Why I Hate Souveniers

A new "marketplace" opened up a few months ago, on the big island of Hawaii. It is called the queens marketplace, and, although designed to be cheaper than it's counterpart, the kings shops, seems almost completely devoted to selling useless trinkets. The only thing that makes the building's existance worthwhile, is an Arby's, which serves Bacon Beef n' Cheddar sammiches, and Tropicana Twister sodas. The worst thing about souveniers, is that they are synonimous with the tourist culture, and the tourist culture is synonimous with disconnect from reality. Take Victoria, Canada. Its streets are lined with stores selling shirts with mooses and the word "Eh" on them, yet while in Canada, I never once heard someone say eh, or saw a moose. Does that mean people don't say "eh" in Canada? Of course they do, but there is a lot more to Canada than a vacant statement of the word "eh", and the animal population of Canada is far more diverse than lots and lots of moose. It's the same thing in Hawaii. A hula dancing clock, absently swaying its hips, or a shirt saying "Look how much Hawaiian people eat, ha ha ha" are completely pointless. The Honolulu international marketplace seems devoted completely to selling necklaces, but I never saw anyone wearing one like the type sold by the thousands. Indeed, if you were to dig up some dirt from every place you ever went to, it would probably be much more meaningful than collecting a handful of crappy plastic racial steriotypes. In the past, my need to buy things has seduced me into buying souveniers that I will not ever use and promptly will lose or destroy. However, when next I go on a trip, I vow not to buy the things that don't actually represent the place, but represent what that place is supposed to represent.

More Samurai Jack reviews coming soon.