Info Archive



[ Donate :    Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund    Save The Rhino ] 


<Prev Next>
Subject: I have an objection ( 16 of 22 )
Posted by Cagliostro

>>I think it's great that kids are flipping over the Harry Potter books as opposed to Pokemon and the latest drab pop music group.<<

My objection is to the Pokemon line. Why has Pokemon been so demonized by adults? Sure, the marketing division for Pokemon certainly have crossed lines into the realm of demonic, but the show, movies, and actually the Gameboy game (if only they had made one, as the Yellow, Red and Blue version are all essentially the same game but with different Pokemon to catch) is actually really good. I think the problem is (a) cute = evil in this culture, as most of what you see is the yellow Pikachu who is certainly cute (and actually turned me off from it at first, but once I realized how Buddha-like Pikachu is, I started to enjoy the show more). (b) you have to devote a bit of time to understand the show. Hell, there are 150+ characters to learn about, and many are damn hilarious. But most people don't want to devote their time to a "kid's show", which I don't think it is. So, because it is confusing from the start, our short attention-span culture of adults don't want to have to think while a cartoon is playing. (c) the "this is for kids, this is for adults, this is for everybody" mentality. Absolutely stupid. I always give whatever is hot a gentle try, and have been annoyed by Barney, felt my brain leak out my head from Teletubbies (which many of my generation deem as a great show to veg out to, which I don't understand how that is good), and so forth, but Pokemon is really very clever and very subtle a lot of the time. The big messages they drive into the ground, but that could have happened in dubbing. There are many mysteries surrounding the show, such as where do the Pokemon come from. They have never so far come right out and asked the question, but they have subtly hinted that they might be from space. Still very uncertain. It is a very imaginative and clever show, filled with well-built suspense, a good message to the kids, action and (god forbid) love.
I have read the first book of Harry Potter, and intend on reading the rest. I do think they are written very well, and certainly build suspense very well. There are a few interesting ideas here and there, but overall it is not the first time I have read anything like this. It just seems to be written better than most. It is definitely good that kids are reading these days, and I'm certainly not against that. What I do not get is the adults, who read and think Harry Potter is as good as the kids do, but cannot wait until a really imaginative thing like Pokemon has gone away.

--A 31 year old male who was probably a Japanese girl in a former life
<Prev Next>

[ Back to thread list ]



 


(c) 2001