It's the infantilization of the newer generations of adults. We are now kids until we are in our forties, still playing with Lego and Star Wars and hankering for the next Marvel episode. In the process, as the article points out, we have co-opted these categories and imbued them with a discordant set of adult sensibilities which makes them wholly unappealing and inappropriate for actual kids. Not even My Little Pony is safe.
Some will probably argue that it's wonderful, finally we allow ourselves to let the inner child blossom and bloom into adulthood. It just seems to me that it is the worst parts of the inner child that we indulge: Escapist, shirking responsibility, partial to instant gratification rather than deeper pursuits. I know it's a value judgement, it's just sad to me to see grown men spend all their time on video games and comic books - not because of the formats themselves but because the content is usually rubbish. Cultural junk food.
Some will probably argue that it's wonderful, finally we allow ourselves to let the inner child blossom and bloom into adulthood. It just seems to me that it is the worst parts of the inner child that we indulge: Escapist, shirking responsibility, partial to instant gratification rather than deeper pursuits. I know it's a value judgement, it's just sad to me to see grown men spend all their time on video games and comic books - not because of the formats themselves but because the content is usually rubbish. Cultural junk food.