# Is this kid okay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754 "2006-12-19T05:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/1 "2006-12-19T05:50:41Z")
I _think_ I first saw this on tv, on AFV. Anyway, there’s a commercial (BMW?) on the tube in which this boy basically goes apeshit when he finds a certain present under the xmas tree. I think the present’s a game, but what is isn’t really germane to my question. Is it “normal” for a kid to react so, uh, enthusiastically to a present? His sister there with him gets pretty excited, but nothing like the boy. I sure hope he’s okay. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/2 "2006-12-19T05:57:40Z")
I saw that too. I think the kid was acting up for the camera. But his throat had to hurt, after all that screaming. If there was something “wrong” with him, his parents wouldn’t have sent in the video. Would they? ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/3 "2006-12-19T06:08:05Z")
[Here it is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31icTG-4lPg) You call that excited? You should see me when Trader Joe’s stocks my favorite kind of shower gel. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/4 "2006-12-19T06:08:29Z")
An annoying little brat, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/5 "2006-12-19T06:09:27Z")
I’m amazed you two even know how to use the internet 😉 Yes, that is in fact a real video, albeit modified to remove corporate tie-ins. As you can see in the original video (linked below), it was for a **Nintendo 64.** **[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFlcqWQVVuU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFlcqWQVVuU)** And yes, the kid is fine as well, as this Wikipedia article elaborates upon (he in fact sold the N64 just recently on Ebay due to his new found fame): [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N64\_Kid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N64_Kid) Finally, I can attest that, for me, getting that excited for a gift is completely normal. I went batshit insane for my SNES/Mario World when that came out, and I still look back upon that fondly. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/6 "2006-12-19T06:49:11Z")
The kid’s a drama queen, playing it up for the camera. There’s genuine excitement and there’s bootleg Mary-Kate Ashley Dakota camera whoring. This young tool fits the latter category. I think if I pulled that shit as a kid, my parents would look at me as if I’d been lobotomized. Then they probably would have taken the toy back, saying, “If it makes you react like that, you might need an exorcism first.” Why BMW chose this most annoying clip to hawk their cars is beyond me. I guess they’re trying to keep up with Lexus in the annoyance category. Me, I’ll buy an Acura or Infiniti… far too classy to whore it up with dumbassed commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/7 "2006-12-19T07:25:50Z")
Kids sometimes like to act it up bigtime. They have yet to come across the concept of ‘over the top’ so they overdo just to be goofy. ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/8 "2006-12-19T08:34:17Z")
I dunno, I remember seeing my brother freak out over receiving a Sega Genesis for Christmas. I’m not sure he’s playing to the camera. Probably just got all sugared up on Christmas morning. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/9 "2006-12-19T11:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] The kid’s a drama queen, playing it up for the camera. There’s genuine excitement and there’s bootleg Mary-Kate Ashley Dakota camera whoring. This young tool fits the latter category. [/QUOTE] Yeah, my husband and I assumed it was just a staged video made especially for the commercial. I’m surprised to hear some kid actually pulled this act. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/10 "2006-12-19T14:58:55Z")
Hell, my boyfriend and I exchanged gifts last night and he about pulled one of those when he unwrapped Memoir '44. He’s a college graduate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/11 "2006-12-19T15:12:44Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] Finally, I can attest that, for me, getting that excited for a gift is completely normal. I went batshit insane for my SNES/Mario World when that came out, and I still look back upon that fondly. [/QUOTE] When I got my SNES (as an adult) and A Link To The Past, I had a totally inappropriate sexual response to it. Fortunately for me, I’m married, and it was even more fortunate for my husband. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/12 "2006-12-19T15:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Is this kid okay? He’s the kind of kid who gives me a headache, but yeah, he’s within the realm of “not-pathological”, if that’s what you mean. At least, that little display was, I can’t speak to the rest of his existence. I also bet he was hopped up on sugar from his stocking and/or breakfast cereal, which wouldn’t help matters any in the Comportment and Deportment sections of Christmas morning. I’m less certain about the advertising weasels who edited their product into the vintage footage to make it seem that the genuine excited reaction was to their toy robot. That just seems like dishonest sleaze of the highest level to me. I’d rather see an actor acting happy than see a genuine reaction bastardized. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/13 "2006-12-19T15:36:07Z")
I always mute the TV when that commercial comes on; his yelling is so annoying. And the sister is far less excited, but you can see she’s just responding to him. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/14 "2006-12-19T15:44:20Z")
Geez, he is just excited. It’s Christmas morning, the tension has been building for weeks, that is a normal reaction. I guess you have never given someone a totally awesome gift. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/15 "2006-12-19T15:44:57Z")
I get such a kick out of that commercial, I’m _positive_ that my brother and I acted the same way when we got our first Atari. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/16 "2006-12-19T16:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=Lynn Bodoni] When I got my SNES (as an adult) and A Link To The Past, I had a totally inappropriate sexual response to it. [/QUOTE] I just had a totally inappropriate sexual response to that sentence. 😃 (I was able to cajole my wife into playing _Ocarina of Time_, but… wow.) ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/17 "2006-12-19T20:01:01Z")
**Hippy Hollow** - great post ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/18 "2006-12-19T20:31:25Z")
Seems ordinary enough to me. He’s undoubtedly been exposed to many, many commercials and media messages in which screaming and pounding are considered to be good ways to ham it up and show excitement. If he had made a touchdown, no one would blink at his reaction. That plus plenty of sugar and Christmas over-excitement make for a kid with a sore throat! I’d be quite annoyed myself, but then I wouldn’t buy my kid an N64 anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/19 "2006-12-19T23:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] Seems ordinary enough to me. He’s undoubtedly been exposed to many, many commercials and media messages in which screaming and pounding are considered to be good ways to ham it up and show excitement. If he had made a touchdown, no one would blink at his reaction. That plus plenty of sugar and Christmas over-excitement make for a kid with a sore throat! I’d be quite annoyed myself, but then I wouldn’t buy my kid an N64 anyway. 😃 [/QUOTE] Oh I would, and have, blink at touchdown shenanigans. Hmmm. Have we discovered something, a correlation, here? Notice the relative calm of the girl. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754/20 "2006-12-19T23:54:51Z")
I got Ivylad a rare Dreamblade figurine for Christmas. [This one](http://cgi.ebay.com/Dreamblade-Baxars-War-Unsated-Ragedrake-59-60-RARE_W0QQitemZ170061509407QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2537QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem). I am confident there will be a similar reaction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-kid-okay/384754.md?page=2)