Oh No! Not Barbie….

Guess drug smuggling, illegal immigration, arms trafficking and all the other things that most countries worry about crossing their boarders pale in comparison when you consider the possible problems caused by Barbie and friends.

No, I have not gone crazy, but simply can’t believe that Iran’s top prosecutor could get his knickers in a twist over a bunch of harmless toys. Granted, there are cultural sensitivities to be considered, but calling Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and co a “social danger” that is “culturally destructive” seems a little hard-line to me.

Funny thing is, I wrote a while back about the UN getting Spiderman on board to help improve its reputation. At the time I mocked it, but I guess this makes the decision even more laughable.

You have to marvel at the logic

Sometimes it’s difficult to believe what you read in the news. 

On the BBC website today I came across the headline “Can Spiderman help UN beat evil?” and had to take a closer look. Turns out that the UN has recently announced a union with comic book company, Marvel with the aim of getting Spiderman’s help to improve its reputation.

Positive endorsements where clearly hard for the BBC to find, with the co-owner of a New York Comic store being seen as a credible source to comment on the actions of a global association of governments. Detractors weren’t quite so hard to find, with the former US envoy to the UN, John Bolton, calling it an “act of desperation”. Guess he was impressed.

After reading the article I wondered what else had been written about the UN today. Top of my trusty search engine pops up an article on the UN’s reluctance to even consider looking into the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, despite calls from just about everyone you could imagine. Strange really given its potential global significance, but guess with Spiderman on board, we don’t have too much to worry about.