The case of Nightcrawler was special among the X-men.
The mansion was more a refuge for him than any of the X-men. Without a gadget, he couldn’t walk in the city serenely.
For the rest, well, yes, they were different but it wasn’t obvious at first glance. It was more a secret thing, the most emblematic case being Charles Xavier. (Funny fact, Jean Grey lost her mask when she became Phoenix.)
I was more interested by their differences in the group and the need they had to understand each other to be a team than the fact they were different from the humans.
“Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe
And don’t get me wrong, having a wide representation, of different ethnicities, different sexualities, different genders is also absolutely vital; all kids deserve to see a hero who looks like them.
But X-Men books should always have one or more team member who is visibly muted, and I’m not just talking about a funky hair or skin colour, someone who can’t pass as human. It’s important, they’re a blank slate for fans to empathise with, no matter the fans own ethnicity, sexuality or gender.
When I read the X-men, I recognized myself in all the X-men, I didn’t have a favourite. Mostly in their shortcomings than in their qualities…
Edit: And when I read the X-men comics, issue after issue, they didn’t look weird anymore to me, they just look normal, like when I read the Ghost rider, after a while, I didn’t see a burning skull anymore.
It’s what bothers me in this way of thinking: the reader doesn’t see the mutant anymore, they see the person. The “mutant” or any weird creature is not seen a representant of a group but an individual with a history.
How can we judge people (the ”humans” in MU) when they barely know them as anything else than “mutants”?
Last edited by Zelena; 10-14-2020 at 01:06 AM.
“Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe
Just pondering a bit here, i agree with your opinion, but i wonder where someone like Marrow fits into this situation?
On one hand, her mutation only involves pink hair (and pink traces in the skin tone) and random growths on top of an otherwise normal looking body and when given enough controll over her powers she can actualy pass as normal without disguise.
Which somewhat makes her mutation less problematic or extreme as those of say Nightcrawler, Beast, Hemmingway, Blob, Shark Girl or Mercury. Who's mutations make them truely alien looking.
But on the other hand the wild growths appear to be a default part of her mutation (and her body is adjusted to it) which will always come back when she isn't supressing it actively.
Leaving her unable to truely pass as normal without effort, but also being capable of doing so with it. Somewhat similar to how people with Hypertrichosis aka. "Werewolf Syndrome" can shave their hair off, but it will always grow back sooner or later.
So power and change wise she seems somewhat stuck between the normal with little weirdness (hair color, skin color) mutants and those with full blown alien looking alterations to their bodies.
Meanwhile she is an a weird spot when it comes to her identity too. By real world standard she is just a white US american. But by marvel universe standard, her entire life was based on being a mutant and she never even had the chance to be anything else (having no citizenship because of it) than that.
Including having almost no direct interaction with normal human cultures for most of her youth, beyond the stories told through a pseudo-mystical lens by Morlocks and books which got washed into the tunnels.
Both cultural and ethnical she is entirely based on being part of a fictional mutant identity.
So would her inclusion in a team rob a representative of a real world minority of their chance because she is by real world standards just another white (and by most evidence straight) character? Or would it rob one of the truely alien looking mutant characters of their chance because she is just a normal looking person with some weird growths?
Last edited by Grunty; 10-13-2020 at 04:07 PM.
No she won't...because she's not "just another white character" by real world standards or fantasy world standards.
No it won't...because "truly alien looking mutants characters" still have their place and presence.
It's not an either/or-neither/nor scenario with respect to diversity/inclusion/representation.
Lord Ewing *Praise His name! Uplift Him in song!* Your divine works will be remembered and glorified in worship for all eternity. Amen!
It certainly is. And mutants with ‘inconvenient’ powers are a metaphor for physical disabilities in our world.
And even then, on Earth 616, the Marrow’s, the Kurt’s are still privileged by their association with the X-Men and the money and resources that provides. It’s like the elite para-Olympian athletes, the ones that can still run or swim or fence or play basketball faster or better than most people of any ability and have advantages that the average disabled person doesn’t.
You can never get it all correct, just have to try.
Agreed....man, BP really REAALLY tried to elevate Storm by the X-side refused and ridiculed it at every opportunity (the recent Marauders #13 is the latest example).
Storm married her first love, became a Queen and an Avenger and joined the F4......and BP found and reunited Storm to her extended family (created in BP, the X-side have refused to explore Storm's family for decades).
But the x-side editors and writers (and x-fans apparently) prefer Storm being a relief for Wolverines sexual urges and then tossed around to whom ever other next xman in some weird rotating circle of semi-incestous cuckoldry.
And now Storm is reduced to taking orders from Emma and Kitty Pryde. You would think the leading non-white mutant would be *leading* her own team book of diverse characters....but no.
Instead we have the 2 most prominent non-white X-Men in the same book as lackeys.
Most of my responses in this thread have been about how the X-Men need MORE real life representation. And by meaningful I mean that the characters aren't just there, but are also getting their own arcs.
Don't jump down someone's throat who is advocating for the same thing as you.
Buuuut how many of those books are about chars who are the seen as 'other' and fight the good fight while being discriminated against?
I don't see how it's not living up to the civil Rights it's obviously more minority representation (esp black dudes) needs to happen But the X-Men were founded to protect/fight for the basic human rights/dignity of a marginalized people. Preeetty sure that's still the case
GrindrStone(D)