Much like a lot of Gen X, some of the older Millennials in my life (particularly the white working professionals) are parroting the age old mantra of "I don't care about passing my skills on to the younger generations or helping those in need, no one ever helped me in my life.". My response is always "That's not a good thing!" because I never know what to say. Debate is not my strength.

My working class grandparents were never like this. They lived through the great depression and two wars and never wanted anyone to suffer as much as they did. I miss them and their kindness dearly. It's only from boomers and younger that I've seen this attitude. Capitalism is crushing our instincts as a social species. If we can't stand on the shoulders of giants... well then we will stop advancing as a species. We will stagnate and go extinct because the challenges we face now need all of us. It goes against everything that is human to be this alienated and antagonistic to one another. Particularly frightening is the hatred and contempt modern society has towards children.

This is not going to end well.

I appreciate all the people here, whether you're 20 or 60, for not becoming the thing that hurt you. We need people with a soul more than ever.

  • Ivysaur [she/her]
    ·
    2 months ago

    Until Diamond and Pearl made everything kind of stupid the games were very much about environmentalism and had a lot of hints about animal liberation, too (somewhat ironically -- I try to keep in mind it is still a video game, after all). The arcs of Mewtwo, Rocket, and Cinnabar are genuinely compelling existential narratives that are only ever hinted at and briefly expanded in the first movie. You do not see stuff like this at all with this franchise, anymore.

    For Ruby and Sapphire specifically, this is one of my absolute favorite videos analyzing the historical context around the games' development and what they try to say with their themes. 100% worth a watch if you enjoy the old Pokemon games like me.

    https://youtu.be/Ze8uhmeFt7A

    • newmou [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I played Black on an emulator for the first time recently and holy shit it must have been made by the Japanese State Department or something lmao a tour de force of propaganda

      • Ivysaur [she/her]
        ·
        2 months ago

        It has been a long time since I played it, and I don't think I finished it. What was propaganda to you? I don't think I ever got that impression, but I may just not remember it.

        • newmou [he/him]
          ·
          2 months ago

          The bad guys want to liberate Pokémon from being captive battle slaves, and you and the coalition of good guys are trying to stop it. And of course they make the bad guys out to be doing it because they actually just want power and to steal everyone’s Pokémon for themselves lol. Some of the lines in there are golden, things like “We’re going to liberate all Pokémon! And I’m gonna start by stealing yours because I want to!!”

          • Ivysaur [she/her]
            ·
            2 months ago

            Ohh, yeah I do remember that now. Team plasma was it? Really fucking sucked I agree. ever since galactic I feel this way about enemy Pokémon groups…they’re either not grounded at all in any sort of relatable way (galactic, plasma, flare), they're just a worse rocket (aether), or they’re not even a syndicate at all and just hooligans (skull, yell, star). At least that last group can be interesting, but they’re so mired in the ungrounded nonsense now that I just don’t care.