Suddenly, and strangely enough, I found myself conflicted about Peter Pan. I thought I knew the story, I thought I knew it. My mother used the term "Peter Pan syndrome" to describe almost every young member of our family at one time or another. It means you never want to grow up, just like the boy in Walt Disney's animation. Peter wants to play in Neverland forever and avoid responsibility as he hurtles through the air among pirates, redskins and a strange but hopeful band of "Lost Boys." It was all so much fun and I could never understand why Wendy and her brothers decided to come home. Obviously it was because of their parents, but their sudden desire to go to kindergarten never seemed real to me. Of course they had to go home because that was the happy ending. Yet Peter was still out there and not growing up anyway, so the fun was still there. Neverland wouldn't go away so they could leave it behind, leave it with Peter on their way home. I recently read Peter Pan as research for this article, telling myself that I couldn't pay homage to Mr. Barrie, the author of the original Peter Pan, a century-old classic without refreshing myself on the specifics. I didn't expect to find any surprises, just maybe a few more details. I really thought I read it at least once when I was little; after all, hasn't everyone read Peter Pan? A few pages into the story, perhaps when the Darlings are debating whether or not they can afford to keep the newborn Wendy, or perhaps later, when Tinker Bell first refers to Peter as a "stupid idiot," I realized that no I had no idea what the real Peter Pan was all about. America has changed its view of many things throughout its rich history. This is not an objection here. Peter Pan was first published in Great Britain in the early 1900s. Now there are big differences in the American version of Peter Pan. In the early years everyone supervised the portrayal of Peter Pan as a girl. When brought to America, and some people are the sexiest pigs they are, it changed the perspective from female to male. We associate Peter with a boy's name and Wendy with a girl's name. The book was initially titled Peter Pan, but when it came to America it changed to Peter Pan: The Boy Who Never Grows Up.