Can I Get a Back Story??

I think I've officially cracked the code. I've figured out why comics aren't my forte. As most of you probably can guess about me, I don't like being thrown into unknown situations. Sure I can react on my feet and deal with the punches but I prefer to be overly prepared with notes, color-coded binders, a schedule and a time limit. That is ideal for me. But I also recognize that this doesn't happen very often. However....

I absolutely hate it when it happens in books. I hate being thrown into the middle of a story or a plot or a fight scene and I have to work my way backwards, forwards, and sideways to figure out what's going on. You never know a hero/villian's backstory! I'm assuming there are some exceptions to this rule so please tell me them so I can check them out. I want to know if this is what gets me.

I realized this when I was reading the Punisher/Dare Devil comics. Mostly because I wanted to know what happened to the Punisher to make him so evil and twisted. I wanted to know why the heck Dare Devil is a blind ninja man. Was he always blind? Who trained him? WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?

I prefer novels where I create a personal connection with the main character. I like Frankenstein because I was with him as he journeyed thorough his life. I liked Beowulf because I met him at the beginning of his journey. I hated X-men because I get so sick of the classic "you don't know what I've been through" shpeil. Ok, so then tell me what happened to you. Stop being so complex and mysterious, Wolverine, and maybe we can actually get somewhere with this damn story.

I'm really interested in hearing other peoples opinions about this thought because I've started looking at all my favorite books and theres a distinct trend. Mythology is my absolute favorite because you get the story from beginning to end. There's never a point where Zeus is being all pouty because he doesn't want to talk about his past (he's being moody because he inevitably didn't get his way).

I found myself just getting tired of the lack of background I had on the characters.  I just felt like I had a revelation when I said to Punisher (in my head) "Good god man just talk about it and we can all move past this!" But it isn't just with Dare Devil/Punisher. I think many superhero comics are planned this way and I'm sure there is an exact reason for it. I just don't like it. Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe I'm unimaginative. Perhaps I just want some answers. Like I said, this isn't a fool proof theory, there are plenty of exceptions both ways.

How Do You Like 'dem Apples?

If we've learned anything in the last two weeks, its that you don't mess with God (referring to the christian/catholic male deity). We've also learned that scientists who learn too much end up killing innocent people and die lonely and sad.

So last week, we had Frankenstein, a young scientist who learned too much, discovered too much, and created a monster that screwed up his entire life. Whether his intentions were good or not, he played God, created life in an unnatural way (i.e. without the help of woman) and was punished for it. He also died after losing all his family and friends and wasting his life chasing a monster through the tundra.

This week, we have Dr. Jekyll, a successful doctor who learned too much, discovered too much, and released his inner "monster" that screwed up his entire life. He, too, played God and created a new life from himself. This part of him effectively consumed him, destroyed him, killed him. He messed with the natural order of life and he "got what he deserved".

Those of us who grew up in the christian/catholic church know that God is super particular about the way life is made. Strictly between a man and a woman. Crazy shit happens when you try to mess with God's creation-of-life plans. And we all know that too much knowledge is always a bad thing (Adam and Eve screwed the pooch on this one). You learn too much? Boom: Humanity is cursed with sin and your son murders your other son. You have intercourse with someone of the same sex? Literally boom: he sends fire from the sky and burns entire cities to the ground and for the next two thousands years you live on the outskirts of civilization. Moral of the story? Don't mess with Gods way of creating life, man.

I see these two stories, both Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as warnings from the authors. Knowledge, and especially too much of it, can be a really bad thing. It will ruin your life. Also, don't mess with how life is made because whatever thing you make, will inevitably kill you. Don't play God and God won't play you.

I actually kind of hate both of these lessons, however. These were both written during big moments of change in the world. There was a lot of new technologies and politics were constantly changing. Some people were scared about how these changes would affect the comfy lives they were accustomed to living. People were scared. They were scared their lives were about to be completely flipped, meaning they might be treated like those people they had marginalized for hundreds of years (sound familiar????)

So I say screw that. Knowledge is an amazing thing. Knowledge gives color and vibrancy to life. It makes you feel all types of things, good and bad. If we feel the same way constantly, if we're as "emotional as a bagpipe", are we really living? Is this a quality of life we should strive for? Aren't feelings what gives us life? On the whole life thing: surrogacy seems to be going pretty well and there aren't any robots trying to kill us yet so I think were doing pretty well on the creating-life-unnaturally front. Never stop striving to learn more and discover everything you're capable of. Screw the old way of doing things. I think civilization's doing pretty well for itself (compared to where we started that is...).






So how do you like 'dem apples, God?

Feeling 6'2"

My friends constantly make fun of me because I often forget how short I am. I swear I'm not that short and you can be damn sure I'll reach that top cabinet... one way or the other. My height doesn't always match my personality and what I think I can do doesn't always fit with my physical abilities. In my mind I'm 6'2" and unstoppable.

Stephen Asma's article made me realize a lot about myself and that I'm not the only shortie who thinks she can dunk a basketball. He mentions that humans have this funny way of imagining how they will react in life-threatening moments. His example of a the knife attack in the 90's is a great explanation. We can all easily sit here and say "why didn't anyone stop him?" but really, when was the last time you were attacked with a hunting knife? We sit in class and criticize literary characters for their actions and decision but what would we have done? If I created a monster like Frankenstein, I'm pretty sure my reaction wouldn't be all that different. I probably would've run away faster honestly.

So while I mentioned that I often feel larger than life-sized, its not a constant thing. Story time: My parents house is in the middle of nowhere. I was home alone one dark winter evening when my cat freaked out and scared the shit out of me by running through the house slamming into cabinets. So naturally "burglar" comes to mind and what do I do? I grab a pair of scissors and the biggest knife we had and I scoped out the house. Turns out there was the biggest black bear in Western PA on our front deck. So now I'm standing in a dark room, suddenly feeling very small, holding a kitchen knife against the biggest animal I've ever seen. Let's just say, its a really good thing I wasn't born in a time where killing large animals was required to survive.

How does my little anecdote correlate to Asma's monster theories? If someone would have given my that situation as a hypothetical, I would have given a reasonable and logical response to handling the situation. But when theres a giant freaking bear outside your house and all you've got is a knife, you suddenly really start to question your flight or fight skills. And what if there was a burglar? I'm 5'2" and not Jason Bourne (surprising right?). My planning basically stopped at "knife" but it sure seemed like a good idea at the time.

Monsters (and big ass bears) exist to remind us that we aren't invincible. They force us to think about how we would react in a certain hypothetical situation so that when a situation does arise with real life monsters, we can at least hope we react in the best way possible. "No one likes to imagine oneself a victim." Monsters are around so that we never forget that anyone, anyone, can become a victim and no one really knows how they'll react.

Comics: an Acquired Taste

For me, comics are like beer. Maybe with time I'll start to like them but after my first taste, I'm still not loving the flavor.  Maybe its not that I don't like comics but I just haven't tried enough of them to know what I like. But one thing is clear after this reading; I'm not a fan of the Astonishing X-men. 

I was basically confused from the start as I was only able to identify Cyclops and the blue cat guy (Who's name I discovered later is Dr. McCoy). It was easy to follow the plot and once Wolverine showed up things started to get a little clearer as he’s usually the cause of conflict. But then suddenly they were all giants, standing in the ocean…

I honestly thought I skipped a page and flipped back because I couldn’t understand how they transitioned from the lawn to giant form and an ocean (I’m obviously the person on the hike who’s got the map because if I don’t know where we’re going I get very annoyed). After Dr. McCoy explains that he messed something up with the danger room, I see the humor in it but I felt like it was so abrupt. But I felt like this a lot. It was a constant jump from one scene to the next and it was complicated to follow.

I honestly have no clue what Frost’s powers are. She can read minds but manipulate them but also she turns into diamond (I think I’m confused here…)? She’s fighting Ord and she becomes a diamond. Not sure what happened. Maybe some clarification is needed. Then in the next scene there’s a mini dragon that attacks the bad guy and saves the X-men. It apparently belongs to Kitty but why? I’m not sure. A tiny purple dragon saved the day and well… I thought that was pretty lame. I think if the alien had still kicked all their asses and then simply walked away, there would’ve been an added layer of mystery. The dragon just seemed a little much.

It did get better from there and I started to get more into the story line. Where the heck is the professor? What’s the alien Ord doing with the doctor lady? Who’s the little girl? What’s going on with Jean?!

My issues with this weeks comics stem mostly from randomness that doesn’t really add anything to the plot and over-stimulating pages. Sometimes there was just way too much going happening on a page and every single character had dialogue (a lot of it side comments or snarky remarks). While it does make the conversation seem more genuine, the side comments in combination with the main dialogue in combination with the intense, in your face artwork makes it really hard for me to focus. There’s just too much happening.

Too much happening! 

For instance, what is happening here?                                        

What's that top bit about? What moth? Help. 

I really do wish I liked comics, in a very sincere way. But, like beer, I’m afraid I’m going to have to push through a lot of the ones I don’t like to find the few that suite my taste.

Blurred Lines

Grey areas. No matter how logical, how black and white you think you are, there is always some part of you that finds itself in a grey area. Right and wrong. Good and bad. Typically these are easy things to categorize, to separate and identify. But sometimes, those lines become less distinct and more blurred. The entire storyline of the X-Men movies is set in one giant cluster-fuck of a grey area that makes your head spin. 

The movie begins with the explanation of the new mutant population that has developed and the issues that have come with it. We immediately feel sympathy for these mutant people who are just struggling to live a normal life. They are really people, just like us, but with some difference that make them outcasted from their societies and homes. But its easy to feel sympathy from the comfort of your couch.

We see the evil Senator, hitched on the idea of making mutants identify themselves, perhaps even wear some sort of identifying marker that sets them apart (cue the gut-wrenching reminders from the treatment of the Jewish people in the Holocaust which was presented in the opening scene.) We hate this idea, this outright attack on personal freedom. We hear what he says and we identify it as wrong and bad.  It seems so far fetched to us that someone could think this narrow-mindedly and be so prejudiced. 

But then we meet Magneto and things begin to blur rather quickly. Here's a mutant just like the others, in fact very good friends with Xavier, but he does not seem to be so good and just. He too, fights for mutants' rights but he's also fighting for mutant superiority. He and his cronies are easily identified as the bad guys, the monsters, but the real issue is, are they?

I believe this goes back to the idea that monsters are not inherently bad just as heroes are not inherently good. They have a mixture of both, perhaps monsters have less good and heroes have less bad, but they still have both. Magneto was fighting for what he believed in, for his rights as a mutant and for the mutants to become the dominant power in society. The Senator was fighting for what he believed was best for the humans and their personal safety and to continue to ensure that the humans remained at the top. Magneto wanted to stop the discrimination; the Senator wanted to stop something that was a threat to his status-quo. It’s easy to say that discrimination is bad and that the Senator was evil but we also cannot forget that we are also humans. 

Like I said, it’s simple to be on the mutants' side when I'm sitting on a couch, in a society where mutants don't exist. But it does make me question what would society do if this were a real situation. Is there not an entire group of individuals in our country who want to stop other groups of people from entering our country based on their differences? Yet can this be equated to mutants?

I am, body and soul, against discrimination. It disgusts me and makes me sick to see what others do to each other in the name of their own perverted ideas of social norms. Mutants represent every past culture, society, religion, sub-culture, you name it, that has been discriminated against because of their differences. There are people who don’t agree with me on my ideas of acceptance and tolerance but these are people who raised me, who love me and whom I love. Do I think they are evil and wrong and unjust? Do I throw them into the same category as the Senator? Can we identify Magneto as the bad guy outright? What is right and what is wrong?

It’s a grey area. There is no right or wrong answer, no black and white. So how would we as a society react if a mutant population began to develop? Only time will tell.