Pokemon privilege

Images reimagining Pokemon Go in Syria produce a gut wrenching effect when juxtaposed with the plight of the war torn state.

GameTheory

Syrian artists use viral game app to draw attention to the plight of their war-ravaged country.

The ’90s generation can tell you exactly what the hype about Pokemon is. A Nintendo game that spawned cartoons, movies and cards, Pokemon combined strategy with role play in a manner that gripped kids, teens and adults alike. The craze eventually faded out but 2016 saw a revival that few could’ve imagined.

Reimagined as one of the first proper augmented reality offering, Pokemon Go is a location based game that allows players to catch Pokemon in the physical world around them. The game relies on cellular technology and a phone’s inbuilt camera to enable players to interact with a virtual environment, filled with Pokémon, which have been geospatially overlaid onto the real world. As players go about their daily lives, they use their phones to locate and capture Pokémon. Once captured, Pokémon can be trained and battled.

A child with hauntingly sad eyes holds up a Pokemon character with the title, ‘Im here, save me’.

Nintendo’s stock went up by $7.5 billion in the first two days after the game’s release and has helped the game developer to nudge Sony out of the top spot. Pokemon Go is so engrossed that two deaths have already been chalked up to the game, with individuals on the prowl walking off a cliff as they searched for Pokemons to capture. The American Holocaust Museum also had to issue a warning, requesting players to stay off its premises since cases of adolescents running around the memorial were revealed.

To say that Pokemon Go has caused disruption in the global social fabric would be an understatement. But while most people are engrossed in the entertainment value provided by the application, others have tried using it as a tool to draw attention to social injustice and inequity.

Photos of Syrian children holding printed characters from the game have been circulated on Facebook, in an attempt to remind the world of what is at stake while we indulge in frivolous pursuits. Kids from the war-torn country hold up images of Pickachu and other characters, accompanied by statements like “I’m here, come save me.” Some children have even added their locations, in what appears to be a genuine plea for help.

Artist Khalid Akil’s take on the Pokemon Go craze comes with a heavy dose of social responsibility.

Similarly, a Syrian artist, Khalid Akil has also used the game to highlight the humanitarian disaster in his country. His project envisions hunting for Pokemon characters among the rubble that Syrian cities have been reduced to. Hailing from the hotly-contested city of Aleppo, Akil wanted to bring attention to the fact that the world continues to spin but the reality for Syrians and their kids is far removed from the life of others.

His work features Pokemon characters super imposed on images that include one of a child walking through the rubble, another featuring kids bathing in what appears to a crater on the road, filled with water of dubious origin, and others that follow a similar theme. The result is eerie and heart-breaking.

In our world of comfortable privilege, it’s easy to distance yourself from the disasters that befall others, assuming that war or such destruction could never come to our countries and town. It’s also easy to be desensitized by such images when you’re bombarded with them on a regular basis but the need to retain empathy and make a concerted effort for help is a responsibility that all of us need to shoulder.

If each Pokemon player was as willing to go the extra mile to ensure that Syrian children received aid and were transported to safety, the world might be a better place.