Wow. So apparently I missed a blog entry. Huh. Don't know how that happened.
So here's the thing. I'm going to post two entries to make up for it, just for the sole reason that I have as many entries as everyone else. One today and one hopefully tomorrow. This one in particular will somewhat relate to the short story Where are you going, Where have you been? by Joyce Carol Oats. And this one is one of the quite controversial topics in the Pokemon fanbase. So if you are easily offended or don't want your image of Pokemon ruined, I advise you to turn away now.
Oh, who am I kidding that will just make you want to read it more. Whatever man, it's your funeral. Seriously, this is some deep stuff where getting into.
Remember when you found out the Lion King was a dirty movie with all it's adult-themed subliminal messaging?
It's comparable to that. And I'm sorry if you just found out that Lion King was dirty. But why would you ever trust a company like that anyway?
Anyway, on to the first topic. Apparently, according to many close-minded religious folk, Pokemon is the worst game to ever be created and is a symbol for the devil.
WHAT.
Now if you know anything about the about Where are you going, Where have you been, you'll know that the main antagonist-Arnold Friend, is often compared to the devil. First of all, his appearance is clearly suggesting that he is trying to hide something. A wig to cover horns. Boots to cover hooves. Mismatched cloths to distract Connie from figuring out that he's no good. Things like that.
His personality is also very...mean. He manipulates Connie and does some very devil-like things to her. While doing devil-like things probably isn't enough to convince anyone he's the devil...
There's also his name. When I first heard it, I wan't thinking so I was like "Aww...he's a friend! And his name is Arnold! Wondered why that happened~" Then I was like "HE NO FRIEND." And it was at that moment I realized that if you take out the Rs in his name...it turns to A nold F iend. Which with proper spacing, turns into An old Fiend. The devil is supposed to your first enemy, and from the moment you enter the world, he's constantly trying to bring you down. Bad pun intended.
I could continue here, but what's the point? The point is that Arnold Friend has many things connecting him to the devil. How does Pokemon, a child-friendly game promoting the magic of friendship symbolize such a evil theme?
I'll start with the obvious and work my way up.
First of all is the Pokemon in Pokemon. They are creatures that you pretty much control (like demons) to wreck others and do your bidding. Most of the powers they have are used for destruction, something the devil would approve of. Pokemon evolve, which is likely a mechanic based off of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution (although definitely not an exact copy), something Christian belief strongly denies.
 |
| That's not how it works! |
But here's the thing I'm getting at here. Do any of these things really make you believe that Pokemon was intended to be a tribute to the devil? Because they don't to me. If this "evidence" is enough to make you think so than that is your choice.I can't stop the way you think.
I'm exploiting the dangers of assuming. The way you assume things totally changes how you look at things. I've read articles about how Christian mothers burned their child's game boy just to prevent them from ever playing Pokemon. And while we may look at that as stupid (hopefully), it will make perfect sense to them because they have their mind set.
The way we assume Arnold Friend as the devil changes our whole perception of the story. If he is the devil, then we'll look at Connie as the helpless little girl who never had a chance to begin with. How can a girl fight a devil? However if he is not the devil, then we'll look at Connie as the example rather than the victim. In some way, shape, or form Connie could have prevented her fate, and we can learn from that.
Sure they're a few things that intentionally make him look like a devil. His name for one. But how can anyone say for certain that "An Old Fiend" is a devil? Perhaps Joyce Carol Oats was merely looking for a clever pun, or maybe he IS and old fiend. There's no way of knowing. Houndoom is almost certainly based off of a helldog. But is that merit enough to call the whole franchise a sin?
Much like Pokemon, Arnold Friend has many things that make him seem devilish. But in either case it's impossible to prove. I'm not saying that calling either of them a tribute to satin wrong, for there is no way I know. One simple story can be interpreted a thousand different ways. Each way, as long as they have their reasoning, can be right. It's possible that the author may even have purposefully omit information from us to let us come up with our own interpretation. It may be interpreted in a direction that the author didn't want it too, or weren't expecting at all. In fact, I'd say the reader has almost a 0 percent chance of nailing exactly what the author was thinking in those circumstances. That's literary analysis
By the way, Pokemon responded to their accusations. They stated that it intended to be based soley on "the ties of friendship" and has no "harmful moral side-effects"
...It'd be bad publicity if they said otherwise.
I'm exploiting the dangers of assuming. The way you assume things totally changes how you look at things. I've read articles about how Christian mothers burned their child's game boy just to prevent them from ever playing Pokemon. And while we may look at that as stupid (hopefully), it will make perfect sense to them because they have their mind set.
The way we assume Arnold Friend as the devil changes our whole perception of the story. If he is the devil, then we'll look at Connie as the helpless little girl who never had a chance to begin with. How can a girl fight a devil? However if he is not the devil, then we'll look at Connie as the example rather than the victim. In some way, shape, or form Connie could have prevented her fate, and we can learn from that.
Sure they're a few things that intentionally make him look like a devil. His name for one. But how can anyone say for certain that "An Old Fiend" is a devil? Perhaps Joyce Carol Oats was merely looking for a clever pun, or maybe he IS and old fiend. There's no way of knowing. Houndoom is almost certainly based off of a helldog. But is that merit enough to call the whole franchise a sin?
Much like Pokemon, Arnold Friend has many things that make him seem devilish. But in either case it's impossible to prove. I'm not saying that calling either of them a tribute to satin wrong, for there is no way I know. One simple story can be interpreted a thousand different ways. Each way, as long as they have their reasoning, can be right. It's possible that the author may even have purposefully omit information from us to let us come up with our own interpretation. It may be interpreted in a direction that the author didn't want it too, or weren't expecting at all. In fact, I'd say the reader has almost a 0 percent chance of nailing exactly what the author was thinking in those circumstances. That's literary analysis
By the way, Pokemon responded to their accusations. They stated that it intended to be based soley on "the ties of friendship" and has no "harmful moral side-effects"
...It'd be bad publicity if they said otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment