Abstract
The new Smart Bombs figurines from Creatus Maximus, a project of toy developer Kenneth Lilly, raise the question: What has become of our atomic consciousness? The “Bombs” come in two variety packs: the One-B29 and C-Four-NR combo and the Fat Bat and Little Bird duo. The former are based on Star Wars' C3PO and R2D2, the latter on that famous crime fighting team of Batman and Robin. And, as indicated by the shapes and names of the toys, they also reference Fat Man and Little Boy, the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Dynamic duo: Fat Man and Little Boy depicted as figurines Fat Bat and Little Bird.
The Smart Bombs' combination of cultural and sensitive historical references have not touched off controversy yet, apart from some blog discussions, but I am reminded of the protests triggered when Albuquerque's National Atomic Museum gift store began selling Fat Man and Little Boy earrings. However, it seems there is an important difference between the two.
The earrings are a form of pastiche (or kitsch), while the figurines are parody. Pastiche is vacant, while parody carries an agenda, usually ironic or satirical. According to postmodern critic Frederic Jameson, “Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar or unique, idiosyncratic style…. But it is a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of parody's ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of laughter and of any conviction.”
The creator of Smart Bombs intends for them to be read in a parodie way. A creator's statement accompanies the toys and points to the way mankind has often given weapons “soft or cute” names, like “Bouncing Betties,” “Peacekeepers,” and “Daisy Cutters” in order to make them more palatable. “Smart Bombs appear as familiar and safe imagery, imagery that is ingrained in our popular culture, evocative of some fond childhood memories, in an attempt to obscure and camouflage so that we never fully recognize what they truly are, the most destructive forces of war ever unleashed by mankind,” Lilly writes. “Smart Bombs are not anti-military, anti-government, or anti-war. Smart Bombs are anti-apathy.”
In this way, Smart Bombs seem a little less strange and a little more Strangelovian.