How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

[David Blue]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

There are similarities between mutants and a political party, since both are relatively cohesive groups with a strong sense of us-versus-them and chronic conflicts with other groups.

 

But there are differences that make mutants more problematic, as a relatively impermeable in-group strategizing to some extent against non-mutants as an out-group. Unlike with a political party, which you could ultimately join if you wanted to, you're born a mutant or you aren't. And if you aren't, some of the things I suggested are taken from the comics, or speculations that are not inconsistent with the comics. The Angel has been seen with lots of hot human babes lying around his house, but he wasn't going to marry any of them. (I assume they were human, because no mutant seemed to regard them as anything but Warren's furniture, which is my point.) If you're human, you don't get to marry into the mutant tribe, or certainly not on anything like equal and honorable terms. The way Maddie Pryor was treated was stunningly abusive.

 

What does it take to be someone Captain America regards as his kind of guy (or girl)? Any patriotic American qualifies. Doubly so if you've ever served in the armed forces. And though he does visually represent a certain antique White America, he casts his net wider than that when it comes to romantic partners and comrades that really count. An English girl, a German scientist, war buddies of different nationalities and colors - all of these can really count, for Captain America. He's just a kid from Brooklyn, he's not special or aloof.

 

What does it take to be someone Professor X regards as his kind of guy (or girl)? Yes, it is possible to be his friend and not a mutant (Moira McTaggart), but there is a widely shared background assumption operating in Professor X-'s world that non-mutants are uninteresting, except to the extent that they are prejudiced, ignorant, dangerous and in need of careful watching.

 

The rise of Captain America means more pride and power for people like him, which means you if you like the Red, White and Blue or would be willing to.

 

The rise of Professor X means ... well at least more tolerance for mankind than Magneto would allow. But it's tolerance on limited terms. Ultimately humans have to accept that the "Tomorrow People" are to be mutant, not human, and that in the mutant telling of history those bygone, unloved humans are going to have a nasty, inferior, bigoted, heavily criticized image.

 

I don't find it at all surprising that humans react to these different kinds of heroes in terms of what they stand for, and treat them differently in consequence, rather than lumping them all together because they are all powerful.

[megaplayboy]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

I think the X-Men jumped the shark around the time that Magneto yanked Wolvie's adamantium out of his bones. Probably jumped it well before then, actually, but I'm being charitable. Making Emma Frost a "good guy" was somewhat interesting, some of the New X-Men stuff isn't shite, but really, if Chris Claremont had been hit by a bus some time around issue 200ish, he'd be much better remembered by me than he is now...

[BvBPL]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Rather' date=' the question is "how would you rationalize such a state of affairs where one subset of people with powers is singled out for prejudicial treatment?" [/quote']

 

You can’t rationalize bigotry. It is itself irrational. Looking for a rational reason for irrational racism is foolish. You don’t need superpowers to be discriminated against. Why have persons of color, Jews, Catholics, and Quakers been discriminated against? Because they are different. That’s it, and that’s enough of a reason to set off a whole bunch of different wars and worse. That simplicity is frightening.

 

From a gaming point of view, I might advise against naming one reason mutants should be feared and hated because giving a name and reason to that fear limits it and puts in a box. It takes away the drama that having irrepressible bigotry can generate. If anything, the reason for mutants being feared and hated should be discovered by the group as a whole as the campaign develops, rather than being dictated by the GM a priori at the start of the game.

--

Alternatively, you can just say the mutants got some bad press they couldn't shake that didn't stick to non-mutants.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

I'm starting to get it. It's sort of like the Communist-Under-Every-Bed hysteria of the '50s. ISTR reading comics way-back-when where the badguys were either gangsters or "capital-C-for-Kremlin" communists (with the occasional creature from Outer Space!!™).

 

Of course you realize that movies like I was a Teenaged Mutant would be made (and a whole bunch more like it).

[kahuna's bro]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

you have a point

[Starcloud]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

In the Marvel universe, you can put Iceman and Spiderman on the same street together, in their anonymous civilian identities.

 

Iceman will have people glaring at him and uttering insults about mutants at him.

 

No one will notice Peter Parker.

 

THAT is the issue I have with the Marvel Universe. Every normal person apparently has a "mutant power detector" imbedded in their skulls.

 

Making matters even less sensible, technically, anything that's not an exact genetic duplicate of its parent is a mutant. Which means *everyone* is a mutant.

I think that was a plot point in at least one of the Sentinel future universes, or perhaps it was only in one series of modules in the old Marvel Super Heros pnp game; The Sentinels had rounded up and were executing humans because they were all mutated from their parents, despite being normal.

[Cygnia]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Every normal person apparently has a "mutant power detector" imbedded in their skulls.

 

I remember a rather crappy, wangsty freeform X-Men PBEM I was in about 10 years ago. The joke about one particular Gary Stu mutie cuplrit was that he had a mutant dowsing rod in his pants...

[Greywind]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

In the Marvel universe, you can put Iceman and Spiderman on the same street together, in their anonymous civilian identities.

 

Iceman will have people glaring at him and uttering insults about mutants at him.

 

No one will notice Peter Parker.

 

THAT is the issue I have with the Marvel Universe. Every normal person apparently has a "mutant power detector" imbedded in their skulls.

 

Making matters even less sensible, technically, anything that's not an exact genetic duplicate of its parent is a mutant. Which means *everyone* is a mutant.

I think that was a plot point in at least one of the Sentinel future universes, or perhaps it was only in one series of modules in the old Marvel Super Heros pnp game; The Sentinels had rounded up and were executing humans because they were all mutated from their parents, despite being normal.

Actually it was shown that Bobby could fit in just fine when he wasn't iced up several times. He did work in an office as an accountant.

[Starcloud]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

That must have been with one of the better writers.

[Greywind]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

It's the one's that stand out 24/7 that give them a bad name. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and the evils.

[dmjalund]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

when in civies, Cyclop looks like a guy with an odd pair of shades. Probably a source of rumour rather than prejudice

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

I still don't understand why John Q. Public seems not to notice that there are other people with superpowers, or if he does, how his unscientific mind identifies them as "not mutants" when he has no way of objectively determining whether any person is/is not a mutant. Mutants can be detected with appropriate technology, but it's not like you can go to Wal-Mart's electronics department and purchase a home-use mutant detector (perhaps they'd be in pharmacy instead?). How can norms view the Fantastic Four on the evening news and not wonder if the cosmic rays they were exposed to had somehow "mutated" them, thus making them mutants, at least in layman's terms. Why doesn't the vast majority of humanity conclude that all supers are mutants?

[Lucius]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Why did the average medieval peasant fear and hate witches who could sour his milk or blight his crops but not priests who could turn wine into blood and bread into flesh and offered this ghoulish feast up to the whole community on a regular basis?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

She turned me into a palindromedary!

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Why did the average medieval peasant fear and hate witches who could sour his milk or blight his crops but not priests who could turn wine into blood and bread into flesh and offered this ghoulish feast up to the whole community on a regular basis?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

She turned me into a palindromedary!

 

Because they knew and trusted their priests, who were the ones who warned them that witches were bad news in the first place. Is anyone/anything that widely trusted pointing out the mutants for the unwashed masses?

[IndianaJoe3]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Why did the average medieval peasant fear and hate witches who could sour his milk or blight his crops but not priests who could turn wine into blood and bread into flesh and offered this ghoulish feast up to the whole community on a regular basis?

 

First, God is doing the transformation, not the priest. Second, it is only the, "true substance" that is changed, not the appearance or taste. (You may decide for yourself which is more important, but I think we're drifting far off topic.)

[Christopher]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

How can norms view the Fantastic Four on the evening news and not wonder if the cosmic rays they were exposed to had somehow "mutated" them' date=' thus making them mutants, at least in layman's terms. Why doesn't the vast majority of humanity conclude that [i']all[/i] supers are mutants?

It does not matter if the DNA is still normal. It was that they were born normal.

 

And how can they belive Super A is a Mutant and Super B a not Mutant? Well, the media says so. And the media can't be wrong in the eyes of Joe Q. Public. The same way the church could not go wrong with labeling person A "holy/saint" and person B "witch/son of satan/sorceror"

[Ravor]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Well, the way I see it, the poster who basically stated that most of the anti-mutant hate stems from the fact that the muties have decided to band together against the norms has it the issue square on its head. Try driving in a liberal area with a Tea Party bumper sticker and time how long it takes before your car gets keyed, on the converse, walk in a conservative area with a Planned Parenthood button and see the types of reactions you get. The modern anti-mutant bigotry has far less to do with racism or sexual discrimation then it does with the way political parties treat each other.

 

As for the reason that non-mutant Supers have it easier, well, quite simply because they didn't decide to band together in a us-vs-them mentality at the first sign of fear from the norms. I would also argue that the various non-mutant supers have been registered and are being watched by the government sans any law, but the shear number of mutants coupled with the fact that most of them would rather slink in the shadows as opposed to stepping out in the open with the notable exception of the terrorists who want their own fracking country (Wonder how many non-mutants get visas to visit or live there?) makes the unoffical status quo impossible.

 

 

*EDIT*

 

Just look at the reaction in the mutant community the moment one of them wishes to get rid of a handicap such as never being able to touch another living being, ID Politics is a double-edged sword at best and turning on your own when they don't want to toe the party line makes it all the worse.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

"ID Politics" = ???

[Starcloud]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

The politics of self-identification with a larger group. "I'm one of you, but..." "You don't agree with everything I say? That means you're not one of us!"

[Clonus]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Because they knew and trusted their priests' date=' who were the ones who warned them that witches were bad news in the first place. Is anyone/anything that widely trusted pointing out the mutants for the unwashed masses?[/quote']

 

There should be if you've got specific anti-mutant prejudice. That IS one of the things that is missing from the Marvel Universe, largely because they can't stain their best heroes with it, and Iron Man is already burdened with his prejudices against magicians and AIs.

 

In the Marvel universe, you can put Iceman and Spiderman on the same street together, in their anonymous civilian identities.

 

Iceman will have people glaring at him and uttering insults about mutants at him..

 

No, he won't. Being a mutant is like being Jewish or gay. People don't usually know until you give it away.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

 

 

....Being a mutant is like being Jewish or gay. People don't usually know until you give it away.

 

Like these manly men:

 

[dmjalund]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

Like these manly men:

 

how can you tell they're jewish?

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass?

 

how can you tell they're jewish?

 

Dude, didn't you listen to the lyrics? Those are TIGHT tights!