends (the games change, the concept doesn’t). Being caught in the in-between forces us to live these double lives, where we go to work or internships or nursing clinicals or student teaching, but come home and play monopoly or watch Disney movies and call our parents to tell them about our day. Living as both adults and children and trying to find the proper balance.
I think we should try to hold onto our childhood for as long as possible (hopefully indefinitely). Not to say we should be immature or not take responsibility seriously, but children can imagine a world where a playground is a tropical rainforest and toys can come to life and literally anything can happen.
Maybe I’m just one of those soon-to-be-college-graduates who is freaking out about the prospect of having to be a “real adult” (whatever that happens to mean). But all I have to say is, “to infinity and beyond!”
The Changing Room Rotation 