The Jynx Controversy

[Meduza]

With it being Christmas time and everything, I thought it would be nice to start a discussion about one of the most widely known controversies in the Pokemon franchise.

Jynx.

But first, let's get some information on this Pokemon.

Jynx, the Human Shape Pokemon, is an Ice/Psychic type and originates from the Kanto region.

Jynx wasn't a very common game back in the color games as you could only get it through trading a Poliwhirl to an old man in Cerulean City.


Official Artwork:

Red/Blue Sprite:

Yellow Sprite:

Red/Green Sprite:

The controversy didnt start until 4Kids aired the episode Holiday Hi-Jynx on T.V. After that, a woman named Carole Boston Weatherford wrote an article for a magazine, calling Jynx a "dead ringer for an obese drag queen". She also called Jynx a negative racial stereotype of African-Americans.

Shortly after that, Jynx's image was changed for ever.

In the metal games, Jynx's sprites had a complete recolor.

Original Gold Sprite:

Recolored Gold Sprite:

Original Silver Sprite:

Recolored Silver Sprite:

Original Crystal Sprite:*bulbagarden.net image removed*

Recolored Crystal Sprite:*bulbagarden.net image removed*


Later on, in the Johto series of the Pokemon anime, one the of the episodes, The Ice Cave, was never dubbed due to it being based around Jynx and it's original design.

But starting in the Hoenn games, Jynx was brought into a new light. It's hands and face were recolored purple and it's sleeves were changed from red to white.

They did the same thing with it's appearence in the episode Three Jynx and a Baby. But in every other episode it had an appearence in after Holiday Hi-Jynx, it was cut out.

New Official Artwork:*bulbagarden.net image removed*


It's been a while since this has happened, but Jynx still suffers some tragedies.

First, it has yet to make an appearence in any more episodes after Three Jynx and a Baby.

Plus, while it's "considered" counterparts, Electabuzz and Magmar, got evolutions in Gen.IV, Jynx failed to get one. The reason why it's speculated Jynx might of got an evolution was because not only are Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar together in the Kanto Pokedex, it's pre-evolutions, Smoochum, Elekid and Magby, are in the same order in the Johto Pokedex.


I honestly think they may have gone a little far with what they did to Jynx. I doubt Jynx was made deliberately to be racist in any shape or manner.

I can understand the recolor, but it not being in any more episodes or having an evolution seems more than just a coincedence. I think Nintendo has decided not to put anymore of the spotlight on Jynx than it already has.

What's your opinion on this?

 

[angel]

Nintendo doesn't want anymore bad feedback. They change its color so it didn't resemble african-americans and I believe they haven't put it back in th show because they don't want anybody else to say something else about Jynx's character.

Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar were the original legendary trio but for some reason or another the creators of Pokemon decided to change it to the legendary birds, Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno. This is way Jynx, Electabuzz and Magmar all got babies at the same time and should have gotten evos at the same time. I guess the creators didn't want to remind the world of Jynx by giving it an evo. Possibly having people tear Jynx's evo to shreads.

 

[TheMightyMrPlow]

I get really tired of everyone getting offended by everything! A great example being this...

The popular anime Dragonball Z featured a character named Mr. Popo shown below.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UNTVuUwIDfI/S8JNKFgQ4XI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/7K5ypSmcckg/s1600/dbr.jpg
This series played on Cartoon Network for years over and over and nobody said a word.

The series got a revamp and was brought back to life recently in a show called Dragonball Z Kai. Well one person threw a fit and guess what happened to the happiest character in history of anime? Click the link below.
https://img824.imageshack.us/i/1pm.png/sr=1


See what I mean? People just get upset about stupid trivial things that no one notices (because they're not important). I watched this series as a child and never once related Mr. Popo's solid black skin color to anything racist. Yet the people that claim they're not racists are the ones that always connect the two.

Anywho that's my speil on the whole subject.

 

[Demigod]

The fact that it's a "female shape" is the only reason why that happened.

^Like he said, Mr.Popo was a dark black color.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I never understood why so much controversy surrounded Jynx in the first place... the "black woman" stereotype never came to my mind concerning Jynx. I have to agree it's just a case of people trying to find anything they can to complain about.

 

[chaos11011]

Didn't Jynx appear in an Episode in Hoenn? I vaguely remember that there was a Co-Ordinator and her Jynx and they where jelous of May.

Also the people that thick Jynx is a Racist to "Black People" are racists themselves. Which pisses me of because Jynx is a favorite of mine (#14ish?) ANd I hate how people treat her this way. But what are we going to do, the world is full of people like this.

 

[Sydian]

About the racial stereotype issue, in my opinion, you have to be a racist yourself to be able to point fingers at something like this and call it racist. It's not even an obvious thing. I used to think Jynx was like a drama queen or something, never a black woman. But seriously, if you look at Jynx and think "omg it's like a black woman!" you have to be pretty racist to think that. But that's just me.

 

[BenjiTheKid]

I, also, think the whole Jynx thing was blown way out of proportion. I never even thought of the Pokemon that way and never will. I was just reading about this the other day, even. And as I read about the controversy surrounding her, I could do nothing but roll my eyes. Some people look for something bad in everything. Pokemon was definitely never an exception. If anything, it got the worst of it.

 

[DoctorFred]

I seriously doubt that Nintendo was thinking "Let's create a pokemon with black colored skin to tick off African-Americans" but if they did, that would be pretty messed up. As stated before, I think people just have to find a way to criticize everything.

^^^Yeah, Jynx appeared in an episode called Mean With Envy, belonging to a girl called Erica. I think it also appeared in a couple of other episodes too...

 

[The Noob Hacker]

Yeah like everyone else has said. There are some people who are easily offended and others who search in and out of something to find stuff to complain about.

On the Internet, we call the latter a troll.

 

[MysticFlames]

Uggggh, I've always hated all this stupid "controversy" around Jynx (and Mr. Popo, for that matter). It's a children's show and since when are children going to see Jynx and connect them to black people or whatever? As a kid, all it did was creep me out a bit because I saw it more as its face being shadowed or even just having floating features.

I feel like white Americans have taken all these unnecessary, extreme "that's racist" measures in some weird attempt to make up for the past. I really think that it'd just be better to not even think about it, because just the fact you point out things even remotely "racist" seems a bit racist. That's still kinda showing that you think of other races differently. I doubt any black person even really noticed that Jynx/Mr. Popo had black skin.

It's just ridiculous.

 

[Headfirst For Halos]

Ugh, why must people be so "politically correct"? I thought Jynx was just some shapeless blob-type thing with a dress and hair.

 

[PokeFan4Life]

Jynx? Black? Really?

I just read this, and i could do nothing but shake my head. I'm black, and i never saw that about about Jynx at all. In fact, i never really cared about Jynx as a Pokemon in the first place. I mean, you have to really work hard to get a person to look at a Jynx and say "Oh, snap, that looks like a fat black lady! Use Blizzard!". It's another case of having something that is to be thought of as big, or important. Honestly, people stop analyzing the freaking Pokemon and just enjoy it as it was meant to be: another Pokemon to put in your PC. Matter of fact, i'm going to catch a Jynx right now.

 

[King Gumball]

I remember watching Hilodai Hi Jynx. And Jynx was on that raft with Ash and that and she kept trying to hug and kiss everyone, and she was working for santa.

Poor Jynx... Wasn't she based on a Japanese Kimono Girl or something in the first place, not an American Indian?

And I thought Jynx was in another episode. Wasn't she in one when May was entering a pokemon contest and she met the brother and sister who owned a Mightyena and a Jynx. And she battled the sister with the Jynx in the final round and lost or something like that? I remember because it was funny watching the Jynx go jogging with them riding a bike, and watching her angry face when she used Hyper Beam.

 

[Kaean]

When I first started reading this thread I honestly thought it was a joke. I mean c'mon, a racist pokemon? Who in their right mind would even consider such a thing? Now a days I just shake my head and sigh at all this idiotic 'political correctness' that has to exist in cartoons.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I heard about this controversy. I think that why the controversy started was because some people were offended by Jynx's face (representing black stereotypes). To get out of trouble, Nintendo recolored Jynx's face purple. I personally like the new Jynx (purple face) better than the old one.

 

[Jakeypoorawr93]

The thing I dont understand is just because a small percentage of people had to claim it as a stereotype, it ruins it for everyone elso who wouldnt have said a thing about it. So they had to go and change it from its origional form. Pssh.

 

[imevil]

i thnk that the lady who made this claim in the first place needed 15 minutes of fame

 

[altariaking]

Pffftt, Jynx racist? To look at Jynx and automatically say it's racist because it's black, that makes those people the racist ones.

 

[TheMightyMrPlow]

I will say one thing about Jynx. I recently got into Pokemon and never diud as a kid and I saw Jynx for the first time a few days before this thread. Even with a 17 year old mind I saw Jynx and didn't think "black chick". I thought, "Scary as hell drag queen" but not "black chick"