Is Storm really a Sell out?

[butterflykyss]

In the newly released Storm ongoing, Creep one of the students at JGS referred to Storm as a sellout.


Now selling out, per Wikipedia, is the compromising of integrity, morality, authenticity or principles in exchange*for personal gain, such as money.

I am obviously a Storm fan and so I do not think I can recall a period where I would consider Storm doing this but I wanted to get the cbr community's honest thoughts on whether or not Creep's point of view about Storm was a correct one. Please keep in mind this is meant to have a respectful discussion.

Thanks in advance.

Kysses

Provided links to image just in case there was issue viewing the attachment.

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=rjqd88&s=8#.U_K01dO3PFo

[Phoenix Egg]

Creep kinda has a point. Storm did leave that village of which she became the deity. She's not in Africa somewhere doing world-building. But at the same time, she's a global superhero. She gives herself selflessly to the whole world. She's not just for one group of people.


Now that's a real answer for you before all the people who started reading X-Men 7-8 years ago come in and start calling her a sellout for not hanging off of Cyclops' tip and asking "what has she done?"

[yogaflame]

Joining the X-Men and leaving Africa behind was one thing. I think Xavier's whole 'you're not a goddess, but a mutant, stop living in this fantasy world of providing protection and sustenance for your homeland and come live at my house and fight the people I tell you to, while wearing this bikini and thigh high boots' spiel was highly exploitative and demeaning to a non-Western point of view. She did help save the world and the universe on multiple occasions through that move, though.

I think her marriage to BP, joining the FF and the Avengers, though, could be seen as more 'sell-out' like behavior. She left the decimated mutant community to live in a palace with her first tweenage crush, then joined the two premiere 616 teams through her husband's connections.

In the meta-context, we can see how writers and editors have been sloppy in their story execution, so the sellout concept doesn't really bear merit in that context, but from the in-universe level, I'd say Creep had some points. We used to call her Stormbot, with the idea she had been replaced by a LMD or Doombot or something, but sellout works fine too.

As long as she's got that fire lit again and is ready to topple corrupt governments/corporations and save the peoples all over the world, it's all good.

[dragonmp93]

I don think she is a sellout, she may work/sleep for/with one, but definetly, she is not one.

[yogaflame]

Santa Marco in Storm #1 was a good first move, but Storm obviously needs some street cred here in the States!

[fod_xp]

In the newly released Storm ongoing, Creep one of the students at JGS referred to Storm as a sellout.


Now selling out, per Wikipedia, is the compromising of integrity, morality, authenticity or principles in exchange*for personal gain, such as money.

Then that makes Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, every other member of the Hellfire Club, Magneto, Scott, Remy, and Mystique all sellouts. Just for starters. Let that sink in. Every single one of these mutants listed falls under the Wikipedia definition of sellout.

[Alan2099]

Joining the X-Men and leaving Africa behind was one thing. I think Xavier's whole 'you're not a goddess, but a mutant, stop living in this fantasy world of providing protection and sustenance for your homeland and come live at my house and fight the people I tell you to, while wearing this bikini and thigh high boots' spiel was highly exploitative and demeaning to a non-Western point of view. She did help save the world and the universe on multiple occasions through that move, though.

Is telling a person to wear a bikini and high boots really exploitative and demeaning when they weren't wearing anything but a loose fitting loincloth without any top at all before that?

[dragonmp93]

Then that makes Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, every other member of the Hellfire Club, Magneto, Scott, Remy, and Mystique all sellouts. Just for starters. Let that sink in. Every single one of these mutants listed falls under the Wikipedia definition of sellout.

And Jean, and Beast, and Kitty, and Rogue, and Wolverine, and Psylocke, and Angel, and Iceman, pretty much everyone. Maybe nightcrawler would be the only one who isnt a sellout.

[CJStriker]

Answer is Indeed NO.

While the talk with Creep was still important and made Storm realize that each situation in life must each be handled differently; sometimes by the book, other-times by other means, this does not come close to Storm being a sell-out. Really each mutant must choice their own path for what is best for them and what the story got at was the School was trying to help Creep with that, but Creep felt she was best at home, so indeed she choice her own path just like Storm has always done for herself.

[sprior93]

If you're a sell out and you know it clap your hands!

*clap* *clap*

[yogaflame]

Is telling a person to wear a bikini and high boots really exploitative and demeaning when they weren't wearing anything but a loose fitting loincloth without any top at all before that?

It was demeaning to call her living with nature and her people a 'fantasy'. It was exploitative to take her away from those people and use her as a weapon in his(Xavier's) personal crusade. Ororo had already fulfilled Charles' dream, she used her powers to help her local community and the loved her for it. Charles tried to fight to uphold Western culture by protecting it from internal and external threats, in hope that those actions would engender peace and equanimity between humans and mutants. He never stopped to realize that the status quo he fought to defend(Western civilization) was inherently evil to begin with. He was the one in a fantasy.

And yes, her outfit was highly exploitative. It is one thing to be nude in a culture where nudity is a daily reality. It is quite another to wear a biniki and thigh highs in a culture were women's bodies are objectified, especially when pretty much all the other teammates were in full body-suits. Charles even chastised her for skinny dipping in the pool once, so he was obviously aware of the cultural differences.

[Beezzi]

Storm isn't a "sellout" - she hasn't sacrificed her core values in favour of power, fame or money.

The "sellout" accusation, in this specific form, is rarely leveled at men from a first world countries who move from their small home towns to other countries to make a better life for themselves. I doubt this would ever come up as an issue in solo of a non-African male character. Is Magneto a sellout?

As an African (meaning I was born and raised on the continent) woman, now living in Ireland - female friends and I are often accused of selling out, abandoning our culture, and contributing to the "African Brain Drain", because we refuse to stay on the continent - sometimes even by our own mothers. Hell, I have a friend that gets crap all the time for just moving from Zimbabwe to South Africa to go to college.

I say well done Ororo! An intelligent, powerful African woman, who refuses to be held down by some VERY antiquated, racist views.

Ones Africanness, isn't defined by where you end up, the colour of your skin, or even the language you speak - it's defined by you and the love one has for the amazing, beautiful continent we were born on.

You don't have to stay in the place you where born to still be a part of it - which is why I hope the next issues of Storm's solo focuses on other aspects of her character - not just where she was born.

[dragonmp93]

It was demeaning to call her living with nature and her people a 'fantasy'. It was exploitative to take her away from those people and use her as a weapon in his(Xavier's) personal crusade. Ororo had already fulfilled Charles' dream, she used her powers to help her local community and the loved her for it. Charles tried to fight to uphold Western culture by protecting it from internal and external threats, in hope that those actions would engender peace and equanimity between humans and mutants. He never stopped to realize that the status quo he fought to defend(Western civilization) was inherently evil to begin with. He was the one in a fantasy.

And yes, her outfit was highly exploitative. It is one thing to be nude in a culture where nudity is a daily reality. It is quite another to wear a biniki and thigh highs in a culture were women's bodies are objectified, especially when pretty much all the other teammates were in full body-suits. Charles even chastised her for skinny dipping in the pool once, so he was obviously aware of the cultural differences.

And yeah, because forcing someone, who is not used to wear clothes, to wear a sweater and jeans is much less offensive.

[Daymare]

Not one bit. She has had some issues and made some poor choices like all X-men but it appears that she is recognizing these and making changes to the better. She is important to the mythos of the X-men and will always be a vital member of the team. I cannot think of any actual sell-out moments.

[fod_xp]

And Jean, and Beast, and Kitty, and Rogue, and Wolverine, and Psylocke, and Angel, and Iceman, pretty much everyone. Maybe nightcrawler would be the only one who isnt a sellout.

Exactly! Which is why I give an automatic eye roll and dismissive of the subject when the term "sellout" is used.