In his essay "Toys", Roland Barthes states that all children's toys are imitations of things that adults do and are used to, for example a series of games with medical instruments, which reflect the game of a real doctor. . The amazing thing about these bracelets is their ability to completely subvert the notion that toys are meant to teach and that toys should reflect some sort of adulthood meaning. Instead, having the ball on the wrist reassures the child that play can be done alone and completely disconnected from purpose, but is still fun. Instead of tying the child to any sense of reality, this toy takes them completely away from it. It doesn't teach them real world events and there is no transferrable ability to catch a ball attached to a rope attached to your wrist. This toy is not for parents who want their kids to learn while playing, and not to increase the productivity of the game. It's simple, useless (in a way), and oddly sentimental for me in my 20s. Unlike my childhood where play could only be played with itself, adult play usually serves one purpose: reading is a time of learning, a walk in the park is exercise. As a child, I used this toy along with other mindless activities like watching TV. Now I've found that I can use this toy as a kind of stress relief tool; reading a book, watching TV or just for fun. There is endless exploration to be had, and you can even learn how to use the toy, do different tricks and throw the ball at different speeds. In a way there is an element of risk or danger that eluded me until I bought this toy back. While you can throw the ball as hard as you like, it is somewhat unpredictable and uncontrollable as the string changes elasticity depending on the speed of the throw. However, if the ball flies in your face, you cannot protect yourself with one hand, the one the ball is tied to. Also, throwing this ball in a closed space when there are fragile objects around is a big risk. So, through the use of this toy, I escape adulthood, which is structural and formulaic, and instead return to the clutter and simple excitement of childhood.
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