Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Pokemon. Good. Now if you’ve never seen the TV show, lower your hand. Finally, if you’ve never played any of the games (card or video) lower your hand. Those of you with your hands still up. You should probably put them down, people will start staring at you wondering why there’s a crazy person starting at their computer with their hand in the air.
Now if you raised your hand at any point, congratulations, you’ve been exposed at some point in your life to the cultural phenomenon that’s been going on almost as long as that documentary about Allen has been in existence. I think what is interesting to note at first, is that the first generation of kids that got into Pokemon are well into their 20s. So it should come as no surprise that Pokemon related modifications are becoming more prevalent.
When it comes to a pop-culture related mod, a lot depends on context. I know that if I had gotten say a River City Ransom or Clash at Demonhead tattoo 10 years ago, only people my age would have a clue as to what they were a reference to. Now with films like Scott Pilgrim coming out (seriously, best movie I’ve seen in 10 years, go watch it) you have this resurgence of classic pop-culture being exposed to a generation that wasn’t even born before the N64 was released. Now when it comes to Pokemon, you’re seeing a completely different type of generational culture attachment. Pokemon is still going strong today. We’re at a point with it where the kids who were part of the first wave of fans, are now sitting down with their own children to play the games. For someone my age it’s hard to imagine that occurring for me. While Pokemon is still popular with the young folk, the shows and games I grew up on are only getting a resurgence in popularity due to nostalgia. Some may argue that the exposure is still present, and while it may be, the children of my generation will only be able to watch the shows and play the games we grew up on if we were able to hold on to our childhood possessions. Granted, I personally thought ahead. If I ever have a child, when they’re old enough to play video games, the first game they will play will be Super Mario Bros on my original NES. When they want to watch a cartoon, I’ve got the full collections of GI JOE and Transformers sitting on a shelf waiting for them. So yes, the exposure to these classic pop-culture icons will essentially be forced, it’s nice to know that with the digital age those younger than me can enjoy the games they played as a child with their children, at it will still be culturally relevant.
Now, seeing as how I may have exposed myself as a geek, let me distract you with a picture of one of those Pokemon fans that has grown up and gotten a scarification piece done of their favorite Pokemon, #38 Ninetails (I had to look that up).
So, those of you who raised your hands, what was your favorite Pokemon?
