Chapter Three Global Kitty
Here, There, Nearly Everywhere
People who live with animals value the charm of muteness. — Ursula K. LeGuin (2005:19)
Ever since I was little, Hello Kitty was just the only character. . . . I’ve seen it everywhere. It’s like imprinted in my mind. Her face. I really don’t know. It’s weird. I just always see her face in my mind. It’s scary. — Hello Kitty fan, twenty-four years old, personal communication, May 5, 2011, Honolulu
I feel like I’m a walking advertisement. — Becky Hui, fan and Sanrio employee, twenty-seven years old, personal communication, June 21, 2002, South San Francisco
Happiness tinged with pink, in fact, seduces as a mysterious presence in the confessions of many adult fans, as quoted above. The seemingly inexplicable attraction of Hello Kitty makes many consumers in various parts of the globe speak of her with both intimacy and awe as something they hold close yet do not fully understand. This may not be quite as mysterious as it seems; after all, as Thomas LaMarre explains, “We can never quite be sure what it is that we are enjoying (or why): something of our experience always remains obscure to us, remains unconscious” (2009:242). And yet, the inexplicable nature of fans’ pleasure of Hello Kitty generates a certain amount of their talk about her. In their narratives, she is at one and the same time an affecting presence, a mouthless sphinx, and, unmistakably, a product. She poses the kawaii al-
•••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• •••••• ••••••
