I recently ran across an article by USA Today’s Craig Wilson about a new kiddie toy called a Parent Doll. If this idea is as new to you as it was to me, let me offer a few details. This is essentially a squeezably soft dolly that can be made to “look,” after a fashion, like Mom and Dad. It comes in a variety of skin and hair colors and then, to make the doll complete, a parent takes a photo of their own face, slaps it on the doll’s head and records a personalized message or two. The dolls store up to four different messages (with a potential total of eight minutes of gab) on a gadget in the doll’s tummy.
Now, according to the doll’s website, these little luggable huggables can be the perfect toy to do everything—from teaching kids their ABCs to singing their favorite songs to being a look-alike touchstone when parents or grandparents are away for awhile. And I can see the possibilities. If the kid has a mom or dad in the armed services, for instance, a familiar face and comforting word could be nice.
In his column, however, Wilson calls the thing downright creepy. And he goes on to ruminate on how he would have hated having a proxy-parent constantly there when he was a wee one—probably lecturing him about getting his chores done. In fact, the writer muses about creating an “Uncle Doll” that could tell his nephews and nieces stories about what their parents did when they were kids. “We’re talking bathroom humor. Bad dining habits. Antisocial behavior. Things uncles know about.”
Putting aside those amusing but potentially childhood-scarring ideas, I sort of find myself agreeing with Mr. Wilson, but for a different reason.
There’s an ongoing hubbub about how we keep cramming our lives full of technology. And doesn’t this idea kind of fit? Wouldn’t it be tempting to think that you’re covering your parental backside by letting Daddy-Me teach little Susie her ABCs or sing a bedtime lullaby when you’re just too busy?
That may sound silly, but think of all the social network/Blackberry connected/digital saturation ways that we can be right next to someone but never really touch them. There are numbers of books being written about that very problem. Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkel is a great example. It deals with everything from online relational absorption to the upcoming wave of “sociable robots.” And even if you don’t see that as a major problem in your life, it’s still pretty hard to poo-poo the concept outright. Just about everyone has had a time when they’ve gathered for dinner and had to twist arms so everyone would uncouple from their smartphones for the duration. (That’s if they can actually find anybody to gather.)
I don’t know. Maybe I’m overreacting. But there’s something unsettling about it all, and this little doll just feels like another potential slice of that tech-happy pie.
Besides, having a doll with my grinning mug on it? That is creepy.
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