A few years ago I was the teaching assistant in a university Children's Literature course, and I witnessed in that role a fairly bizarre phenomenon. I am referring, of course, to baby ventriloquism -- the act of using an imaginary or real child as a puppet to play out your own weird characterization of childhood. Students loved to write everything through "the mind of the child" and "the eyes of the child" and "the child's experience", which in reality seemed little more than sentimentalized fantasy-projections onto what childhood actually was. It was kind of funny to read all this, especially when the writers were only a few years out of being children themselves. How quickly we forget, I suppose.
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I was rather mischievous. My friends and I would basically think of anything we could to break the rules: shoplifting, vandalism, hucking snowballs at cars, tripping kids in the hall. We were brutes. I suppose the whole "mind of the child" existed in the form of not really understanding the repercussions of our actions, both for ourselves and others, but to paint us as pastoral, innocent lambs seems a bit disingenuous. The irony of the whole thing was that I had a hyper-developed conscience, so I would chastize myself after any minor misbehaviour, walking around in a cloud of guilt for days. So much for my carefree existence. I'm less worried now.
When people speak through their children, I honestly think it reveals more about the mind of the adult than anything else. People ventriloquize about what they want childhood to be: an exciting and free time devoid of any concern or worry. Pure shenanigans, weekends in Cuba, or whatever. In truth, I think we learn a lot during our childhoods, and not all the lessons are easy ones. I remember in grade 5 giving away 90% of my hockey cards so that I could be at the center of attention for the afternoon, then sitting in class afterwards, devastated that I had lost 90% of my hockey cards. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, but as an adult you know how that one turns out.
Speaking through children is actually kind of endearing, I suppose. Cute even. It lets people throw around their imaginations willy nilly, which should be encouraged at all times. My favorite is when people speak through infants (or even pets). There you can't even pretend that you aren't pretending, but somehow it's a socially acceptable behaviour, practiced by millions. My friends use a thick eastern European accent to ventriloquize their one-year-old daughter. My cat is a disdainful British noblewoman. But I, of course, am a very serious adult.
I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I was rather mischievous. My friends and I would basically think of anything we could to break the rules: shoplifting, vandalism, hucking snowballs at cars, tripping kids in the hall. We were brutes. I suppose the whole "mind of the child" existed in the form of not really understanding the repercussions of our actions, both for ourselves and others, but to paint us as pastoral, innocent lambs seems a bit disingenuous. The irony of the whole thing was that I had a hyper-developed conscience, so I would chastize myself after any minor misbehaviour, walking around in a cloud of guilt for days. So much for my carefree existence. I'm less worried now.
When people speak through their children, I honestly think it reveals more about the mind of the adult than anything else. People ventriloquize about what they want childhood to be: an exciting and free time devoid of any concern or worry. Pure shenanigans, weekends in Cuba, or whatever. In truth, I think we learn a lot during our childhoods, and not all the lessons are easy ones. I remember in grade 5 giving away 90% of my hockey cards so that I could be at the center of attention for the afternoon, then sitting in class afterwards, devastated that I had lost 90% of my hockey cards. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, but as an adult you know how that one turns out.
Speaking through children is actually kind of endearing, I suppose. Cute even. It lets people throw around their imaginations willy nilly, which should be encouraged at all times. My favorite is when people speak through infants (or even pets). There you can't even pretend that you aren't pretending, but somehow it's a socially acceptable behaviour, practiced by millions. My friends use a thick eastern European accent to ventriloquize their one-year-old daughter. My cat is a disdainful British noblewoman. But I, of course, am a very serious adult.
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