Saturday, September 12, 2009

Pokemon training kids to appreciate dogfights, cockfights



My 6-year-old son is into Pokemon these days. He likes watching Pokemon videos, reading the books and playing with the cards.
Having learned about the Pokemon story, it reminds me a lot of dog fighting or cockfighting.
In the fantasy world of Pokemon, human characters go out and capture wild animals called Pokemon and train them to fight other Pokemon. It’s a respected spectator sport in the Pokemon world.
Swap the Pokemon for pit bulls or roosters and you’ve got an illegal sport (in most places).
I guess it’s OK to make fictional creatures fight each other. Just don’t think too much about it.

Photos:
Top: Human trainers prepare their Pokemon creatures for battle
Center: Dog fighting in Afghanistan. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo for U.S. News & World Report.
Bottom: Cockfighting in the Philippines. Photo by Marco Pereira.

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