Well, it's another year and another Halloween, and some things - including for Halloween - have started to return to the way they once were... but still not quite outside the "forest of spooks". With that in mind, I consider it to be appropriate to discuss about "spooks" once again. This time, the context for that discussion is their relativity, what makes them what they are or aren't. Pokémon as the primary focus of this blog can naturally be involved, and it is known for providing some spooks - or maybe not, as will become clear.
Five years ago, when I wrote about Halloween for the first time (see below) - also last year's as well - I noted about what makes Pokémon able to provide spooks and how that may be construed as being less of that and more cutesy. Something that may play into this matter is depiction and perception. In common depictions, the Pokémon species of concern may be considered to straddle the boundary between "cute" and "spooky", as their appearance may be perceived as relatable and not so much fearsome. Yet that's just one depiction; with a very different depiction, the perception is likely to be very different as well. In the case of the Pokémon species above, they could potentially end up becoming perceived as more fearsome.
This discussion is actually relevant because of the event I sent Ash to yesterday, which was plagued with controversy regarding spooky things. Depiction and perception play a role in this as well; if the organizers didn't want "spooky", they should have avoided "spooky" imagery in the first place. It also meant that some Pokémon things could have become off-limits if they had looked for them. Even Pokémon knows that Halloween means or at the least implicates "spooky", although the case of Pokémon might have still allowed some things to go through, if they hadn't gone far out. Of course, if the people already have a far-out perception of spookiness, then there's not much that can be done to change or even repair that.
Many of the sentiments in previous years seem to continue to apply even as I'm discussing it today. Yet all that also comes back to the two things I mentioned above, as depiction and perception. By the depiction of Pokémon, one can then choose to perceive how much of it can be spooky. While any sense of realism for Pokémon might trump the depiction and any associated perceptions, with any luck, one can still have their spooky way with Pokémon, or even disregard it.
Before leaving today's Halloween with its "spooks" behind, as usual, there's a bit of discussion to be had.
Ash: I got your Daily Adventure Incense going today and met a few Ghost Pokémon along the way. You might need to keep working on that slightly.
Me: Oooh, spooky! It's a better day this year, even though I was a bit limited in getting you going.
Goh: I like the Pumpkaboo with the hats and the Vulpix with the cape. They really got into the spirit.
Me: Don't they? They look so natural(ly spooky) with them, even if they're just plain without. You can almost imagine what they'd do if they were more spooky.
Goh: Oh, I'm not too sure about that!
Ash: Yeah, that's kind of a bit far out.
Me: See what I mean? Thanks, you two, even being with me on this spooky or not-so-spooky day.
Ash, Goh: No problem!
As the saying goes, yesterday's enemy is today's friend, and today's friend is tomorrow's best friend forevermore. Somewhere in that may just be a place for spooky Pokémon, however the characteristics are played up or down.
Happy Halloween 🎃 ...however spooky you decide it to be. 👻
One year ago: Halloween 2021: Spooky Branding
Two years ago: Halloween 2020: Facing the "Spooks"
Three years ago: Halloween 2019: Taking My Chances
Four years ago: Halloween 2018: The Tricks to Treats
Five years ago: Happy Halloween!
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