Race, Racism, And Representation Within The Anime

[Greninjaman]

Like I posted in the controversial opinions thread, if any Pokémon anime character is a Psychopath, it's Pokemon Hunter J. She almost killed Ash several times if I recall. She did not care about the feelings of a Pokemon. She just saw them as a means to get money.

 

[swiftgallade46]

This thread will now be re-opened for replies as well. Please see this announcement before continuing to post here. Thank you!

 

[Vengeful Ghost]

Oh great, the psychopath discussion.

Look, if you can prove to me that any character depicted as heroic in this anime can hit all the boxes on Dr. Hare's checklist, I'd like to see it.

The only person in this whole franchise who ticks all the boxes is Ghetsis, especially in light of Masters.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

At this point there are more people complaining about Go being called a psychopath than actual people calling Go a psychopath. ‍

 

[Hidden Mew]

At this point there are more people complaining about Go being called a psychopath than actual people calling Go a psychopath. ‍

That's because the staff had to shut it down quickly back when it first started. I know that there was at least one thread where people were genuinely asking people if he was a psychopath, there were people who agreed with that notion and I believe it was the subject of our first PSA on Goh. If people started calling him a psychopath again, the chances are pretty execellent that you wouldn't see it for too long. I'm not sure if people still call Goh a psychopath outside of this site, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. I can't really blame people for still being upset over it, especially when it's still not uncommon for Goh to be treated as a villain here either.

 

[prog rocker]

Well, one of the posts in the psychopath thread even said something along the lines of "He's either a psychopath or a Marty Stu. You pick".

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

Pokemon definitely has issues in depicting race and ethnicity in a positive light. The obvious controversies involving blackface and racist caricatures of Black women are often brought up, but I remember even the depiction of Hawaiians in Sun/Moon were elucidated as well. I personally knew some Indigenous Hawaiians that weren't very fond of the way their culture was portrayed, which gave me a lot more insight into understanding and empathizing with the concerns of others in discussions about representation. It's not always obvious to recognize these problems (or, even microaggression tbh) if you don't come from a specific background or culture that has that essential lived experience, so it's important to listen to others and truly empathize with them and their struggles. That's really the only way to learn.