By Scott Tibbs, November 29, 2011
In March of 2009, I pointed out that video games are not real. Now, for most people, this is an obvious truth. To the fools at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it is not obvious. You see, the fools at PETA are really, really stupid. That's why they are whining and crying about the "Tanooki Suit" in the new Super Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS. (See articles here, here and here about this stupid non-controversy.)
Of course, the Tanooki suit isn't the only "skin" Mario has worn. The Tanooki suit was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3, where Mario also wore a frog suit and a Hammer Brothers suit - each of which granted special powers. Mario also wore a turtle shell in the New Super Mario Bros. game for the DS.
This is to say nothing of the scores of animals that Mario "kills" in his adventures. Turtles, moles, fish, beetles, squids, crabs, bats and caterpillars are just a few of the types of enemies Mario has "killed" through his dozens of adventures on multiple game consoles and hand-held systems. So why not cry about all of these other things?
Better yet, why cry about Mario's Tanooki suit at all? PETA does stand for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, right? Why are they worried about pixels and polygons, when not one single animal is actually harmed?
The answer is actually very simple. PETA cares much more about drawing attention to itsELF than actually advocating for animals. There is so little difference between PETA and the Westboro Baptist "Church" that Ingrid Newkirk and Fred Phelps might as well be the same person.
Here is what is unfortunate. PETA actually raises some good points about fur. In western society, there is no need to wear real fur. The animals killed are for a luxury item, and in many cases the animals are killed in extremely inhumane and painful ways. Legitimate efforts to improve the treatment of those animals and educate the public are lost behind PETA's attention-grabbing "LOOK AT ME" antics that make them more like the Westboro Baptist "Church" than a legitimate organization trying to improve the treatment of animals.
