# Something that always bothered me about the X-Men **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834 "2018-06-27T13:42:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/41 "2018-06-27T22:14:17Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > One of my favorite Texts from Superheroes… > > Professor X: Spiderman, be on the lookout. There’s a sentinel in your area and it’s hunting mutants. > Spiderman: I’m not a mutant, I got bit by a radioactive spider. > Professor X: Good luck explaining that to the giant robot. I remember in [the House of M arc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_House_of_M) he had to hide the fact that he wasn’t a mutant. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/42 "2018-06-27T22:20:00Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > US Agent is Marvel’s conservative superhero… I’m sure he’s for registration. Indeed, he helped enforce the act and arrested a couple mutants, but at the time he was using Captain America’s name and costume. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/43 "2018-06-27T23:02:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m also surprised Spiderman isn’t classed as > a mutant. Because he really is. I don’t know if it’s still current terminology ('cause comic book stuff changes as lot) but at least for a while there was a distinction between “mutants” - born as such, with the “X” gene - and “mutates”, which were non-mutants without X genes that were altered at some point, such as Spiderman and the Fantastic Four. It seems pretty small to me, but apparently for awhile that was the difference between being reviled or being a hero. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/44 "2018-06-27T23:27:53Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > If mutants like him were using their powers to help all the normal people, I don’t think anti-mutant bigotry would last very long. Heck, it occurred to me during the first or second X-Men movie that if Storm can instantly create and direct tornadoes, could she manipulate naturally-occurring hurricanes? Even if she couldn’t simply dissipate a Hurricane Sandy or Hurricane Maria, could she “nudge” them out to sea and either prevent landfall entirely or direct it to less-populated areas? Even if she could mitigate only 1% of total hurricane damage, that’ll quickly pass the $1 billion mark after just a few seasons. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/45 "2018-06-28T00:27:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And after watching Age of Ultron, you really start to think, “You know, these super “heroes” really are dangerous.” When you start to fear the arrival of the Avengers, something’s not right. “I just want to go downtown, take in a show. Not have a building dropped on my head. Especially over stolen raw material.” I think you _are_ supposed to start thinking that after the Age of Ultron. That’s the whole point (& the set up to the final conflict and Civil War). They are dangerous. There’s a very good argument that they should be subject to some kind of oversight. There isn’t always clarity that their involvement in a situation makes things better - it’s very much something that should be considered. But that’s not the subject of the thread. To the subject - if you had been raised in an environment where there was a general anti-mutant environment - at seeing your brother could freeze things, you might think “What else can he do that he isn’t telling me?” or “Can he control it? Or might he kill us all in his sleep?” If, like many siblings, the two of you fought a lot, you might freak out at being suddenly so outgunned in any conflict between you. Depending on your personality, that could cause a lot of resentment and a lot of bitterness. > [@dorvann](#): > > If mutants like him were using their powers to help all the normal people, I don’t think anti-mutant bigotry would last very long. You grossly underestimate bigots. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/46 "2018-06-28T00:43:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, it is interesting. The same people that want to registering guns, are horrified by the idea of registering mutants, some of which have the power to \*destroy the world. \* But a gun is something I choose to buy, I don’t choose to become a mutant. Perhaps a better near-real-world analogy would be “Your 23-and-Me profile came back, and it turns out you have genetic markers that match those of known serial killers. Therefore we’re going to ask you to install this tracking app, and if someone in your area gets reported missing, please make sure to make yourself available for a quick visit.” It’s definitely an interesting dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/47 "2018-06-28T00:56:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, it is interesting. The same people that want to registering guns, are horrified by the idea of registering mutants, some of which have the power to \*destroy the world. \* Some of us can tell the difference between an object and a human being. And feel that the human beings deserve rights and objects don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/48 "2018-06-28T00:59:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, it occurred to me during the first or second X-Men movie that if Storm can instantly create and direct tornadoes, could she manipulate naturally-occurring hurricanes? Even if she couldn’t simply dissipate a Hurricane Sandy or Hurricane Maria, could she “nudge” them out to sea and either prevent landfall entirely or direct it to less-populated areas? Even if she could mitigate only 1% of total hurricane damage, that’ll quickly pass the $1 billion mark after just a few seasons. You’re giving human rationality too much credit. If Storm mitigated 99% of the total hurricane damage, she’s still condemned for it. People wouldn’t care about how bad the hurricane would have theoretically been if she hadn’t intervened. They would just say _“Storm messed with the weather. And my flower garden was ruined by the heavy rain she caused. I’m suing.”_ ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/49 "2018-06-28T02:53:02Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > As a black male reading X-Men in the 80’s the comics resonated with me because of something that the movies don’t show well; Mutants (like many black people) were being judged on a potential to do something bad, not on something that they had done. > > ETA: Sure many families might not have a problem with Iceman or even Angel, but Nightcrawler, Beak, and to a lesser extent Beast in his original form? I didn’t read the comics much, so I missed that point. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/50 "2018-06-28T03:23:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > After the last ten years of health care debates in this country, that seems like an entirely plausible scenario. > > “He’s a socialist! Get him!” > > “I want to give affordable health care to everyone!” > > “GET A ROPE!” > > More seriously: anti-mutant bigots believe that mutants are inherently opposed to humanity, and are actively plotting to replace them as a species. I can absolutely see anti-mutant bigots refusing to let someone like Elixir work on them, because “Who knows what other changes he’s making in there?” And in the Marvel universe, that’s not a crack-pot fear. Villains infecting people with mind-altering nanobots, or chemicals, or magic happens kind of a lot, and it often happens under the guise of a benevolent organization. This makes me believes there are preppers/survivalists in the Marvel universe preparing for the next major superhuman conflict/event. Have they ever depicted something like this in the comics? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/51 "2018-06-28T03:30:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yeah, all the Marvel characters co-exist with all the other Marvel characters. It’s the same on the DC side… Yeah, that’s sort of the point – it’s like emptying out your toybox when you were a kid, and playing with GI Joes and He-Man and Transformers and maybe there’s a My Little Pony there, all at the same time… That was brilliant, and I wish I’d thought of it back when I was always discussing some aspect of the Marvel vs DC universes. But back when we were kids, we were reading comics and watching movies just for the pure joy of it all. And if an ice-mutant and a cosmic hothead and a kid bitten by a spider were swinging around the “real” New York City together, that was fine with us. Probably the same way Greek kids were playing around with their myths. “Ok, so if Poseidon’s fighting Ares…” _“Whoa, hold on. The King of the Sea just wades into the middle of the Trojan War? 'Cause that’s where Ares is, dude.”_ “Wait, Posey talks to fish. What good is that going to do against the frickin’ God of War?” _“What about Hephaestus?”_ “You’re always asking that, Santos, okay, what _about_ Hephaestus?” _“Well, see, he’s the god of blacksmi…”_ “Yeah, and he’s ugly. Ug. Leee. That’s like his big power, Santos…” [(if that _is_ your real name…)](https://twitter.com/simpsonsgreats/status/868864641576960001?lang=en) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/52 "2018-06-28T03:42:49Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > Yes, I understand its a metaphor for racism or anti-LGBT hostility etc but it never rang true for me that an apparent common reaction of friends and family members is one of rejection and horror when a person’s powers first appear, for example _(and granted this is an extreme mutation, but disgust and horror? Really?)_ > > [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/mercury/4005-15078/](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/mercury/4005-15078/) > > Personally if my brother had come in when we were teenagers and started showing how he could freeze water with a thought or lift a truck with ease my reaction would be the same as the spiky-haired kid from Megas XLR “Cccccoooolllll…” and probably a bit jealous of his neat powers, but neither myself or my parents would think of rejecting or disowning him. > > Even if the mutation was something less useful I think the reaction would be one of sympathy not shunning him. > > So I don’t know, this aspect of the show never quite sat well for me even if I do understand what they were going for _(fear of the different, or the other)_, I just don’t think the general reaction would be as described. It was a gimmick and at a certain age, way after comics for me, I realized that the x-men were no different from the other costumed faces and that the marvel world pictured an incredible obsession, not with whether you were super powered and dangerous, but whether you had been born like that. Who would know whether you were born with it or were bitten by a radioactive can opener? Who would care? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/53 "2018-06-28T04:30:51Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Who would know whether you were born with it or were bitten by a radioactive can opener? Who would care? Iron Man would. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/54 "2018-06-28T04:58:16Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > It was a gimmick and at a certain age, way after comics for me, I realized that the x-men were no different from the other costumed faces and that the marvel world pictured an incredible obsession, not with whether you were super powered and dangerous, but whether you had been born like that. Who would know whether you were born with it or were bitten by a radioactive can opener? Who would care? Not that the average person has any way to tell if a powered individual is a mutant or not, but an “altered human” is a one-off – there’s no race of spider-men or human torches coming. However, there’s a segment of mutants who claim that they are _Homo superior_, and that they represent the next step in human evolution. And, by extension, some mutants of a more evil bent feel that this means that _Homo sapiens_ must die out, so that the world can be ruled by mutants. That’s certainly enough of an incentive for normal people to be afraid of mutants. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/55 "2018-06-28T05:26:05Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > It was a gimmick and at a certain age, way after comics for me, I realized that the x-men were no different from the other costumed faces and that the marvel world pictured an incredible obsession, not with whether you were super powered and dangerous, but whether you had been born like that. Who would know whether you were born with it or were bitten by a radioactive can opener? Who would care? IIRC, Dennis Miller once joked about how George Hamilton eventually got darker than Michael Jackson — and yet, we’d all presumably grant that racists don’t actually care how light or dark a guy’s skin _is,_ right? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/56 "2018-06-28T05:43:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Some of us can tell the difference between an object and a human being. And feel that the human beings deserve rights and objects don’t. The people who own the guns are the one being registered in many places and they go to prison, not the guns. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/57 "2018-06-28T09:25:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s the same reason why the Harry Potter books don’t make sense. If wizards actually existed, people would worship them, not hunt them down; actual “wizards” were persecuted _because their magic didn’t work._ Actually, the Harry Potter books explicitly say wizards choose to hide so they don’t get stuck trying to magically fix everyone else’s problems, not because they’re scared of normal people persecuting them. They don’t want to be worshipped and take on the responsibility for everyone else that would entail. The Harry Potter books have many sense and logic issues, but that isn’t really one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/58 "2018-06-28T12:43:37Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > – there’s no race of spider-men or human torches coming… Actually… Reed + Susan Richards’ son Franklin was born a powerful mutant. His sister, Valeria, _would_ have been were it not for comics shenanigans. Presumably, any child of Johnny’s would also be a mutant. There’s been several future timeline Spider-Man series where his daughter inherits his spidey powers, and is a mutant. So it _is_ kinda implied that there is a race of spider-men and human torches coming: mutants. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/59 "2018-06-28T12:46:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That series was disgusting. The numbers of rapes and sexual assaults was off the charts. Nothing lastingly good happened to anyone, ever. it was like there was a contest among the participating authors to see who could torture their characters the most. I stopped reading it before it got to that point but when I could see the trend. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834/60 "2018-06-28T13:46:32Z")
But even if the mutants _are_ a race, they’re still one-offs. If Iceman and Shadowcat had a kid (purely hypothetical; I don’t know if they’ve ever been a couple), that kid would probably be a mutant, but their powers would probably not be related to cold or to phasing. And if a mutant decided not to join any of the _Homo superior_ movements, they could just say that they were struck by lightning or exposed to weird chemicals or something, and escape persecution. And really, why wouldn’t they all? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-that-always-bothered-me-about-the-x-men/816834.md?page=4)