#WutTheEff - Six Words of Cat-astrophe: "Hello Kitty is not a Cat"

"with just six words...Aah!! Childhood Ruined!"

Hindi ako pusa...Wow, MALI!

When the character "Hello Kitty" is mentioned, what first comes to your mind? I am sure, this image pops out, first and foremost, outta your head:

 

Yep, Hello Kitty it is! A fictional character created by the Japanese Company, Sanrio, and designed by Yuko Shimizu. This character, since its inception in 1974, has been a global marketing phenomenon that spawned a lot of products that includes school supplies, fashion accessories, toys, apparel, and even high-end consumer products. It even had several TV series produced and has become a definite staple of Japanese popular culture.

Hello Kitty is indeed popular as I have known a lot of people that are enamored with this character and it ranges from all ages; from toddlers to even grown-up women. I have relatives, friends, and colleagues  alike who are obviously fans of this cute character. They cannot be at fault though; with the image of a Japanese Bobtail CAT with a red bow designed in a cute Chibi style, who can blame them.

...hold on, did I say "CAT?"

Just recently, a shocking revelation was revealed by Sanrio itself before a retrospective of Hello Kitty paraphernalia will be unveiled next month at the Japanese American National Museum, which will also commemorate the 40th anniversary of the beloved character.

Apparently, an anthropologist (Christine Yano) wrote a script for the show and when Sanrio had gone over her script, they made one correction and that correction is the revelation. What is that shocker? (Okay, you gotta hold on to the roof for this one...)

"Hello Kitty is NOT a cat"

Yes, that is not a typo. To quote Sanrio, they stated this:

"Hello Kitty is not a cat. She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmmy Kitty."

Holy Guacamole! That was indeed a Bomb!

After all those years, a lot of us believed that the character is a cat, although she is actually a Girl, a British Girl in fact.

At the Sanrio Website, it states that Hello Kitty is a cheerful and happy little girl, she lives in London (not in Japan, huh?), and has parents named George White and Mary White (which makes Hello Kitty's real name Kitty White, obviously) and even has a twin sister by the name of Mimmy (Hello Mimmy, I guess?)

Some more info states that Kitty's birthday is November 1, she likes origami, loves to bake and make pancakes, but instead loves to eat apple pies. (Huh?! why not bake apple pies then rather than pancakes?)

Okay, that is enough information to prove that Hello Kitty is (as Sanrio says) a girl, and not a CAT. Virtually, no one can contest that.

However, examining the anatomy of the character itself, one cannot help but raise an eyebrow. Hello Kitty has ears that are of a cat and not of a human being, her nose is somewhat button-looking which clearly depicts a feline's nose than a girl's nose, and Heck!, she has "whiskers." (Now for all the 30+ years of my life, I have never seen a girl -not one -with WHISKERS). I am not a dedicated fan of Hello Kitty, but Hey!, I know my Biology, and Hello Kitty LOOKS like a CAT and it safe to assume that she is a CAT. If you believe she is cat too, (for as long as you can remember) you are forgiven.

Despite the obvious, Sanrio is adamant that the iconic character is a London Girl rather than a feline and that will stick and who are we to contest? It is just dumbfounding that for 40 years, Hello Kitty was believed and thought of to be a cute cat and then, with just six words...Aah!! Childhood Ruined! 

On the other hand, upon critical thinking here is another opinion of mine on this:

Knowing the Japanese and their culture (as I have been a fan of their culture), the rest of the world may just be taking what Sanrio said literally. As you can see, the Japanese are fond of anthropomorphized characters (animal-looking characters that act and behave like humans do) in most of their works of art and even in their literature, and considering that Hello Kitty definitely looks like a cat, but can talk and sit and walk like a two-legged creature and behaves like a little girl, then it is also safe to assume that Hello Kitty is a anthropomorphized character that is modeled after a cat, but is intended to act like a little girl.

With that in mind, technically, she cannot be classified as a CAT because she just looks like a CAT, but does not behave like a real-world cat do (she would be just doing purrs and meows if she is). Even Western characters share this anthropomorphized aspect with Hello Kitty, take Mickey Mouse for example, a mouse-looking character, but behaves like a human being because he talks, right?

We do not know, but by the end of the day we may be just taking this all "Not a cat" issue literally, but hey, it caused a stir and a valid clarification must be issued, for the sake of the very dedicated Hello Kitty fans nonetheless.

But again, for the record, here are six words that will set any Hello Kitty lover for a spin (for a while)... 

HELLO KITTY IS NOT A CAT 

Some After-Post Thoughts:
* A fictional character named Kitty that I do not attribute instantly to a cat, is the Marvel character "Kitty Pryde" much popularly known by her codename: Shadowcat, because she is one tough chic.

Until next time,

Meow!....eer I mean,

Ciao!