Subject:
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Re: Why is cockfighting bad? (was: Pokemon (was: Harry Potter Lego Line))
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 17 Jul 2000 17:07:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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1403 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Jeremy H. Sproat writes:
> Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > The cartoon basically simulates cockfighting, which is an image that I would
> > prefer not to idealize for the kids.
> Why not? I mean, what makes cockfighting more violent than, say, Star Wars?
Cockfighting causes more pain than StarWars. But I think that comparing
Pokemon to SW is a somewhat more valid and interesting situation.
I guess that I think Cockfighting is really absurdly bad for two
reasons. One is because it promotes the enjoyment of pain, suffering, and
humiliation in the human participants. I think that many of the problems in
our world are rooted in the enjoyment of the suffering of others. The
other reason is that it is patently immoral to force critters to fight to
death for my amusement. While StarWars contained the depiction of a certain
amount of suffering, it was not the main point of the movie, and it was largely
an obsticle set in place to be overcome by the characters.
Also, I want it to be clear that I don't think Pokemon affects adults
dramatically in the way that I'm worried about. It is predominantly a worry
about children. But, my son (age 5.9) plays the card game successfully and
I've played with him. We will continue to do so infrequently (because it's
quite dull), but I am mildly opposed to him seeing the show and movies. I'm
not oppsoed to him seeing the Star Wars movies. Mostly, the premise seems kind
of creepy.
> note: I feel that cockfighting is bad, but I just haven't seen a good enough
> explanation to justify that feeling to myself...
Are you not opposed to slavery and murder, or do you just think that chickens
don't count?
> As for justifying Pokemon,
> it's a game. No Bulbasaurs were injured in the creation, marketing, or
> playing of Pokemon.
I agree. As noted above, I am uncomfortable with the tranference of ideas from
the entertainment media to the real world. Ideas like "it's good to capture
wild things and force them to perform" and "it's OK to force our pets to fight
one another." I have no proof that this has or will happen(ed), but I'm uneasy
about it.
Chris
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