A Purple Crayon, Children's Imagination and Superman

A Purple Crayon is a nod to a child's imagination that all of us should cherish even as we age. One of my brother's customers had a little brother, now in his early 20's, who when asked as a child, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" consistently answered, "A purple crayon." As a child, he did not explain his reasoning. As a man, his reasoning is simple, "Shut Up!" While my brother and the customer laughed at the response, when I was told the story, I reflected on all the children I have worked with. No one wanted to become an object always a professional or a person such as "A doctor," "A [insert job] like Mommy/Daddy/other family member," "Mommy," "Daddy," or their older sibling.  Even when I think about my own childhood, looking through photo albums I was a fairy godmother, photographer, a gymnast, a teacher, an artist and a race car driver. Even now, I really enjoy dragons and unicorns but I do not think I wanted to become one as an adult. Why become someone or something permanently when you can continually change who you are through the video games you play, stories you create, books you read and the movies you watch? The idea of growth and change were qualities I embraced throughout my childhood and adulthood. It was what my mother instilled in both my brother and I throughout our childhood and adolescence. Through my favorite stories I read and watched I did become a dragon and unicorn: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, (check out his page here. Hopefully he will come back to San Francisco soon! He is a wonderful person to meet and speak with so hopefully you get an opportunity to meet him as well!) The Baby Unicorn and The Flight of Dragons being my top three childhood favorites.

Another childhood favorite! Does anyone else remember the adventures of this brave mouse? 

Back to purple crayons. I still find it intriguing he chose purple specifically. He could have said an expected color such as red or blue (I am referring to cartoons such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Voltron where the popular characters are usually wearing these colors) but he chose purple. While many associate purple with royalty and power, I wonder what this child associated purple with. Maybe Barney? He was one popular dinosaur when his television show premiered. But we will never really know his reasoning. So how do we as educators promote a child's growing imagination? First, we must remember and reflect on our childhood to appreciate the dreams and wonders children hold dear. Second, providing children a secure space to freely become whoever they choose to be without labels or restrictions on their identity. 

During my childhood, I was indecisive about my favorite color. I liked them all! One thing I knew for sure was my tastes in stories, cartoons and video games. My love of RPGs (Role Playing Games) and later MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) began with watching Star Wars, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Macross (introduced to U.S. audiences as Robotech) The Last Unicorn, The Flight of Dragons, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit animated features with my family. I did not realize until my adult years that the Japanese animation studio illustrating these animated features later reformed after bankruptcy and became Studio Ghibli, home of Miyazaki Hayao's animated features such as My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of the Wind and what he has deemed his last film The Wind Rises.  

   

From the animated features pictured above, my interests in Anime, Japanese Animation, styled cartoons grew to include my interests in the video game franchises Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy. Phantasy Star first appeared on Sega Master System. Does anyone remember that system? I still remember when my mother first brought it home for my brother and I. Excitement! Ever since then, we owned every game console on exception of the Sega Genesis and Neo Geo. The photos below are from the game cover and a promotional artwork. Myau, was my favorite character in this series who gained an ability later on in the story to fly your party members to the fortress above the clouds. If you are interested, check out a Phantasy Star Saga fan page here. 

While many of us are able to revisit many wonderful memories from our childhood through looking at these images, images, brands and icons are ever present in children's lives. When you take your first education class do you remember the instructor mentioning children know icons before they can read? Coming from a family who read Marvel Comics daily, I knew exactly who this was before I knew the McDonald's icon. 

Superman, Spiderman and Batman I saved for last because they are representative of the power icons hold in children's lives. With recent movie additions over the past four years, these characters are well known to children's school gear, dramatic play, storytelling and at times problem solving in the Pre - K class: "Good guys save the day and bad guys go to jail so we are all good guys right?" Some educators I spoke with about their class favorite superheroes, they told me how violent capturing bad guys is. It seems children's love of superheroes gets lost in violence moving the focus from one's duty to be responsible, protect and care for others. When I graduated from undergrad, we were given the opportunity to vote on three commencement speakers, Steven Spielberg, Oprah and Christopher Reeve. Each of these individuals would have been a wonderful speaker but we all felt so honored to see and hear Christopher Reeve. We all wore Superman icons on our gowns; buttons, iron patches and "S" icon balloons adjourned many of our gowns while others wore "S" shirts under their gowns. Everyone was decked out in something with the "S!" 

When Christopher Reeve rolled up in his wheelchair, many of us had tears running down our cheeks. We were so high in the football stands but we could see him clearly. The stadium was silent as he adjusted his microphone before he spoke. He was smiling. He told us to persevere through all obstacles to reach our goal. The hard work would pay off in the future and to keep trying our best to reach our goals. When he finished his speech all of us jumped up to applaud and reveal our Superman gear if the gown was concealing it. Our school of scarlet and grey was covered in red and blue as he exited. I could not wait to tell my mother and brother who were somewhere in the stadium also watching and listening. When I managed to find them after the ceremony, my brother and I cheered and to this day are still so appreciative we got to hear him as my graduation speaker. The following year when we heard the news announcement that he had passed away, we were saddened and reflected on how he really was a Superman through his philanthropy, activism and using his celebrity to bring awareness to world issues. As for the children we work with who enjoy superheroes, just think they could become the next Christopher Reeve or grow up into a young adult who was a child who simply loved purple crayons.