Russian group claims Mattel dolls threaten national security

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

On Mattel’s website, they describe their “Monster High” brand toys as “freaky-fab” and ones that encourage “individuality.” The Ural Parents Committee fromcentral Russia…disagrees. According to Saint Petersburg’s Channel 5 News, via the BBC, they’re claiming the dolls promote suicide and could be a “threat to national security.”

Monster High toys are a collection featuring many different characters that seem to be a kind of a Bratz + Halloween concoction. There’s Abbey Bominable,Ghoulia Yelps, Frankie Stein, amongst others. A scan through the Monster High “Fearbook” (the fictional school’s yearbook) presents quotes like “Boys are so weird, and kind of adorable,” and “ I love to read and learn new things.”

Ural Parents Committee President Yevgeniy Zhabreyev told Channel 5, “A child starts playing with death, she gets mesmerized with it and she does not notice the line where she becomes unbalanced and wants to sleep in a similar bed.”

Yes, playing with “death.” Another quote from the Monster High Fearbook, from Draculaura, is “I love smiling, laughing, and encouraging my friends.”

Zhabreyev, in another interview according to the BBC, said, “Children have been acting weirdly. One girl aged seven wants to wear a black dress, to change her hair colour and threatened to harm herself if her mother took away the toy." I guess they’re saying that if girls start to become morbid and hurt themselves over toys, that hurts national security.

These toys certainly encourage that kind of behavior. Just read this quote from Clawdeen Wolf, “I'm a fierce fashionista with a confident no-nonsense attitude. I'm also gorgeous, intimidating and absolutely loyal to my friends.” Chilling. It doesn’t seem like the perceived threat from the toys is one shared by an overwhelming group of parents. Channel 5 spoke with a mother who didn’t mind her daughter playing with the toys.

The Ural Parents Committee seem like a real barrel of laughs. Most notably, in the fall of last year they wrote an open letter to President Vladimir Putinasking him to ban Elton John from performing in Russia. He performed anyway.

More info: BBC, Monster High, Channel 5 (Russian language)