Did you ever think that toys could play a bigger role than just a form of entertainment in a child's life? Is it possible that toys serve as a reflection of the adult world and therefore predispose children to what adult life should include? In 1957, Roland Barthes, a French literary philosopher, wrote an essay entitled “Toys” in which he emphasized “that toys are essentially a microcosm of adulthood; they are all miniature reproductions of human objects.” Barthes suggests that toys are not just frivolous distractions to keep children occupied, but are actually made to prepare them for the future. Many of the toys that children play with reinforce the norms that are part of adult society and therefore, without realizing it, parents end up buying their children toys that influence their thinking and aspirations to align with society. Nowadays, movies and TV shows are made about the toys that children play with, which personify the toys, making them much more influential as children then have a character to emulate. “Avenger: Infinity War” is one such film that presents many aspects of the adult world to young children as fact, thus portraying a picture of the world that children should simply accept. Produced by Kevin Feige and released in 2018, “Avenger: Infinity War” is a film based on many superheroes who protect the world from evil. While characters like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Black Widow make for great entertainment and send a great message of moral duty to young children, they also push children to accept the social inclination to glorify superficial possessions and wealth, creating highly problematic norms . of what men can be like, as well as holding women to incredibly unrealistic standards of beauty and body image. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Iron Man is a fictional character in the film "Avenger: Infinity War" who wears a special suit and has a contraption in his chest that gives him superhuman strength and the ability to fly. You might think that a child gravitating towards an Iron Man action figure or wanting to be like Iron Man is simply because of the colorful suit he wears or the heroic qualities he depicts in the film and is therefore completely harmless; however, the aspects of the adult world that the child unconsciously learns and incorporates into his or her thinking may not be so harmless. Iron Man is shown as a wealthy, confident man with many possessions including cars, jewelry, and million-dollar homes. Iron Man is also loved by women. A child who looks at his favorite action figure and wants to emulate him will learn that money and expensive objects can provide security and a lot of attention; the desire to own expensive things is ingrained in the child without any real representation of how such things should be obtained. In his essay Barthe underlines that “the child cannot constitute himself other than as an owner, as a user, never as a creator; he doesn't invent the world, he uses it,” and in the case of the Iron Man character, the child does not invent ideas associated with wealth but rather will use these existing ideas represented through Iron Man to push his future decisions. A young boy who watches a scene in which his idol, Iron-Man, courts a woman and engages in wealthy pursuits will subconsciously learn that as an adult, he too will have to work to achieve the same lifestyle. A little girl watching a scene in which her crush, Iron-Man, courts a woman and engages in wealthy activities,she will unconsciously learn that as an adult, she too will have to look for similar qualities in her future partner. Boys successfully accept the association of society's money and girls accept the association of society's money with a suitable partner. The toy figure that children are accustomed to playing with is portrayed in a specific way in the film, and the effect of this whimsical portrayal of Iron-Man by fans who are children goes beyond innocent entertainment; rather, it is an illustration of what wealth represents and how it should be used in our society. The Incredible Hulk is another popular toy figure personified in the film "Avenger: Infinity War" that shows impressionable children the type of temperament and physicality of men. should generally have. In his normal life, the Incredible Hulk is a scientist, but when he loses his temper he transforms into a huge green superhuman who gets torn to pieces like no other. The character of the Incredible Hulk is a highly problematic example for young children to follow because they are learning to uncritically accept a sad reality of our society: violence driven by anger. If a child's favorite hero can become violent and unstoppable when enraged, then why would the child question a video of an angry customer becoming violent with an employee? Such toys and their depiction in films have promoted the culture of violence as a form of entertainment to such an extent that young children can no longer critically analyze the moral differences between a professional UFC fight and a high school street fight. This is the case because young children watch movie scenes where The Incredible Hulk beats up another movie character called Thanos and a spectator character normalizes the entire act by stating, "let him have fun." Toy makers are releasing products like Hulk's large hand sculpted into a fist for kids to use to playfully break things. In addition to copying his actions, children may also be inclined to emulate the Incredible Hulk's angry temper. Barthes in his text states that a toy "provides the catalog of everything that the adult does not find surprising", which is also true in the representation of the Incredible Hulk because an adult who watches a man lose his temper and act violently may not be surprised because the act is, perhaps not openly, but still an accepted aspect of the adult world. In fact, the normalization of serious issues like domestic abuse may also be due to characters like The Incredible Hulk. It would be an exaggeration to say that a grown man would become violent or that a grown woman would accept domestic abuse after seeing The Incredible Hulk performed; however, there is no denying that when a child, male or female, is shown such characters, it certainly works to normalize anger and violence, thus making children unconsciously accept wrong, albeit true, aspects of the adult world. Black Widow is another character in “ Avenger: Infinity War” who prepares children to accept aspects of the adult world without thinking too much. In his text, Barthes states that “French toys literally prefigure the universe of adult functions [ and] can only prepare the child to accept them all", and gives examples such as little girls playing with dolls, giving them milk, and cleaning their diapers so that "the little girl can be prepared for domestic causality" and "conditioned ” for her future role as a mother. From an early age, children are taught to have certain interests through the toys presented to them by the adults around them?.