Girls Choose The Boy Next Door

by Danielle Bonilla

For Chris, #338 and Justin, #179, it all started at the mall. Interested in all of the commotion around a Boy Crazy booth, both boys, in different malls, on different days, decided to try their luck to see whether their face and their interests could be featured on a card for a teen girls' game called, 'Boy Crazy.' Chris confessed, "I was a little confused and puzzled at the time, because I didn't quite understand what 'Boy Crazy' was all about." Encouraged by his friend to enter, Chris waited in a long line of boys, filled out a form, and got his picture taken. "I guess I thought it would be kind of cool and fun to be a part of this new game." Hoping that it could be a stepping stone to a modeling career, "I also thought it would be pretty cool to have my friends see me on the internet!"

Justin, #179 is a college graduate. He told me that sometimes teenage girls come up to him and tell him that they have his card. He, too, signed on to 'Boy Crazy' because he thought it would be fun and that he might earn extra money for college - that is if he is voted Boy of the Year. "It's a little strange to see myself on a card. I was really surprised at first," Justin said.

Cindy Thornburg, head of Decipher, Inc. (which also manufactures Star Wars, Star Trek and Austin Powers collectible card games) developed the idea for 'Boy Crazy. 'She felt that a game using the-boy-next-door-type-boys, instead of celebrities would "help girls discover who they really are," she told me in a telephone interview. The boys from 'Boy Crazy' were chosen from malls all across the country, although, she did remark to me that many came from one of the malls in the Denver area. Not concerned at all that there might be a negative connotation associated with girls being boy crazy, Ms. Thornburg said, "Every girl goes through a stage of development where she becomes aware of boys as other than playmates. It's okay to be boy crazy, it's natural. The point is let's be boy crazy in a positive way." Dr. Marcie Schneider, Medical Director of the Adolescent Program at Greenwich Hospital agreed when she expressed her reaction to the game, "I think it's just another version of 'The Barbie Doll Game' where girls choose Ken and Poindexter cards. This game actually has a lot more substance because girls can choose a boy not only because of his looks, but also because of his list of interests which range from sports to music, movies to food. It's harmless."