Friday, May 23, 2008

Hello Kitty... blog #1

Sanrio has always been one of my favorites stores ever since childhood and through this class I have began to look at it through a different lens.

I can remember the days in elementary school when things like Hello Kitty and Lisa Frank were popular items. I remember as early back as the third grade when I would buy different stationaries that featured characters such as Hello Kitty, Twin Stars, and Pippo, and write notes to my friends and such. And although that was more then a decade ago, I am not ashamed to say that I am still a Hello Kitty lover today. Some might think it's childish to for a grown person to still like Hello Kitty, but I don't agree. Just because you are a certain age, it doesn't mean that you can't like "cute" things. That being said, I'm not likely to buy Hello Kitty stationary or things of that nature these days, but I would be inclined to buy items that are more tasteful and not so cheesy. I feel that one's tastes can mature with age. These days, I enjoy shopping for Hello Kitty jewelry. There are a few pieces in the Kimora Lee line that I like, that are highly over priced, but I feel it has a more refined look that would suit someone like me. If they weren't ridiculously over priced, I might have perhaps bought a few items, but I guess in a world where there's knock offs and cheaper imitations everywhere you look, to put a label on it and to over price it is to try to capitalize on the "authenticity" of it ("Knockouts or Knockoffs" Melissa Decker).

Thinking about the "Cuties in Japan," the article by Sharon Kinsella, I can reflect on why I still like Hello Kitty; maybe it's because it symbolizes my childhood when things were carefree and you didn't have any worries. In the world that we live in today, our day to day life is full of stress and there's always something on your mind. And if Hello Kitty helps me to remember the feelings of childhood to bring a little extra joy to my life, then I don't see anything wrong with it. You can be young at any age, it's just a mentality.


Linda Le

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