I don’t happen to agree with one of these assessments of Jean actually, Kyss. Granted they happen to be my favorite friendship in the MU so bias might be implicated but a lot of my views on the matters align with Jwatson.
1) Jean is only “judging” Ororo by the times and society in which they abide, knowing full well that a naked woman especially of color walking around NYC in the 1970’s would not be accepted and would most likely cause adverse and perhaps violent reactions from the public and probably law enforcement as well. She even says as much by admitting “society wasn’t ready for such self-possession”. And honestly if you turned around to a flash of lightning followed by your friend’s sudden stark body in front of you unexpectedly, wouldn’t you spit out your coffee?
And I don’t think it was a lame excuse at all for Jean to point out that Ororo’s mind was screaming with trauma at the thought of going down into that subway station. We all remember how crippling Ororo’s claustrophobia was for her in those early days and we’ve also been told many times by countless other telepaths that the trick for them is not reading minds but shutting them out when undesired. Amongst the general public entering the subway calmly, Ororo’s phobia and the cause of it must have seemed like someone was screaming all of a sudden in a crowd of previously normal tones that we as people usually ignore and don’t draw our attention. I don’t think it’s fair to judge Jean for “an ultimate violation” when she directly apologized after Ororo put the whup up on her and explicitly explained that it was not her intention to pry. She certainly wouldn’t let it happen again lol.
2) This one is on Jason Wyngarde’s doing to me. It was his undue influence that was purposefully corrupting Jean’s psyche to more malicious and malevolent tendencies and his initial psychic tinkering that introduced the Colonial time period and world into Jean’s mind. At that point she was in between his colonial illusions and the verge of Dark Phoenix herself so I don’t think there was much room for Jean’s own presence and psyche to dictate that now highly off color slave scene.
3) I think everyone, Jean, Storm, and X-men fans alike, that have come across this panel has unanimously agreed that it was bogus to the extreme, extremely ooc sounding for Jean, and a really dumb and unnecessary addition to a comic with no actual significance or purpose. I’m going to ignore it because to me it’s just that irrelevant and what appears to me to be the product of a writer who just doesn’t like Storm themselves.
4) Lastly, while she could’ve handled that last one more subtly, it was Forge who was acting like a grown ass man-child here and it was completely unfair of him to attack her with a question like that, to the point of physically shaking her. He’s lucky she didn’t mind bolt TF out of him for that bs. She was absolutely right in saying it was not her place to express her friends true feelings about anyone she’s interested in and Forge didn’t deserve Ororo if he couldn’t grow TF up and wait for her own, authentic response to him. Thank God he did get butthurt for no reason and act a fool though because that was such a dodged bullet for Ororo, I’m almost grateful. Screw him.
The reason why I maybe tend to lean towards giving Jean the benefit of the doubt on this interpretational instances is because everything else we’ve been shown/told of them over the last 45 years has lent to the belief that Ororo truly is Jean’s best friend and closest confidant outside of Cyclops. Going so far as to refer to each other as sisters over the years. I could post at least 15 counter showings of instances where they love, friendship, and loyalty shine through undoubtedly. Jean would never let someone mess with Ororo which we saw as recently as her all but threatening Trinary in X-men Red when she offered to take Ororo out and vice versa with Ororo bodying Emma against a wall when she dared to threaten Jean. Let’s also not forget that Jean is the only other person alive, T’challa included(besides her grandparents obviously) who had the opportunity to meet Ororo’s parents when she went into the the “afterlife” to try and save her. Something Ororo wouldn’t share with anyone but her closest and most trusted friend. We have so many beautiful storylines that positively portray these omega level besties that I would never want to tarnish that without proper cause. Jean has done a lot of questionable things in her life in general, her relationship with Ororo being one thing that I would hate to demonize. I never want these two to grow apart or come to odds, it would honestly break my heart.
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To this day seeing Jean meet Ororo’s parents and having them thank her for being such a good friend to their baby when they couldn’t be there for her immediately makes me tear up. Perhaps one of my all time favorite Jean-Ororo moments because it is beyond beautiful.