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Comment by locknitpicker | Hacker News Reader

> As a child I did not see it as violent

That's the problem. Hitting a tied up animal until it breaks is clearly a violent affair, similar how hanging puppets in nooses or putting a doll in a guillotine.

I'm sure that there are kids growing up in places where bullfights are common thinking that torturing and killing a bull in a party-like atmosphere is fine.

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One of the incredible powers of childlike imagination is the ability to differentiate between hitting a piñata and hitting an actual animal.

> One of the incredible powers of childlike imagination is the ability to differentiate between hitting a piñata and hitting an actual animal.

People get arrested for hanging dolls on trees with nooses around their necks.

Some are prosecuted as hate crimes.

Do you think this is an issue from a lack of childlike imagination?

> Hitting a tied up animal until it breaks is clearly a violent affair,

I think you will find it isn't a real animal.

Do you see Pokemon as encouraging a culture of accepting dogfighting/cockfighting rings?

I mean yeah, absolutely. But a child growing up in a western society is unlikely to encounter either of those. But generally I do see Pokemon as violent and I wouldn't let my 5 year old watch it quite yet. When he's a bit older I hope he enjoys playing through the original games and the OG tv show with me, but I see parents playing the TV show for their 4-5 year olds and I think that's just too young. Same with Spidey and friends and few other shows made "for children" which absolutely promote violence despite the colourful aesthetic.

It literally is a reference to the Japanese hobby of collecting bugs and making them fight each other, so yes?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_fighting

As a kid I don't remember, or have pictures of, an animal-looking piñata, they were just colorful boxes full of candy and things.

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