Quote · The Charlie Kirk Show
THOUGHTCRIME Ep. 134 — Batman Goes Shopping? He-Man and the Masters of the Culture War?
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Batman Goes Shopping: The Lego Study That Explains Hollywood
At 29:02 · chapter starts 23:00
Blake introduces the episode's sharpest idea: a now-classic 4chan green-text post describing research Lego conducted when developing the Friends line for girls. [1] — Blake "Boys try to become Batman. Girls take Batman shopping. Lego discovered this in research for their Friends line, and it explains everything …" 23:06 The finding was stark — boys playing with a Batman toy want to know his origin, his code, his powers, and then roleplay as Batman. Girls playing with a Batman toy take him shopping, have him bake cookies, bring him to prom. The psychological difference is fundamental: boys try to become the character; girls make the character become them. This, Blake argues, is the entire explanation for Kathleen Kennedy's stewardship of Star Wars — she wasn't stewarding the property, she was making Rey go to the prom. Andrew vouches for it from lived experience, noting his son spontaneously memorized obscure Mando facts without prompting. Jack confirms his own boys are doing the same with He-Man, learning the mythology and lore rather than projecting onto it. Russ adds a fascinating data point: his parents banned Star Wars and superhero shows entirely, replacing them with Rescue Heroes — essentially He-Man-style toys but for first responders, including a Coast Guard hero with a pet dolphin. The segment closes on the original Toy Story clip of Buzz Lightyear being forced into a tea party by Sid's sister, which the panel identifies as Pixar having intuited this psychology back in 1995.
Blake noted that the He-Man toys existed before the cartoon show was created — the show was produced essentially as a vehicle to sell the already-existing toy line.
Boys try to become Batman. Girls take Batman shopping. Lego discovered this in research for their Friends line, and it explains everything wrong with modern franchises. When women take over a property, they don't steward it — they make it come to the prom.
Blake cited an account of Lego research showing boys try to become the toy character and adopt its identity, while girls make the character conform to their own preferences — used to explain the Batman Shopping phenomenon.
Jack Posobiec cited The Toys That Made Us, saying the iconic He-Man phrase 'I have the power' was discovered when researchers let boys play with the toys and they spontaneously started shouting it back and forth.
Boys in 1980s America were already living in the longhouse. Mom ran the home, female teachers ran the school. He-Man handed them a sword and said: you have the power. The franchise was a repudiation of the female consensus world before anyone had a name for it.
