Originally Posted by
Astroman
It's interesting to me when people (in general, not just on internet forums) treat human beings (as an ontological whole... not just biologically) like they are "solid objects" instead of as a complex of ongoing dynamic processes.
We constantly change our outlook towards life. Sometimes this is in positive ways that stem from increased wisdom - or at least a greater understanding - while sometimes it might be more negative due to trauma or situations.
As for sexuality, it takes years sometimes to truly understand what your own sexuality really is. Within that umbrella I'm also including all the personal moral/ethical/etc. aspects of sexuality. A basic one is adolescents dreaming of that one love that when they find it, it will last forever and they'll never break up, etc. etc.
Or people who when they first get married, think on some deep level, "We've made it. We're permanent now." And then reality hits hard and they realize that nothing is permanent and if a marriage lasts (traditional or not) it's because people work really hard at it and continue to change in ways that are harmonious with the other person(s)' changes.
Then there are all the people who have a kink or sexual need they keep hidden because it's not accepted who might only admit to when they find a non-judgmental partner. Many times those things are things someone might say, "I never thought that would be something you would be into?" (i.e., "that seems out of character").
And that's without things like telepathy, having strange clones of old loves, having superpowers, etc.
Now, let's throw in the changes the DoX have brought:
1) Mutants are now, effectively, immortal.
and
2) They are a now distinct nation ACTIVELY trying to separate itself from human cultures (and the cultural artifacts that comprise those cultures like, concepts of "family", "clan", "tribe", "nation", etc.).
To me, "It's out of character!" isn't a valid criticism, especially in this brave new world of DoX.
A stylistic criticism could be, "But we haven't seen those changes on the page so it's lazy." to which I would say, "No, actually it's not lazy, it's taking a more literary or even cinematic approach instead of an exposition heavy approach to narrative that is embodied in traditional comics and especially traditional television. Hickman and Co. aren't being lazy, they're just not treating us like beginning readers who need to have our hands held the whole time.
Why do I support the polyamory angle? Because it is another semiotic aspect of what is making DoX so exciting: It's pushing things into all sorts of new areas - not only within the plot but also in style of presentation, aesthetics, tone, voice - and sometimes those places are uncomfortable ("Why are the X-Men fascists?" "Why are they all screwing each other?" "They just did [X] and it's really horrible!"). It's doing what good fiction should do: allow us to explore things from all over the spectrum of existence within the art and use that as a lens to see the world in slightly, or majorly, different ways.
I still want to see a scene between the Rectangle where everyone is connected telepathically and can experience everyone's perspective at the same time. Not for the titillation of it all but because it would be truly *transhuman*, truly *mutant*. Something that is far more potent of a change from human perspectives than just "having superpowers."