Is Pokemon Child Appropriate?

A couple of days ago i decided to watch television with my younger brother and sister. As i flipped through the channels an old anime show that I used to watch popped up called Pokemon. Pokemon are basically animals of the "real" world but instead they come in a variety of colors and they have powers.The show is about this young boy named Ash Ketchum who travels around his world to become the best of the best, a Pokemon Master.As he travels he meets new people and capture these creatures and learns lessons. When it first aired it targeted kids around the age of 4-11, now its trying to target people as high as 60. I have recently stopped watching this show because it has the same story line every season. On the other hands the kids were enjoying every minute of it. I was going to change the channel until I saw this.

For a minute I thought I was watching pornography. Those slippery slime slops always find a way to insert some sort of porn in their cartoons. Not only was that episode sexual for like 10 seconds it was also extremely violent. The girl got humped was Ash's rival Jessi from a group called Team Rocket that steals pokemon from other people and use them for their pleasure. After that incident the pokemon started to battle. This show promotes violence more than any other show I have watched when younger. While Ash tell the monkey to beat up the rivals pokemon my siblings yell and shout "yay!!!!" as if it is good to get blown up.

Are the Producers supporting violence. A case study by Jennifer L. Crow has shown that "Pokemania sometimes leads to tragic endings. In the United States, cards and paraphernalia sometimes spark outbreaks of crime and violence. Some people have become violent int their attempt to get a hold of Pokemon trading cards. Many children across the country (primarily between the ages of 9-15) have been beaten up on the playground for their cards or have been caught in toy stores trying to shop lift them. Even the adults have gotten ugly, over the urge to collect Pokemon; "a North Carolina man was charged with assault for punching a Burger King cashier after he did not get a Pokemon toy with his meal." Opponents to Pokemon cards say that not only promotes violence but is also a form of gambling (i.e. the cards are traded) and should be banned.Since the eruption of these incidents, schools across the country have banned Pokemon games and trading cards."

There are even reports of young kids and adult having seizures by watching this television series. I loved pokemon until i saw this very episode and relied that these are portrays of animals. They are promoting violence on animals and on humans. Is that why dog fighting have boomed in children over the past few years. Is the thought of the dog being a pokemon meaning that you can be the best pokemon/dog master of the neighborhood? Is it OK to get beaten my a pokemon doll just because i think Jessi is cute? This series is one of the top longest ran shows on television so don't expect any decreases in child violence. Parents its your choice to see this through. Watch an episode with you kid and decide if they are young enough to handle it.

Team rocket pic http://www.tfn.net/~cbass89/tr87.jpg

Case study http://www1.american.edu/TED/pokemon.htm

Have we sunk that low?

Why is America so obsessed with one single person? First they make a star, then they break her. Does this give us (people in general) some sort of sick thrill. Do we go around looking for young children to star on the Disney Channel in some sort of television series then we wait until they come ripe for the picking. We literally go out and venture for a cute kid and pluck them right from their mother and father. Afterwards we bring them to the Disney network write a script of how their entire life is going to turn out. First we start them of with a cheesy show and wait to see if it will be a "hit" or a "miss". Once it becomes a hit we move on into the next phase(teen phase) : Introduce them into a band, make them a solo artist or make them a movie star.
During a lunch break the producer or make-up artist or someone they might know will slip a big, fat book that says SEX & DRUGS on the cover.Curious as a kid should be, they will open the book and find pictures(most likely pornography) in the book; aroused and still curious the little d-nar(Disney star) will want to try out the events for him/herself. Third step: get them to have sex,leave Disney and hang out with "dope crowd". Afterwards we wait and let the next events occur naturally. Wow talk about Celebrity Worship Disorder.

A prime example of someone that have been "created" by society is Britney Spears, a.k.a Britt Britt. She has been raised by Disney, ordered to get in the music business (by then the paparazzi had already put a target on her back); introduced to Lindsey lohan(pic above), Paris Hilton and K- Fed (sorry k-fed you are not important enough to have your named linked to a picture)then the massive drug-paparazzi-Paris/lohan- drive with my baby in the front seat phase.

"At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears made her "comeback". Unfortunately, it was less than stellar (to say the least). Moments after, the Internet and gossip pages were full of criticism and ridicule about her singing, her dancing, and her body."[1] Come on the girl just came from a break up and lost custody of her children to her ex husband who want to mooch money out of her like a thirsty leech gorging itself with blood on someone who have just entered the pond; she came off of drugs,then she lost the weight to preform for everyone at the MTV awards. She tries her best to please everyone that views her but that isn't enough, we still find something to make fun of her for.We follow her everywhere she goes until she reaches the point of insanity. We call out her kids name; we kick her when she's walking in the grocery store and look away as if we had no clue as to what she is fussing over; she orders Pepsi but instead we tell her "sorry we are out" so she drinks coke instead, then we take pictures to make her lose her Pepsi drink; while she's sleeping we play some British music and the next day she's talking like a Brit. What is wrong with us?! LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

Celebrities had have enough and they are "fighting back"[1]. They are normal people who just have more money and appear on TV more often than others so they should be treated the same. Ask yourself this question: if i was waiting in line at Toys R Us for three hours trying to get the new barney toy for my son/daughter would i let Britney spears skip me to get the last one? Think about it. I surely would not let Michael Jackson have a sleepover with my kids because he is the king of pop."BBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEYYYYAAAAAA Michael get out of my house"! Paparazzi can take a picture of whoever they want in the end you can be on TV...it just would not be the way you would have wanted it to turn out.






[1] Puley, Aaron:"you want a piece of me? britney spears & the spectacle of fame":media rants and reflections IV: 02/2/09. 02/23/09 http://puleyblog4.blogspot.com/


"lohan drunk" online image 02/23/09
http://www.vassconsult.com/images/lohan.jpg