You can be Farrah; I'll be Donna.

Benjamin's theory on mimicry struck me as something we have all noticed but never really understood. "In brief, it is non sensuous similarity that establishes the ties not only between what is said and what is meant but also between what is written and what is meant, and equally between the spoken and the written"(722). He clearly remarks that each and every language has some tie or relation to the same word in another language. This is his statement on mimicry. What he says about kids is true: they can exhibit mimetic faculty by pretending to be anything, even inanimate objects. His theory is simple and straightforward, describing the "sensuous realm of similarity" as an origin of language formation. He also believes in the connection between spoken word and written language

Bhabha, on the other hand, applies his own theory of mimesis to the way Britain usurps areas and colonizes them. "It problematizes the signs of racial and cultural priority, so that the national is no longer naturalizable. What emerges between mimesis and mimicry is a writing, a mode of representation, that marginalizes the monumentality of history..."(128). He explains how colonial relationships represent mimicry within them, and we see his theory being physically applied in terms of Britain-India relations, whereas Benjamin's theory is a more general understanding of mimesis.

Benjamin's section about the kids is reflected in Rolling the R's. "Children's play is everywhere permeated by mimetic modes of behavior, and its realm is by no means limited to what one person can imitate in another"(720).

"Everybody in Kalihi wants to be Farrah. The name itself sounds sultry and expensive. Who doesn't want to be the reigning queen of pin-up posters thumbtacked on every wall of the house? A swimsuit goddess with long and graceful legs, pearly white teeth, glossy lips, roller-derby hips, and a million-dollar smile on a king-size waterbed next to none other than the Six million Dollar Man himself. Who doesn't want that full-volumed, sunshine-gold mane: Side-combed, feathered at the top, then curled along the sides? Who in Kalihi doesn't want to be Farrah?"(22).

Benjamin's theory is very applicable to the effect media has on children. Role-playing scenes from Charlie's Angels is just one of the ways by which these kids feel like they're fulfilling their life-long dream of becoming Farrah. The amount of dashes in this selection makes her description seem even more lengthy and perfect, like you need so many adjectives to accurately describe her glamour. By mimicking the way she looks and acts, the kids are both fostering their individual perceptions of media darlings as well as providing an example of Benjamin's example of mimesis as it permeates even the minds of kids.