Criticism of Pokémon

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The Pokémon franchise has sparked some controversy and criticism.

[edit] Racism

Main article: Jynx (Pokémon)

The original black-skinned Jynx design and source of the controversy.

This original design of the Pokémon Jynx (seen to the right) bore a striking, but perhaps coincidental, resemblance to entertainers in blackface. A strong case can be made for Jynx being a parody of or homage to the Japanese Ganguro and Yamanba fashion trends, which were extremely popular when Pokémon was first released, but it can't be denied that blackface-influenced characters have appeared elsewhere in anime and manga - examples can be found near the beginning of Osamu Tezuka's early graphic novel, Metropolis and also can be found with Dragon Ball's Assistant Black, Mr. Popo, and certain support characters of One Piece.

As Pokémon became more popular in the US, this perceived similarity to a racist image from America's past offended some. In particular, it had offended children's book author Carole Boston Weatherford, who accused Jynx of being a racist stereotype in an article titled Politically Incorrect Pokémon in the magazine Black World Today, shortly after the anime episode Holiday Hi-Jynx aired. Episodes later on are also either banned or cut in USA.

In response to this controversy, in 2002, Nintendo changed Jynx's face from black to purple and its hands from blue to purple in Pokémon games, a change which would be reflected in the anime three years later in Advanced Generation.

Less publically, Pokémon has been criticized of racism due to its lack of racial diversity from characters in the video games. Even Brock, who appears with dark skin in the Pokémon anime has his skin altered to a lighter pigment in the Pokémon video games. Extreme critics claim that this is meant to show the "wonder of an ethnically cleansed world." However, most people consider this theory totally ridiculous, and believe it stemmed from satirical origins.

[edit] Religion

[edit] Christianity

Some Christian groups in the United States believe Pokémon to be Satanic in origin^[1][2] although the topic of religion was never mentioned or referenced in any episode of the anime. After the US release of Pokémon Yellow, there was a sudden widespread criticism of it passed through Christian congregations primarily by word-of-mouth. The claimed parallels between Pokémon and Satanism include:

• Pokémon parallel demons. They are captured and must be invoked to perform tasks.
• Magical 'talismans' (gym badges) are necessary to control many of them.
• 'Magical' stones are used to evolve certain Pokémon.
• Pokémon 'evolve'. Evolution precludes literal creationism, therefore Pokémon denies some forms of Biblical interpretation. However, it is possible the word was meant to mean in the pre-Darwinian manner; that is, to literally change over time.
• Many Pokémon have paranormal or psychic powers. These powers are not stated to be derived from God and therefore, according to some Christian doctrine, must stem from Satan (although this is not stated either).
• Many Pokémon embody or practice Asian spiritual and mystical concepts. For example, some practice martial arts, which some Christian groups denounce as a gateway to pagan religions. The game world also incorporates Asian traditions about elemental forces.
• Some Pokémon (such as Houndoom and Murkrow) resemble witches or demons.
• Pokémon was invented in Japan, and the primary religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shintoism.
• In the episode entitled "Ghost of the Maiden's Peak", Misty, as a last resort, pulls out a cross before Gastly vanishes when the sun rises. She even refers to it by its name. This was not edited despite 4Kids's religion policy.

Also, when the PokéRap is sung in English, the lyrics “gotta catch ’em all” are alleged to say “I love Satan” or “oh Satan” when played backwards [1]. This has left some Christians and Christian organizations believing that Pokémon subliminally encourages Satanism. However, backmasking in general is highly controversial and debatable, leaving room for much skepticism.

Still, most people (including many Asian Christian congregations)^{[citation needed]} dismiss these claims to be nonsense, and attribute many of the alleged protests to urban legend. The surprisingly small number of original protests (as opposed to reports of protests) seems to reinforce this belief. It would be incorrect to state that the Christian religious community is monolithic in this matter, since most mainstream sects of Christianity are utterly indifferent to Pokémon. Catholics do not actually lax of the situation compared to Protestants.

The alleged outcry was enough to move the Holy See to comment, in an official statement on April 21, 2000:

The Vatican has announced that the trading-card and computer-game versions of Pokémon are “full of inventive imagination,” have no “harmful moral side effects” and celebrate “ties of intense friendship.” Whether that extends to the TV show, His Holiness didn’t say. The New York Post, quoting a Thursday story in The Times of London, says The Vatican made its announcement on its satellite TV station, Sat2000, run by the Italian Bishops’ Conference.-from the New York Times

There are also allegations against “Pokémon” citing liberal views on morality, particularly among Christians. These include the immodest dress of some of the female characters in the show, the use of the phrase “kick your ass” (in actuality, “kick your Grass”, referring to a type of Pokémon) in the lyrics of a song (What Kind of Pokémon Are You?) in the show, though the phrase was later removed and replaced with different lyrics, and a certain character (James), wearing women’s clothes in several episodes of the show, giving some the impression that he is a transvestite. Normally, when James dresses up as a woman for these ploys, his female partner Jessie also dresses up as a man, to further confuse their identities. (Ash generally fails to see through their disguises anyway, but the cross-dressing makes it that much more difficult). Such cross-dressing for both characters can also be seen in Pokémon Puzzle League, in the Spa Service mode. It is, however, notable that James’s voice in the English dub of the anime has gotten more effeminate as the series has gone on^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Judaism and Buddhism

The Pokémon trading card game has been criticized by members of the Jewish community for its use of the swastika^{[citation needed]}, the most widely known symbol of Nazism in the West, which they hold is inappropriate for children’s toys. Nintendo says that this is a matter of cultural misunderstanding, as the swastika and a similar symbol, the manji, have been used in East Asian cultures as a symbol for “good fortune” by the Hindu religion for thousands of years. Even today in Japan, the swastika is not necessarily associated with Nazism, and most maps not only in Japan but also in Korea and Taiwan use a small clockwise upright swastikas, manji, to indicate the location of Buddhist temples. Moreover, Buddhist and folklore artifacts frequently bear swastika ornaments; a tiling of interwoven tilted swastikas is commonly seen in the Seoul subway system.

The manji was shown only on a Japanese version card and was excluded from the North American release. However, these Jewish groups attacked the Japanese version distributed in the U.S. by unauthorized import. As a result of this controversy Nintendo stopped using this symbol even in the Japanese version.^[3] This raised a public backlash in Japan for being intolerant towards the symbols of the Buddhist religion for the sake of avoiding controversy.

[edit] Health

Main article: Banned episodes of Pokémon

One frame from the scene in "Computer Soldier Porygon" notable for causing mass seizures in Japan.

On December 16, 1997, 685 Japanese children were admitted to hospital with convulsive epileptic seizures. It was determined that the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon, "Dennō Senshi Porygon", or "Computer Soldier Porygon" (sometimes translated as "Electric Soldier Porygon"). In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly-alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if they haven’t had any previous history of epilepsy. As a consequence, many video game makers (including Nintendo) added warning labels to their video game products (or made pre-existing labels more prominent), warning that exposure to video games may trigger seizures in individuals vulnerable to photosensitive epilepsy.^[4]

[edit] Animal cruelty

Some have compared the primary mechanism of Pokémon to the generally-outlawed practice of cockfighting. Seen from this point of view, the game consists primarily of Pokémon trainers capturing and bartering in wild animals, coercing them to fight one another. It also sees various performance-enhancing drugs to give them an edge in the fight. Some people believe that this may encourage children towards acts of animal cruelty and illegal gambling.^[5]

However, most fans view Pokémon battling as a friendly competition between two teams of Pokémon and their trainers. Seen in this light, Pokémon are not being coerced to battle by their trainers. There are references to some Pokémon being territorial (e.g. Pidgeotto^[6]), but it is vastly different to the aggressively territorial nature of roosters, who will maim the 'enemy' rooster until it or the other dies. Furthermore, trainers do not relish the idea of allowing two animals (or in this case Pokémon) to fight to the death, while they merely view from the edge of the ‘ring’. In both the games and the television show, the audience is taught that fighting is not necessarily a means to an end. In addition to all of the above, Pokémon do not actually die from battle; they faint or are in other ways unable to battle until they are healed.

[edit] Originality

While claiming to be the first pocket monster anime, the idea of pocket monsters battling in a pocket tournament was actually taken from the 1983 Plawres Sanshiro anime^[7]. Pokemon’s lead character Ash Ketchum wearing the red cap heavily resembles the lead character Sanshiro. Even Sanshiro’s style of casting his pocket robot is similarly mirrored to Ash’s casting of his pocket monster. Both shows share the same concept of pocket tournaments.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Satanism in Pokémon booklet", Cephas Ministry.
2. ^ "Pokemon- Innocent Child's Game or?", God and Science.
3. ^ "Nintendo Tells ADL it will Raise Concerns of Swastika with Japanese Maker of Pokémon Cards", Anti-Defamation League (Waybacked, Style Sheet(s) missing).
4. ^ "Color Changes in TV Cartoons Cause Seizures", ScienceDaily (Waybacked, Style Sheet(s) missing).
5. ^ “Pokémon: The First Movie Parental Review”, Screen It!. URL last accessed April 21, 2006.
6. ^ “Pidgeotto Pokédex information”, DLTK-Kids. URL last accessed April 21, 2006.
7. ^ Clements, Jonatha. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5