Mmmm . . . assassination

So . . . I thought I would give a little morsel for thought this Sunday. I have noticed a strange quirk in my behaviour (only one?) that made me wonder if everyone is susceptible to this or just me.

It seems that whenever I notice a product that is branded with certain things (e.g. Star Wars, Simpsons) I give it special attention and consider buying it when I otherwise wouldn't. So a regular video game - mostly likely not interested. Simpsons video game? Why not? So what if I haven't even watched an episode of the Simpsons in 10 years?

Star Wars elicits the same response, despite the fact that the more recent films cheapened the franchise for me. Am I just a victim of good branding, or is there something else going on? Do any of you experience the same thing?

What it reminds me of most is the connection between J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and murder. This is more or less a fallacy; it is often noted that Mark David Chapman (who killed John Lennon) and John Hinckley (who tried to kill Reagan), amongst other murderers/would-be murderers owned The Catcher in the Rye and were influenced by it, and therefore there is something about the book that inspires (or at least speaks to) criminals. I call this a fallacy because a) not all murderers are affected by this book, in fact only a small proportion of them who happen to be well-publicized, and b) not all people who read this book become murderers. This is/was a very popular book and 'speaks to' a lot of people (hence the popularity of the name "Holden"), so it is natural that at least a few killers would be among that group. If ownership of a book is a grouping variables for scofflaws, then we should consider the Da Vinci Code in that group - millions own it, and I'll bet some of them are criminals (not to mention the criminal awfulness of the book).

Getting back to my central point after a lengthy digression, there is a movie called Conspiracy Theory starring that notorious drunk and Jew-hater Mel Gibson, in his pre-arrest days. He plays a brainwashed pawn of the CIA in the film and as part of his re-manufactured psyche he compulsively buys copies of, you guessed it, The Catcher in the Rye (sort of a riff on the book's place in assassination history). So I'm wondering if my compulsion to acquire Simpsons and Star Wars merchandise or products is based on this same type of brainwashing, or if it's just the kid inside of me trying to maintain my youth, or something else.

Hopefully in 20 years we won't be thinking that all assassins were inspired by Luke Skywalker somehow (though I could justify murder in the name of Anakin, if it were of Hayden Christensen).