Offensive things in Pokemon

[Goldenhammerhead]

We all know the story about the angry lady who complained that Jynx was a racial stereotype of a Black woman, and it resulted in Jynx becoming coloured purple.

We also might know about the famous trainer card which had the swastika on it (But it did not have the meaning the Nazis used. It meant "good luck")

And the offensive "Holiday at Acopaulo" episode, where James gets inflatable breasts to win a bathing suit contest against Misty.

But what other seemingly offensive things have you seen that have popped up in Pokemon?

wait untill the lady who had a problem with jynx has a lucky son that sees a shiny raquaza!lol.

 

[Vendour]

Regarding the last thing I mentioned, I recall one person getting mad about the Channelers in Pokemon Tower back in R/B/Y, and specifically mentioning that one of them said "Give me your soul." Well, fast forward a couple years to when I was playing LeafGreen for the first time. The aforementioned Channeler now says "Give me your all" instead. I have a feeling that Nintendo might have heard the same thing I did.

Lmao. XD That's hilarious.

those are also the same Christians who think that the Tellie-Tubbies are of the devil and Spongebob comes from Satan...

Really? I haven't heard about any of this.

I never even thought of Jynx being black like a person. It just makes sense for her to be. Jynx live in the freezing cold, so I would assume that the black skin is caused by the freezing of their skin, like frostbite. And, since they live in the snow, black skin would be helpful in them finding one another, since it would stand out greatly against the white of the snow. Anyone who actually thinks about it without jumping to the conclusion that the only reason it's black is to make fun of black people. SHE'S the racist, in my opinion. What I don't understand is why the pokemon people let that... person walk all over them. They could make up this story I just posted, even if it wasn't true. xD

I doubt she knew much of anything about Pokemon, let alone anything about a single Pokemon like Jynx to think about why it would make since for Jynx to have black skin. Besides that, the fact that Jynx simply had black skin wasn't the only reason why she felt offended. Jynx was a humanoid Pokemon with jet black skin and big lips, and she bares a resemblance to the whole blackface gig. Blackface has a racist history and is still a subject of super duper racial controversy because of it's history and it's a stereotype of black people, particularly the way they look. You can read up on it -here- if you want. But anyway, that's why the woman was upset with the way Jynx looked, because Jynx looked a lot like the blackface look. So while you say it makes for Jynx to have black skin, it also makes sense as to why she was offended. We just have to be understanding of both sides.

 

[Yingxue]

Oh wait: There's a church-like building in DP. Someone call someone and get it destroyed!!!11! It's just a matter of time before that starts. xD

I haven't heard any controversy regarding that yet. :D

 

[Eruption]

Oh wait: There's a church-like building in DP. Someone call someone and get it destroyed!!!11! It's just a matter of time before that starts. xD

Oh dear it loks like we will have more cases then.

Some quite weird cases I've seen here.

 

[Kim Do-yeon]

Talking about the Swastika here it is:

 

[Yingxue]

Talking about the Swastika here it is:

Ah yes, there it is. The swastika card!

 

[Vendour]

^ What in the world? Why is that even there? Just randomly hanging there for no reason? If it means "good luck", then what does it have to do with the card? What Trainer card is that and why is the symbol relevant?

 

[TheSilverVersion]

^^^At the Card^^^^
I do beleive I have had the english version of that card at one point. I don't remember the symbol, did they remove it in the american version?


Has anyone noticed how in the R/B/Y, whenever you fought a trainer, it says "So-and-so wants to fight".

In G/S/C, it was something along the lines "So-and-so wants to battle"

Then in R/S/E, it beleive it was "Would like to battle".

Seems to be getting less offensive down the generations. Who knows who might be offended by "wants to fight"....

 

[Erimgard]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet...and I'm a little surprised...
The whole concept of evolution.
I know a lot of Christians have gotten up in arms about it
I'm a Christian, and I have no problem with it. It's a game. It doesn't seriously effect people in any way. Some may make the argument that Christian children should not play the games because it might cause them to believe in Evolution instead of Creationism...but I never had that problem. If a simple make-believe game can change your child's beliefs, I think the problem lies more with your parenting skills in teaching children how to decipher the difference between the world and games.
[not bashing evolutionists either. I'm just saying that a Christian parent has no reason to complain about their kids being 'led astray']

 

[spike6958]

A guy i used to be friends with found pokeballs offensive, as it was showing that it's ok to put animals in captivity and force them to fight each other. (surprise, surprise, he's a BIG animal rights campainer now)

 

[Yingxue]

A guy i used to be friends with found pokeballs offensive, as it was showing that it's ok to put animals in captivity and force them to fight each other. (surprise, surprise, he's a BIG animal rights campainer now)

I can sort of understand it...but then again, it's just a fictional show.

 

[Vendour]

^^^At the Card^^^^
I do beleive I have had the english version of that card at one point. I don't remember the symbol, did they remove it in the american version?

Yeah, it was removed in the American version. Wasn't it changed to a spiral instead? I don't remember very well.

Has anyone noticed how in the R/B/Y, whenever you fought a trainer, it says "So-and-so wants to fight".

In G/S/C, it was something along the lines "So-and-so wants to battle"

Then in R/S/E, it beleive it was "Would like to battle".

Seems to be getting less offensive down the generations. Who knows who might be offended by "wants to fight"....

That was probably because a lot children play Pokemon and Nintendo didn't want to encourage the youngsters to fight.

 

[J-Rad]

I'm a christian, I don't find anything about Pokemon offensive

same here and more speficly (if u havn't noticed already) im mormon...yeah we find coffe unhealthy so we don't drink it...

 

[Kim Do-yeon]

Look at the Jynx Trading Card.......

.......See no blackface!

And Now Koga's Tangela......

.......Jynx has still got blackface!

See blackface is still there!!!

And one more:
Sabrina's Jynx

 

[Improfane]

Offensive things in Pokemon?
Animal fighting, like dog fighting, cockrel fighting and the likes
Animal slavery, dancing bears

 

[Eruption]

I don't think this has been mentioned yet...and I'm a little surprised...
The whole concept of evolution.
I know a lot of Christians have gotten up in arms about it
I'm a Christian, and I have no problem with it. It's a game. It doesn't seriously effect people in any way. Some may make the argument that Christian children should not play the games because it might cause them to believe in Evolution instead of Creationism...but I never had that problem. If a simple make-believe game can change your child's beliefs, I think the problem lies more with your parenting skills in teaching children how to decipher the difference between the world and games.
[not bashing evolutionists either. I'm just saying that a Christian parent has no reason to complain about their kids being 'led astray']

Same here.

I bet all the people who have fought against cases in Pokemon didn't have a clue what Pokemon was about.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

Hmm...

As to the evolution aspect of Pokemon, the problem is that people identify that word too quickly with Darwinism. Pokemon evolution resembles either A) The metamorphasis from immature larval form to full-grown animal during a short period (the catterpillars, Burmy, etc.), B) Maturation from a younger form to an adult creature (Charmander to Charizard, Rattata to Raticate, etc.) or C) the transformation to a new form through the absorbtion of some new form of energy (evolution by stone or trading+item). If anything, I think the term "metamorphasis" would probably be a more fitting term in the English language. It bears little to no resemblance to Darwinian survival of the fittest evolution (which occurs in the species as a whole and not to one individual over its lifetime). So evolution is basically a null point here.

As to the blackface thing... there are several theories about Jynx, but I am willing to admit that it might have been an unknowing racial stereotype in Japan when it was first introduced. I don't think that's a reason to yell at Nintendo, however. It has been mentioned already that almost everybody in Japan belongs to the same ethnic group, so racial differences don't show up as often as they do in countries like America, where we have racial diversity coming out of our earlobes by comparison. If you think about it that way, it's possible to see these people coming up with a design based on "Blackface" without realizing the full implication.

Of course, there's also the matter of racial diversity in the anime. I have one thing to say about that: B-U-L-L. As has been mentioned, the show was written by Japanese authors with an intended audience of the country of Japan, so there's no real reason to assume that they'd throw in an arbitrary black person. (And if they did, they'd have to be very careful about how they treated it. Do you want them to just throw in a Barret Wallace clone? The last thing that Pokemon needs if it wants to avoid controversy is a Mr. T impersonator). Then there's the fact that Brock is definitely not of the same race as the others. Actually, I think that's a good thing. Think about it: Has Brock ever been portrayed as an idiot? His only character flaw is his whole "Girls, Girls!" thing, which is common among male anime characters. I'd say that he's either intended to be Hispanic (I entertain this notion only because of Brock's "Takeshi no Paradaisu/Welcome to my Paradise" routine), Mulatta (The politically correct term for someone of mixed African descent) or just a random ethnic group from the world of Pokemon that doesn't exist in this one. (Think about it-Does everything in the Pokemon world necessarily correspond to our own?)

Yah, I think that's my comments on just about everything. Except the whole "animals forced to fight" thing, which makes no sense because the Pokemon are usually the one initiating the whole battle and often won't obey a trainer who hasn't earned their respect. (Ash's Charizard, anyone?) They aren't being FORCED to do anything. They do it because they want to, and because they trust that their trainer will do what is best to lead them to victory.

 

[Kim Do-yeon]

I am not offended by some of the stuff in Pokémon which I should be as I am a Catholic and some Catholics deem some stuff in Pokémon as the work of the devil and I say that other Catholics & Christians should open there eyes and watch Pokémon from beggining to end and look and hear the good stuff in Pokémon because I can't remember which episode it was but I remember a line that said "Treat your Pokémon like your friends and family" so all Catholics & Christians should take that into mind because I have!

 

[boo836]

And Now Koga's Tangela......

.......Jynx has still got blackface!

See blackface is still there!!!

If you look at Tangela, you see he has a black face too! Why have they not complained about this?

 

[shedinjask]

Lmao. XD That's hilarious.

Really? I haven't heard about any of this.

I doubt she knew much of anything about Pokemon, let alone anything about a single Pokemon like Jynx to think about why it would make since for Jynx to have black skin. Besides that, the fact that Jynx simply had black skin wasn't the only reason why she felt offended. Jynx was a humanoid Pokemon with jet black skin and big lips, and she bares a resemblance to the whole blackface gig. Blackface has a racist history and is still a subject of super duper racial controversy because of it's history and it's a stereotype of black people, particularly the way they look. You can read up on it -here- if you want. But anyway, that's why the woman was upset with the way Jynx looked, because Jynx looked a lot like the blackface look. So while you say it makes for Jynx to have black skin, it also makes sense as to why she was offended. We just have to be understanding of both sides.

OH LOOK LUCARIO'S BATTLE STANCE IS A NAZI SALUTE OBVIOUSLY GAMEFREAK WANTS ALL JEWS TO DIE.

Seriously. Jynx was based on a Ganguro girl, which explains the black face (it's rouge, a type of make up, her Japanese name is even Rougera), the excessive make up, and the whorish actions. Just because it happens to look like blackface is no reason to throw a ***** fit over it.

I remember saying this on a thread in another forum. A mod closed it. Apparently she was black and offended by it as well. Racism, imo, is more of the feeling behind it than the actions. Like cursing. Jynx's designers were trying to replicate a Japanese subculture, not be racist. They didn't mean anything by it. Get over it.

ACC-M, evolution was called metamorphosis in the Japanese version. Stupid dubbers.