Ha, glad you like the idea! I meant thesis more in terms of an idea; she hasn't actually written anything on it. But the gist, if I remember correctly, is that Rainbow Brite lives off the labor of the Rainbow Sprites, who mine the Colors and process and cart the crystals and have a separate language of their own; in particular, the Spectran Sprites (NB they are all pale, as opposed to the brightly colored Color Kids) do the menial "housekeeping" labor of keeping Spectra clean and pretty and don't have stars on their antennae like the others. We may have been drunk when she told me about this but she'll still want credit if you use the idea for an academic conference on pop culture! (I'm just sad she ruined one of my childhood idols.)

good comment about walmart, is too true they took over entire towns and jobs.