By Keith Alan Johnson
05-07-2000

          There is nothing wrong with suffering from a little bit of the Peter Pan syndrome. I still like to read comic books, watch animation, and I collect a few toys. I have two Kung Fu Fighting Squeeze Pals standing on my computer hutch right now. One is a stuffed dog wearing a red gi and the other is a stuffed tiger in a green gi. If I squeeze them they make kung fu fighting noises.
          I find nothing odd about a 42 year old man who likes to watch animation or read comic books. In fact a lot of the animation and comic industry targets adults. I'm not harking back to my childhood. I don't believe I ever left it. I didn't become a comic book collector until I was 23. They call us Panalologists just to make it sound more grown up.
          I didn't expect this of my adult life. The adults I grew up around seemed to be pretty down to Earth and… adult-ish. I looked to them to speculate about what my adult life would be. They all did yard work. They watched out for their kids. The scout leaders did adult things like bar-b-q steaks and drink beer [okay, I had lousy scout leaders]. They did the adult things that we, as kids, expected them to do. They behaved as adults.
          We certainly didn't see any of them playing with toys. Well, yes we did. At Christmas we would get toys and they would play with them. They didn't sled in the snow. Well, yes they did. We would be amazed and somewhat thrilled when they joined us. They didn't go to animated movies. Well… yes they did. They would take us. Maybe they were enjoying them too. That's interesting. I think Peter Pan was alive and well back then, just hiding behind us children.
          Perhaps these days Peter Pan doesn't need to hide anymore. My wife collects special Barbie dolls and legos. She certainly isn't the only adult collecting dolls. Doll collecting is a big industry, complete with clubs and magazines. Perhaps Wendy isn't cleaning up after all of the lost boys anymore, but is out there playing. Maybe these kids aren't as lost as we would think. Maybe it's the lost adults we should be concerned about.
          I think these days the more stable adults play. We play cards and board games. We read stories, watch movies, and do any number of things for reasons of entertainment. There are tremendous industries based on entertainment alone, industries that include music, art, movies, publishing, theater, opera, and ballet. There are a number of major and minor league sports, built up for entertainment. There are hobby shops with radio controlled model kits. There are neighborhood radio control clubs who's members are mostly adults. These fields of entertainment need artists, writers, dancers, actors, athletes, craftsmen, engineers and other professionals to keep them going. It's all big business.
          So why do adults enter these fields? Why does a writer write? Why does an artist or cartoonist draw? I can speak for myself. I find it entertaining. I can see where anyone in an entertainment field, or even just a hobbyist like myself, would have to have a touch of Peter Pan inside to do what we do. And when I think about it, when I think of all the people I know of varying ages, from my young nieces and nephews to the 95 year old back door neighbor back in Indianola, I think I see a little Peter Pan in us all.
          It won't mater how old we get; we will still see the world through the same eyes. We will still perceive the world with the same senses we were born with. We will still be the same people. We will still seek out our toys. They may be instruments. They may be sports equipment. They may be books. They may be paint brushes, pencils or clay tools [hi mom! hi dad!]. They might be computers with internet connections. Or they may be stuffed plushies with real kung fu fighting action sounds.
          As children we learn to seek out our entertainment. We carry that knowledge into adulthood. Most of us will never put away our toys.