• WithoutFurtherBelay@hexbear.netEnglish
      0·
      10 months ago

      I’ve read this. It really does not work in this context. Nobody is defending or genuinely attacking Pokémon due to its incidental inclusion of cockfighting. What we are doing is defending Palworld, because it’s implicitly referencing this sort of fucked up aspect of Pokémon when you think of it too much, as a shitpost.

      Not to mention the fact that there is genuine cultural analysis to be made about the fact that we just… have games about collecting sentient creatures and putting them into tiny spaces and don’t comment about it at all.

  • RION [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    The difference is Pokemon makes it clear that the Pokemon enjoy battling and do it voluntarily

    Are these the same people who accept JK Rowling’s “the house elves are slaves but they like it so it’s cool and even the idea of emancipation is a joke” with no further introspection?

    • FourteenEyes [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Taking my Charmander down to the Pokemon center to get electroshock treatment for her drapetomania and then trauma-bonding afterwards with pokemon treats that are basically like heroin

  • Zezzy [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    SMT negotiations are by far my favorite monster-collecting methods. Just equal parts philosophy, flirtation, and gibberish as they vibe check you.

  • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    This is less true for me than others because I spent 80% of my time in Pokemon X in Pokemon Aimie playing games with, petting, and feeding my Pokemon rather than battling with them

    But yeah.

  • KittyBobo [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    That always bugged me with the Pokémon defense. “Oh, but they like that im the master and tell them to do things. We’re all friends, just a big family!” Is the exact argument you would use if you were subjugating others but didn’t want to feel bad about it.

            • Great_Leader_Is_Dead@hexbear.netEnglish
              1·
              10 months ago

              but again most people don’t do that

              Billions of people across the world use animals for labor, before the Industrial Revolution most people did. In much of the underdeveloped world you often have to use animal labor to survive. And often people who exploit animal labor feel genuine affection for the animals, plenty of people who use dogs for more utilitarian means still love them, plenty of farmers care for the donkey that hauls their produce to market.

            • BovineUniversity [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
              1·
              10 months ago

              Why should animals be forced to live within your limits though, even if you treat them ‘well’? You’re trapping them in homes or even cages, they have basically no agency.

              • WithoutFurtherBelay@hexbear.netEnglish
                1·
                10 months ago

                Because if they get outside they’ll get killed by a car and/or fuck up the environment

                Pets SHOULDN’T exist, but that isn’t fixable by having individuals throw “their” animals outside, it doesn’t fix anything and causes more suffering

                So I’m not “against pets” any more than someone is “against food” because they got it from a capitalist grocery store

                • BovineUniversity [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
                  1·
                  10 months ago

                  Oh I’m not saying pets should all be euthanized immediately or anything, just that the pet and pet-breeding industry should be phased out with the goal of animals existing almost solely in the wild in the future.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          We co-evolved with dogs over the course of 40,000 years. in so far as the temr “natural” means anything, it is natural for dogs and humans to live together in close cooperation. there’s a theory going that humans and dogs (and domesticated agricultural plants) co-domesticated each other and that our close relationship with dogs (and wheat) is why humans seem to share many traits found in domesticated animals but not wild animals.

          • GinAndJuche@hexbear.netEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            Malazan plays with this idea by claiming giant fantasy dogs that work for the god of death protected early humans and we kinda evolved as a result. or something like that, its been years.

  • Acute_Engles [he/him, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    I’m sure the godly and legendary creatures I keep in a capsule in a bank are feeling good about it. Oh you’re the god of space? Enjoy the luxury ball it’s the only thing you’ll ever see again

  • Sinistar [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    PoKeMoN iS aBoUt CoCk FiGhTiNg is baby’s first edgy media interpretation. There are multiple storylines over the decades of the franchises existence that deal with Pokemon not wanting to fight and they all conclude with the message that you shouldn’t force them to fight - and in the games it’s stated that when they “attack” you, it’s because they want to test you to see if you’re good enough to be their trainer.

    • RION [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      “The author wrote the text so the victims are happy with their lot, so criticism of their treatment is invalid” is also an immature media interpretation, and worth about as much as “All characters depicted in this work are 18 or older even if stated otherwise”.

      As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the house elves in Harry Potter are explicitly written as content with enslavement, but everybody sees that as transparently problematic. What’s the difference?

      It’s fine to like pokemon (I liked/still kinda like it) but that doesn’t mean I’m blind to the iffy nature of the premise

    • BovineUniversity [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      0·
      10 months ago

      The small bugs, birds, and mammals that I obliterate with my god-dragons after I stomp through their homes are just testing me and are actually having a really good time!

  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    Pokemon is cockfighting, Mario massacres Goombas and turns by the hundreds in any given game and we know from Paper Mario they’re fully sentient and about equal to human intelligence, the star fox team are a PMC, Samus has blown up 3 planets, maybe more ans wiped out 2 species, sorta 3 if you count Evil Beak or whatever from Dread, he was likely the last Chozo. None of this shit really makes any sense and it’s pretty senseless to go thst deep into it. Especially if you’re being serious.