While it's good to hear other people on epinions touching on my concerns, it genuinely worries me that the vast majority of adults seem to have missed, or blithely ignore them.
I can fully understand how Pokemon has become such an enormous craze, and I would be among the first to acknowledge how expertly the developers and manufacturers have planned and implemented this phenomenon. Before it was even mentioned in public they already had their entire marketing and development strategy planned down to the tiniest detail - a long reaching plan which stretches over the entire planned course of the craze. The marketing is superb - designed so that not only will children (and adults) want to buy lots of integral items to the "game" (trading cards, computer games), but so that there is a wealth of merchandise for them to buy, and lots of characters to make merchandise for. Oh yes - this is exceptionally well devised and executed so far. They make Microsoft look like poor marketers...
However, my point - I find it incredibly difficult to believe the sheer number of people who miss or ignore the whole basic concept behind Pokemon.
Cue the melodramatic oversimplification of the cartoon series.
Put simply, the cartoons advocate animal fighting. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, doesn't it. Or does it? If you blink your eyes and look past the haze formed by "Pokemania", you'll see that is what it boils down to. The central tenet of the cartoons is that of honour and glory to (s)he who can train the best (and/or own the most) Pokemon. How is this determined? By setting up your Pokemon to fight against your opponents', until one Pokemon Trainer comes out on top.
Remove "Pokemon" from that sentence. Let's analyse that a moment - what are these strange critters? They're cartoon animals, usually similar in appearance to real and mythical animals, or combinations thereof. So, go back and re-read my previous paragraph, interpreting "Pokemon" as real animals. Real animals, that our young people see all the time in daily life; that they may already take for granted that they are there, will be there, serve not much more purpose than being there and providing humans with clothes, food, and companionship.
Encouraging and training Pokemon to fight each other. That takes on a frightening overtone when viewed in this light. Add to that the casual attitudes to this - the Pokemon being there to serve their trainers in this way, everyone who is anyone having at least one Pokemon ("everybody's doing it" ... where have we heard that before?) ... We have moral values being taught to our children which we almost certainly don't want taught to them.
After all people have done over the years to combat cock fighting, dog fighting, and other cruel animal v. animal "sports", with a single, well planned, well thought out move, Pokemon has the perfect chance to instill today's young people with the idea that these aren't so bad after all!
So, what can we do about it?
Contrary to how this review may sound, I am not (at the moment) advocating the general outlawing or censorship of Pokemon in its many forms. I believe that would be both extreme and ridiculous (even for the States *grin* - Just Kidding!). As many other Pokemon-related epinions on this site mention, Pokemon and its assorted paraphanalia has many other great values and benefits (although none as central as the one I have discussed, in the cartoons I have seen) to children "of an impressionable age". I credit most intelligent, thinking adults and older children with the ability to distinguish reality from make-believe, to have the understanding that while we may be "the superior species" on this planet, that all are important and harming any living creature for "sport" is unfair and cruel.
I would strongly advise parents of young or impressionable children to carefully and thoroughly discuss Pokemon and its "ethics" and tenets with their children. It is the responsibility of the Parents to teach their children moral values, and it is an important one to teach them. Animal cruelty for "fun" is reprehensible and should not be taken lightly - do not let a kiddies' cartoon teach your children about the rights and wrongs of it!
Básicamente, dice que estos videojuegos, series y demás merchandaising de la factoría pokemon solo apoyan la violencia de animales con la máscara de que son monstruos, que además da ideas a los chavales de como educar a sus mascotas para pelear, y nos hace un llamamiento para que debatamos sobre esa cuestión.
Pues bien, debatamos. (aunque el texto sea de hace 8 años, en fin)
Pokemon apoya la violencia de la misma forma que podría apoyarla cualquier juego de rol. Simplemente es meterse en el papel de un personaje que debe coleccionar a los seres vivos de su entorno, y todos los chicos son conscientes de que esos seres no existen en la realidad. Pregúntale a un niño que tenga un perro, un hamster, un gato o cualquier mascota si alguna vez a querido hacerle pelear con otra tras jugar, tras ver una película o capítulo de Pokemon. Es evidente que no.
Apoya la fantasía, la imaginación y el afán de competitividad. Eso si es cierto, quien no ha pensado alguna vez "seguro que soy capaz de crear nuevos pokes, ojalá existieran" o cosas así. A quién no le gustaría viajar por el mundo y divertirse. En fin, totalmente en desacuerdo con lo que dice el tipo de arriba.
esa es mi opinión, ¿cual es la vuestra?
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