If you’ve ever watched the movie Cherry 2000 (starring a young Melanie Griffith) you’ll know the moral of the story is that robots do not take the place of a good ol’ human. Not even androids, sorry Data. And I haven’t seen it yet but Lars and the Real Girl is a movie about a man in love with a life sized doll. Helloooo Dolly! ((weird!)) Even the 80s romantic comedy Mannequin (yes, a romantic comedy, though the title sounds like a horror movie…. Its alive!) gave off a slightly weird vibe. Even though the mannequin (an equally young Kim Cattral) was a real woman, just a woman cursed a few centuries ago to be a modern day mannequin. Yes like I said, weird.
Let me start by saying, I collect items from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Mostly the dolls and waterglobes. Though I’ll happily pick up the jump ropes, lip glosses and posters at the dollar store too. But I don’t take them out of the package and play with them. (Part of me thinks of Toy Story 2 and the sadness of the never played with dolls….) So when I write about this fad of “Reborns” I am fully aware that as I point out their weirdness three fingers are pointing back at me.
‘Reborns’ are incredibly life like babies. Their skin, their eyes, hair, weight, every little wrinkle on their hands is so real looking. They cost $500-$4,000 a piece because of the time and effort put into each of them. They’re not made from one single artist or manufacturer but several different artists across the country. Mostly found on ebay you won’t see any in Target on the shelves next to Barbie.
They are certainly incredible in their lifelikeness. And because so much time and artistic effort is put into them I am willing to call them art. However not everyone collects them like other dolls. It seems there is a percentage of Reborn owners that care for them like real babies. To certain degrees of course. Some hold them just as a comfort. Still others change them and take them out into public. They take them out shopping, walking them in strollers at parks and show them off to people.
One article I read said they can be a comfort to women after a baby of their own has passed or as newly empty nesters feel the pain of loneliness. (Some even order them to look like their child with photographs.) The article went on to say they act the same as a baby blanket does to a child. It’s supposedly a transitional device. Reading another article I read that some offer extras. Not only do each of the reborns have a lifelike heft to them of a real baby but you can also purchase things like a heartbeat and a magnetic mouth so it can hold a pacifier. Creepy. To me dolls don’t need heartbeats.
I have a definite problem with this. When Phillip left me I didn’t go buy a mannequin to comfort my loss. I saw that I had problems and went to a therapist for help. And I talked out my problems and grieved for the loss of our relationship in a healthy way. I didn’t run into the arms of another man nor did I buy a lifesize doll to comfort me.
One woman stated that she plays with her reborn the way some men play with trains and cars. My dad collects hot wheels. I’ve never ever seen him play with them. Its something nice to look at and collect. Although I can understand where she is coming from. All girls and women have something in them that likes to dream and fantasize. But what if a 37 year old woman took out her Barbie dream house and started pretending and playing with Barbie and Ken? How would people see that? Like I said before I can’t point fingers because I am one of the biggest kids in the world. But I know there is a line between real and fake. Real babies cry, real babies grow. Reborns do neither.
Read the msn article here. Also contained in the link at the bottom is another article from a psychologist about loss and the use of reborns.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26970782/
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