![[tmbchr]™](/journal/popocculture-blog-logo.jpg){kind=logo}
The Problem With Pokemon
Just reading through a Christian article on how Pokemon is a Satanic influence on kids. It’s too bad they let religion cloud their judgement here, because I think in so doing they are masking what otherwise could be a very good point. And no, I’m not talking about Satanic playing cards. I’m talking about rampant consumerism and mediated experience.
Of course, that’s not what they’re talking about, because they are just as caught in those traps as their kids. All they are able to see is the sinister hands of Satan:
“Recently, my children were given a set of Pokemon cards,” said DiAnna Brannan, a Seattle mom. “They are very popular with the children at our church and elsewhere. I was instantly suspicious but couldn’t discern the problem. We have since been told that they are stepping stones to the ‘Magic cards’ that have been popular for the last few years, which we do not allow.”
This is great great stuff. Little did she know it, but Dianna Banana gave away a big part of the game in this simple quote. She talks about how she’s unable to discern the problem for herself. So, as a result, she finds an intermediary figure to fight her battle for her. This is exactly what Pokemon is all about.
[Before I go any further, I just want to say, I have no problem with Pokemon or any of that shit. I’m merely trying to figure out what it is these people may be reacting to, because I just don’t accept these things are tools of the Devil.]
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. The premise of Pokemon as a game and cartoon is that you are a Pokemon master. You go around and battle other Pokemon masters. But you don’t do so directly. You make use of your Pokemon (Japan’s idea of a contraction for “Pocket Monsters”), and then the Pokemon battle each other.
Christians would have you believe this is a demonic activity, because you’re making use of these little magical animated characters. But really, all you’re doing is manipulating projected thought forms, tulpas. And instead of confronting someone else directly, you each project an idea outward, and then battle with ideas. Christians do it all the time. The Bible and Jesus both act as Pokemons for them, so do pastors and preachers. Their Biblemons and Jesusmons go out and battle Devilmons and Heathenmons that they see popping up everywhere.
I don’t think the Japanese were trying to make a statement about demons or Christianity with these cartoons though. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Digimon, I think it’s even more obvious what they are doing. The Japanese are a very technologically advanced people. Their cultural myths are necessarily going to both support and reflect it. Digimon (Digital Monsters) act as sort of avatars for their masters. They are sort of created identities that a person uses to project themselves into an electronic space. There’s nothing inherently evil about it. But I do think there’s a danger in withdrawing from the world, and interacting solely with ideas and projections, rather than with real people. I think the farther technology goes, the more this is going to become a problem. Messy, crazy, irrational human affairs are going to be increasingly reduced to santized pre-packaged ideas and abstract forms for us to toy with. Christians aren’t any more immune to this than the rest of us - if anything they do it even more by projecting themselves into the Virtual Reality of the Bible.
The other thing this Christian article about Pokemon tries to blast (ineffectively) is the whole sense of urgency to collect and acquire that Pokemon and other toy fads are generally built upon. Part of the genius of Pokemon is that the acquisition of new products is actually built right into the storyline. When you battle other Pokemon masters, you’re supposed to be able to “capture” their Pokemon if you win. Of course, you can also capture other cards by going to the store and laying down a few dollars. Again, I think this is an easy easy target that Christians should be able to rip to shreds with strong Biblical arguments against possessions and against acquisitiveness. But instead, they shoot themselves in the foot, and start blubbering about Satanism and the occult. I think the reason they don’t see this obvious problem is that the parents and Christian authors who go on and on against this stuff are themselves caught up in the game of materialism. Certainly it’s not the same game as the mainstream culture. They try to define their identity by endlessly buying Christian products instead. They think they are somehow bucking the system by doing that. But really, they are just as caught as anybody else. They remain in a cycle of trying to buy stuff to be happy and to define who they are.
Really, I think if they wanted to be hardcore and have actual ground to stand on, they would learn how and teach their children how to be content without all that useless plastic bullshit. You think living as a Christian is hard? Fuck, imagine how hard it would be if you actually followed the Christian message and renounced all the trash that fills up everybody’s lives. But that would mean that they’d have to give up a lot of their precious mental Pokemon battles between Jesusmon and Satanmon. They’d have to actually stand up and confront the world head on, with nothing to hide behind.
June 24th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
isn`t that what we use lawyers for?
June 24th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
I don’t think the Japanese were trying to make a statement about demons or Christianity with these cartoons though. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Digimon, I think it’s even more obvious what they are doing. The Japanese are a very technologically advanced people. Their cultural myths are necessarily going to both support and reflect it.
a bit to generalized though there…
there are Christians in Japan. & commentary about Christianity pops up over and over again in many Animes….
bro, you gotta see Hellsing.. (but more importantly Serial Experiments Lain)
one
human?
June 24th, 2005 at 4:28 pm
well regardless of there being christian commentary in japan, i don’t think they are trying to bash them with pokemon.
(other people have suggested that i check out this Lain thing also.)
June 24th, 2005 at 4:51 pm
i agree, its not Christian bashing at all….
but never underestimate the social commentary that anime flex…
you can say some crazy shit about anything using cartoons…
and there is definitly still lingering issues about 1945…
the occult themes in anime are HEAVY… and they definitly go into demons, the christian church etc… not in Pokemon i suppose.. but i never really liked Pokemon so i havent watched it much…
Lain…. you know a anime is good when they mention Douglas Rushkoff & Terence Mckenna…. aliens, occult, cyberia….. Lain is my favorite anime (i would even say its my favorite story ive ever seen visualized..highly recommended to see the whole series, well worth the watch)…..
i think parents ought to be a bit concerned though, about things such as:
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
http://www.unfortunateeventsmovie.com/intro.html
ive never seen such a overtly occult movie pushed on kids….
one
human?
June 24th, 2005 at 5:21 pm
[…] post on the continuity of the Gnostic tradition. Or, check out Tim’s site for some great ideas about Pokemon.
[…]
June 24th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
the anime that i see on the shelves at the local book store seem focussed on showing the underwear of young girls of indeterminate age.i`m sure this image,as pervative in the genre as it is isn`t contextual,so much as subliminal.
frankly,i`ve never read any,so my comment is based purely on what i can see from six feet away.
June 24th, 2005 at 7:26 pm
As an example of a battle with both physical and spiritual elements, here is the motto at FaithFreedom.org:
It’s pretty obvious that non-fighting citizens send out soldiers, rather like Pokemons, to war. I like the way you’ve highlighted here the way we use ideas to fight on the ideological front.
Which one is “for real”? The soldier on the battlefield or the lawyer in the justice arena?
My own understanding of the Last Judgment is that it relates to the ideological battle which is set in another time/space after or outside the time of the material battle. This is where the moral victory is sought.
I really like your analysis of the Pokemon phenomenon. I’m not sure how a battle could be other than indirect but I’m sure it would be more authentic.
I was recently doing battle with a Muslim on a forum and things got heated up, so I suggested we take a break. He agreed, and seemed relieved, saying he’d return to the discussion after his exams. Perhaps a lot of the buildup of tension related to his anxiety about how much the discussion might intrude into his studies. I also had personal reasons for a buildup of tension.
We forget so easily that there are real people with real lives behind these internet personas. We have to take account of those real lives. I suspect that when we do, when we acknowledge each other’s personal lives, we are closer to doing battle - or engaging - more directly. The intimacy is scary, much more scary than using Pokemon cards.
June 25th, 2005 at 12:09 am
i believe in fighting my own fights,spiritually,legally and otherwise.the idea of someone speaking for me has never sat well.i`ve always wanted to be the one to make my case.i don`t need a minister to talk to god for for me.i fail to see why we can`t approach the bench on our own behalf and i never liked rpgs.give me a first person shooter any day.
June 25th, 2005 at 3:23 am
In some ways alistair you may have more of an original spark than others. I for one, am an addict. I smoke. I cannot escape my obsession with having cigarettes around. It blows — well, I suck.
The fact is, we can’t just “approach the bench on our own behalf” when the freedom of approaching it as a dignified and independent man has been legally removed. We must approach the bench together, bucking all trends, niceties and traditions. When one is called on, many respond. But that is also the elixr as well as the poison of this concept we call freedom. Can any large group of people be relied upon to act in unison for its own sake without forsaking its own freedom? Is it possible to neutralize the temptation of groupthink, while still acting as a group? Are we a people of addiction, addicted to not being addicted? What if it is simply within our nature to be permanently “addicted”/emotionally lashed to something and to call it something else?
We may believe in fighting our own fights, but what if, in the greater scheme of things, we must begin to fight together — sending out “pokemons” for the cause? What if we’re chosen to be a “pokemon” and not a player? Who chooses? Who plays?
June 25th, 2005 at 7:24 am
with the greatest of respect to you,jk,it is precisely the pre-conceived idea that smoking is an addiction that stops you from challenging the behaviour that you have regarding smoking cigarettes.the tobacco industry loves to repeat the word addiction in thier backhanded attempts to help smokers to stop.i see the tobacco industry as a parasite in society.if anything is truly evil in the world then they are.
if you are interested in an interesting approach to the legal system,go to www.adventuresinlegalland.com
i believe we choose when we choose to.i don`t know any different.
June 25th, 2005 at 7:28 am
oh,yeah,and the tobacco industries ONLY defense is that they have a legal product.fuck them,fuck them.death dealing evil,cancer delivering killers.
June 25th, 2005 at 11:42 am
and where do you derive the belief that our right to approach the bench on our own behalf has been legally removed?
June 25th, 2005 at 9:12 pm
Yeah, perhaps it is a mind of matter thing. For instance, I never get sick even though I work around tons of germs. Well, the occasional head cold that lasts for a day for sure. But it never seems to migrate to or even begin in my chest. Which would be nice.
Let me explain.
A year or so ago I had a cold coming on and it felt as though it threatend to make breathing, coughing, life in general, pretty much unbearable. For about half a day there I was excited to find that during this time I did not crave a cigarette. I hoped it would get worse, simply because it seemed like a rather simple way to prove to myself that I could quit. Of course, the next day I woke up and felt much better, thus a resumption of my pack and a half a day habit. Bummer.
Whatever that means.
As far as my “belief” in “our right to approach the bench” thing goes, I believe no such thing. Merely an observation. This bit from PKD’s VALIS is instructive. Read it this morning and thought “Aha!” perfect example of what I meant.
June 25th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
the buying,lighting and smoking of cigarettes is an unconcious act.when you become concious of sucking poisonous fumes derived from the burning of not only tobacco but as many as 200 different chemicals into your lungs,thereby setting in motion a process whereby your body trys to defend it`sself against the attack until it develops cancers of every concieveable type.not to mention nerve damage,deterioration of viens and arteries and a severe detrement to your immune system.and that`s just off the top of my head.and feeling like shit and spending $3000 dollars of after tax earnings per year.
when you realise that you just fucking stop.
if someone asked me to choose between a bad cold and smoking cigarettes,i`d say fuck you,i`ll take neither.
pkd had some interesting points.pessimistic points.
what`s the difference between lab rats and humans?
rats stop running the maze when the cheese runs out and humans will break into the lab after hours to try to keep running the maze with the lights off.
June 27th, 2005 at 4:11 pm
rats stop running the maze when the cheese runs out __
Not to wreck an analogy, but they will keep runing the maze forever just on the hope of cheese. That’s how it works.
June 27th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
yeah, you`re right but i can see humans in casinos as we speak. with rats it`s survival.
June 28th, 2005 at 5:44 pm
Your article reminded me of this site…check out the Pokemon rap — backwards:
http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm
Let’s hope this “info” doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Haha.