"Life in the 1990s was dominated by a sense that youth violence was out of control. But by and large the panic dissipated by the mid 90s or was sublimated into other forms. Strangely enough, Pokémon soaked up some of the remnants of the Satanic panic too: in 2000, the Vatican released a statement vindicating the game, after rumors had begun to circulate that it had been deliberately designed to promote Satanism. "Satanists" became a boogeyman that could be blamed for all sorts of anxieties related to "family values," crime, safety, class, and a whole network of other social and economic problems. "A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible… Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folklore and collective memory at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such changes as those in legal and social policy or even in the way the society conceives itself." Cohen sums up the basic anatomy of a moral panic early on in his study: It was a classic case in accordance with criminologist Stanley Cohen's framework, popularized by his 1972 study, Folk Devils and Moral Panics. The stories were bunk, but they were a boon to the career of schlockjock Geraldo Rivera, and kicked off a moral panic that lasted well into the 1990s. Panic gripped the heart of every God-fearing suburbanite in the 1980s when stories of the savage ritual abuse of children at the hands of Satanists started hitting the airwaves. Pokémon came on the scene in the middle of a spate of panics involving violent crime and youth delinquency, but a few years before the focus on mass shooters or terrorism. The long list notes changes made to several generations of the games, including words altered or casino ("Game Corner") areas removed in order to ensure compliance with regulatory standards or to evade accusations of glorifying gambling-but it also notes the game's brushes with religious complaints, perceived Nazi symbolism, animal cruelty, and plenty of other issues. Pokémon has been at the center of so many heated controversies that Bulbapedia, a fan-curated wiki, keeps a running tab. The game has managed to become about everything from violent youth crime to internet privacy and security issues. I think I finally understand, at the ripe old age of 25, why the hysteria over Pokémon "gambling" reached such a fever pitch despite the fact that gaming and gambling have always been conceptually linked. The recent hubbub over Pokémon Go has brought that all back. I didn't read the BBC News item, but I do remember the panic over Pokémon card trading: How it was likened to gambling, and how conflicts that erupted over these schoolyard trade negotiations led to moral outrage at the recklessness of Nintendo, Game Freak, and everyone else involved in making and promoting Pokémon. I didn't really understand why, at the height of Pokémania, the frenzied compulsion shared by millennial ten-year-olds became cause for concern for teachers and parents everywhere.
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