Hot Topic for Week 2: Pokémania Plagues the Playground
An Investigation of the Powers of Pikachu
When
I was an apple-cheeked second
grader, a media-spawned epidemic rampaged through the streets, infecting
children everywhere. It swept (and is still sweeping, though not as intensely)
classrooms and living rooms and department stores throughout the world.
Powerful, it caught me unawares and I was sucked into the void of endless
merchandise and early morning television specials. It’s not until now that I am
older have I realized how much Pokémon dominated popular culture in the 1990’s.
Every kid in my class had Pokémon toys. When we were released into the concrete
wild of the playground, it was the creatures from Pokémon we mimicked, battling
each other and running around with exclamations of, “Pikachu, use thunderbolt!”
Due
to its immense popularity, Pokémon sales soared. The colorful characters were
exotic and plentiful, and battling was an intense test of wits. For those who
did not catch on to the craze due to personal interest, it was injected into
their brains with a big fat hypodermic needle. As noted in Mclean’s magazine, Nintendo’s Pokémon franchise had, “already sold
more than $5 billion worth of games, toys and cards worldwide,” as of 1999. Pokémon
had only been out for three years in America and had sense made several billion
more in sales, making it one of the most successful toy franchises ever. Christopher Byrne, editor of New
York City’s The Toy Report, predicted
that in 1999, “1 of 5 items sold for kids this Christmas will have Pokémon on
it.” Pokémon clearly affected kids, offering multiple media through which fans
could enjoy their favorite characters.
The
other day, a friend of mine had made a comment on how they never liked Pokémon
as a kid and laughed as if it were a ridiculous possibility. A few hours later,
I was rummaging through his closet (looking for magazines for an art class
assignment) and opened a box full of papers. Amongst the article clippings and
worksheet clutter, I found Pokémon cards. They were few and in rough shape, but
still provided enough evidence to call him out as a liar.
When approached
with the cards, he shook his head and replied, “All of the other kids had them.
Of course I acquired a few, but that doesn’t mean I liked them.” The intent
behind the ownership of the cards might not have been for self interest, but
the evidence proves that he had been infected by the Pokémon craze as a child. He
most likely went with the flow of his classmates, stricken by the spiral of
silence theory, unable to reject the commonly accepted pastime with fear of
being ostracized. A popular franchise like Nintendo’s Pokémon, if widely projected
and distributed amongst several different forms of media (toys, games, shows,
books), can brainwash most kids into conforming their interests and embracing
those of their peers.
Quick links to sources:
picture:
http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=847&tbm=isch&tbnid=z1Rz_hHeGkq2PM:&imgrefurl=http://www.toy-tma.com/kids-toys/pokemon-toys/&imgurl=http://www.toy-tma.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Pokemon-Mini-figures.jpg&w=500&h=333&ei=UFA9UOfKMobrygHm3oDYDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=262&sig=109845122903219991234&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=164&tbnw=226&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:114&tx=99&ty=64
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