Civil Rights and the Plight of Mutants

Since the introduction of the X-Men in 1963, the Marvel Universe has had the plot device of mutants. Mutants are men and women who are born with a certain gene (the X-gene) that gives them extraordinary abilities that usually present around puberty but have been known to be present since birth. Mutants are regarded as outsiders. At best they are considered the next stage in human evolution and at worst are labeled as freaks and monsters. This outsider status has mutants standing in for nearly every oppressed minority in American (and world) history.

When the X-Men first debuted, their struggle to fit in with a world that fears and hates them was best seen as an allegory for the civil rights movement. Mutants were seeking equality among a population that was dominated by humans, just as African Americans were also seeking acceptance from a population dominated by whites. Even the two leaders of the Mutant community, Professor Xavier and Magneto, were seen as allegories for civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Professor Xavier saw a world where mutants and humans lived together in peace, similar to how Dr. King saw people not being judged for their race, but for their characters. Conversely Magneto saw the only way mutants were going to gain a place in the world was through violent action, not all that dissimilar to the teachings of Malcolm X. Much of the hatred towards mutants depicted in the comics was the same sort of racist violence that many African Americans were being subjected to in the more racist parts of the country.

As the civil rights movement ended, fear of mutants morphed from racism into paranoia. Mutants were like Communists, living among the ordinary Americans. Just like people suspected anyone could be a communist, the comics showed situations where anyone could be a mutant. Like the Cold War inspired a real world arms race, in the comics there was an arms race of a different kind. Sentinels. So terrifying was the mutant threat that humanity created giant robots to hunt down and capture, or even kill, mutants. Political characters became the new enemies of mutants. Attacking mutants became a political platform in the Marvel Universe, just as attacking Communists was a political platform in the real world.

In recent years, being a mutant has been treated similar to someone being gay. There is a social stigma to it, and while some people accept the mutant community, there is still many who see mutants as some sort aberration or abomination in the eyes of God. Mutants are unsure of how they are going to tell their friends and family that they are “different.” There are also parallels in that like the gay community, which was plagued by the HIV virus, the mutant community was shown as being threatened by the Legacy Virus. The Legacy virus was a creation of Stryfe, a clone of the mutant hero Cable, who was raised by the mutant terrorist Apocalypse. Apocalypse believed in a strict “Survival of the fittest” mentality and saw humans as weak. The virus was designed first to get rid of the weakest of the mutants and then to attack the ordinary human population. This parallels the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s where at first the virus struck the homosexual community and then began to spread among the heterosexual community as well.

Perhaps the worst atrocity that mutants have most closely resembled is The Holocaust. In the famous Days of Future Past storyline in the pages of X-Men, the world had been ravaged by war and the Sentinels were rounding up the last surviving mutants and placing them into concentration camps before eventually exterminating them. In another storyline (possibly an extension of the same dystopian future) mutants are shown as being branded with a large “M” over their right eye, a barbaric practice that was first performed by the Nazis who would tattoo numbers on Jews being transferred among camps and also similar to the yellow stars of David that Jews were forced to sew onto their clothes in the ghettos. On a side note, the character of Magneto is motivated by the atrocities he witnessed as a Holocaust Survivor to ensure the same such atrocities never occur to mutants.

Even those who were oppressed and hunted in the far past share a connection with mutants. In the popular mini-series 1602, written by the brilliant Neil Gaiman, the Marvel Universe is portrayed as if it came into being during Colonial America. The X-Men are not referred to as mutants but are instead called “witchbreed.” In essence being a mutant is worthy of the same persecution that was visited upon those who were believed to be witches and servants of the devil. It makes sense since these acts of persecution were acted out of fear and superstition. If mutants truly are metaphors for oppressed minorities then it makes sense that they would represent this group as well.

The final group that shares a history of oppression with mutants are the Native Americans. In the recent pages of Ultimate X-Men, the surviving mutant community is relocated onto reservations. Previously in the pages of the regular X-Men comics, mutants had established a sovereign nation on US soil known as Utopia, a small island off the coast of San Francisco. The similarity between mutants and Native Americans (of which there have been a few mutant Native Americans) is that both groups of people have been placed by the government in land for which they received sovereign control. In many ways their placement there was forced, in that they had no other viable option against the superior military might of the American government.

The fight for civil rights is a fight for change. The very word “mutant” means something that has gone through change. It makes perfect sense that mutants would be a metaphor for the struggles of so many people. People hate what they fear and what people fear most is change. Things that are different from themselves. All the above groups were seen as different from those who were in power and that difference led to hate. In many ways, we all need to mutate our views of the world.

SHIELD: The Most Dangerous Organization in the World

Okay, if you’ve seen the Avengers (and if you haven’t why not?) you might be familiar with the secret spy organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard/Homeland Intelligence/Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, GEEK CRED BITCHES!) that is in charge of keeping the world safe from massive super human threats that would endanger the rest of us mere mortals. According to the movie, without them there would be no Avengers. But is there a darker side to these benevolent protectors?

In the comics, SHIELD (I’m not going to type out all those periods every time) was primarily represented by Nick Fury (Agent of… as the comic was titled). Nick Fury was a character that had been established in the various War Comics that had come out decades earlier. As the series went on they added several of Nick Fury’s compatriots from his Howling Commando days. Primarily the series was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of James Bond, with Nick Fury sharing a similar love of women, alcohol and gadgets, but with a slightly more eccentric flair. It wasn’t until more modern times when SHIELD became a hub for all super hero activity in the Marvel Universe. A way to keep all the various heroes connected and also provide resources and support to them when needed. That support becomes even more pronounced when we look at the Ultimate version (Ultimate Universe explained here) of SHIELD. That version of SHIELD is similar to what appears in the Avengers film.

In the real world we have numerous law enforcement agencies, each with a specific task and jurisdiction. But SHIELD is an international organization that appears to have carte blanche to go wherever it needs to in order to deal with super human threats. It conceivably answers to the UN but in the midst of a world-threatening emergency there really isn’t time to get approval for what needs to be done. So we can safely assume that SHIELD is answerable to no one.

Except of course, Nick Fury. Nick Fury is the head of shield and in charge of making sure they protect the world. Essentially this one man has an army at his disposal. A man who has lived a life wrapped in mysteries and secrets. A man so paranoid that he often replaces himself with robot duplicates (Life Model Decoys) just in case someone tries to kill him. That suggests a very paranoid and delusional mind. And he is in charge of the safety of the entire world. In the Avengers film Nick Fury is seen reporting to a secretive council of elders, but he eventually decides to ignore their orders and there is little that group can do to stop him.

What’s worse than the power that Nick Fury wields is his influence. Nick Fury has the respect of military men from around the world. Captain America looks to Nick Fury for guidance. Captain America. A man who inspires so many takes his words of encouragement from a man like Nick Fury.

Some might wonder what evidence there is that Nick Fury might be corrupt. Well I simply ask you to look at the pages of any SHIELD comic and see. If you look at the ranking members of SHIELD you will see that they are all members of Colonel Fury’s World War II compatriots the Howling Commandos. Nick Fury has surrounded himself with men who would not countermand his orders because they have already accepted his leadership. This is how dictators rise to power.

Plus one has to consider precisely what type of threats it is that SHIELD deals with. Superhuman. Which covers people with powers, aliens, advanced technology and a whole host of other types of threats that normal law enforcement cannot deal with. Which means they are packing far beyond your standard ordinance. The type of weapons needed to take down the Juggernaut would easily outgun any police, FBI or army arsenal. SHIELD helicarriers could launch an attack on every major city in the world and receive little resistance.

 

In short, SHIELD is a powder keg waiting to go off. No one group should have this much power, even if that power is being used for good. And certainly such a group should not be in the hands of just one man. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Video Games are for Dudes

I am always a fan of seeing equality in media. TV shows, movies, literature, it is always nice to see men and women being given equal time and treatment. Unfortunately the one area where women have yet to shine is video games. Video games still remain primarily a guys club. And not just guys, but dudes. Video games are designed to appeal to a very specific type of male.

Now while not every guy acts like a dude all the time, we all have dude tendencies. What are “dude tendencies” you might ask? Going long periods without cleaning. Yelling “boobies” whenever you see a woman scantily clad, and even worse if you laugh after you do it. And a large and unhealthy lust for violence. All the things that video game culture is aimed towards.

When one looks at the history of video games you can pinpoint a moment when video games went from being for everyone to being towards guys. The earliest video games certainly have no sense of gender identity. Pong or Pac-Man (before the Ms. Showed up) certainly do not show any preference towards boys or girls. It is when titles like Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Centipede enter the arcades that the shift towards male dominated content began. Video games started to be filled with Sci-Fi content and science fiction has (especially in the 60s and early 70s when video game culture started)  been male dominated.

But while science fiction grew and changed to encompass more strong feminine roles (Princess Leia and Lieutenant Uhura being the best examples), video games did not follow suit. In fact the first time any women even showed up in a video game it was to serve as the damsel in distress. Women in the earliest video games were there primarily to give the hero something to do. When video game consoles brought the arcade into our homes, it brought characters like Princess Peach and Princess Zelda (apparently you can only be rescued if you’re royalty). Both characters are featured in long running franchises and yet they are always portrayed as victims.

The one strong female character to show up in early console games is Samus from the popular game Metroid. The only problem is that she is clad from head to toe in bionic armor and unless you read the information packet that came with the game, the average player had no idea she was a woman. Young boys everywhere blasted away at alien monsters, never for one second realizing they were playing a girl.

Even when games finally adopt a strong female lead, the gameplay and character design shows the game is clearly meant to appeal to guys. Take the most famous female video game heroine, Lara Croft, of the game Tomb Raider. The gameplay is an action third person shooter where you get to control an extremely buxom female character. Many male players (guilty) spent most of the game just trying to make her crawl around on the ground and zoom the camera in and out on her cleavage. What truly shows though how much of a male oriented game Tomb Raider is the myth of the “Nudie Raider” code.   Supposedly there is a code that allows the player to play the game with Lara Croft completely nude. At the time of this writing, no such code has been found but that does not eliminate the hope of nerds everywhere.

More than just the sexualization of women in most video games, it is the content itself that shows what kind of audience they are aiming for. The top selling video games are usually first person shooters or sports games. Or hyper violent sandbox games like the Grand Theft Auto series. When Grand Theft Auto III came out and ignited the franchise, one of the most scandalous features was the fact that in order to restore your health you needed to hire a prostitute. And then as an added horror, most gamers would choose to simply bludgeon to death (guilty) the aforementioned hooker and take their money back. I can’t imagine many women who would find this action appealing (actually thinking about my friends, I probably can).

Team Unicorn

Graphics advance, gameplay advances, but the perceived image of women in video games seems to have slowed to a crawl. Such an odd thing to learn that a mature woman is into video games that the Gamer Girl has joined the elite male fantasy ranks of the Playboy Bunny or Lingerie Super Model. Rare creatures that we know exist but doubt we shall ever encounter. There do exist games that appeal to a female audience but when you look at the actual content of these games (Ico, Wind) there is nothing particularly feminine about them, they simply exist in a gender neutral realm where the bulk of male gamers have abandoned them.