#addendum: theres a shot im wrong about toys not aging being canon. i still believe it but please take that point with a pinch of salt!

[game-stationed]

CW // Talk of nonspecific and fantasy child abuse/parentification

So I know some people were a bit shaken-up by the reveal that Mommy Long Legs - and many of the other toys - were made from and continue to be children (suggested in Chapter 3 ARG then explicitly confirmed in the official PPT Discord), but I actually feel like there's some interesting commentary to be made here.

I believe that this is intended to be commentary on parentification as a form of abuse, as a lot of Poppy Playtime's themes center on harm done to children. These children are taken and - quite literally, through human experimentation - forced into playing parental roles towards the other kids, halting their own ability to just be a kid themselves. This fits the bill for parentification, which, to my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong!), is especially common in some orphanages, where many older kids are made to step up and play parent for the younger ones.

As the toys also don't age after becoming toys, it feels like that could be commentary on how abuse such as parentification prevents kids from maturing in "normal" and expected ways. "Normal" is relative, of course, but abuse certainly does often throw a wrench in natural development.

I find the way kids being turned into toys works is pretty interesting in Poppy Playtime from a narrative and thematic perspective. It's definitely jarring to learn many, if not all, of these big toys, some of which play parental roles such as Mommy Long Legs, are essentially children, but it feels like a unique and interesting take on the subject of child abuse that also doesn't feel inappropriate or lacking in tact in my opinion.