Is Mutant prejudice all that bad?

Right, now that we've got that bullshit clickbait out of the way, on to the discussion. This is something that's been bothering me for years now, I'm aware that the X-Men Comics began as an allegory for how gays were perceived a few decades ago, the prejudice mutants faced was meant to represent homophobia and such. The films even touched on this to a degree, "Have you tried...not being a mutant?" Says Bobby's Mother in X2.

However I find one glaring problem with this: how is it irrational and wrong to have a fear of mutants? Being prejudice against them can be understood and it isn't the same as being homophobic, gay people can't control the weather with their minds, turn invisible or drain the life force from people. Mutants can. If a Mother didn't want her son/daughter going to school with another student who could shoot concussive blasts from their eyes, she isn't prejudice, that's just common sense. If mutants existed in real life, we'd be terrified because they're dangerous and some of them threaten the existence of the entire human race, so a registry at minimum is a must.

Thoughts?

Well in terms of comics the double standard of Mutants vs Mutates is always present. And IIRC has only ever been addressed in Civil War. But when it comes down to the movies I would side with the government with the in theory but not in practice.

Interesting, can you expand on that?

@socajunkie: The idea is you never want to give the government too many tools for surveillance (Captain America Civil War). Once they have it there is no taking it away and even if you're trusting of the powers that be currently what about tomorrow. To identify mutants you need to find the x-gene which means getting a database of dna starting with you and me then moving on to babies.

The X-Men are an allegory for ALL minority groups not just the Gay community. (IMO) In the comics I find it Hypocritical for the people to hate, loathe and kill mutants when we have Gods and Monsters and Demons and Mutated humans walking around the planet. Yet Mutants are treaded like everything is their fault. Do people have the right to fear them? Of Course, but it’s wrong to single One group out and not the entire demographic Hero Community. A Rampaging Hulk is just as dangerous as a Mutant that can shoot concussive beams from his eyes. A boy dressed like a spider, with spider powers is just as much a threat as a mutant who can teleport and has blue skin.

Though it seems like from the comics people are afraid of mutants because they feel like they will be replaced. And that’s a fair point, but to attack and kill them and beat them and dissect them is wrong. If people are truly afraid of being replaced that’s they way of Natural Selection. You can’t stop that. If you don’t want your child going to school with a mutant that’s fine, lol that’s the same argument people made when the idea of inter graded schools came around. People didn’t want their kids going to school with black children lol.

If Mutants were REAL? I STRONGLY believe our government or others would put them in internment camps, but sugar coat it and say it’s for their own good while studying them and making them into Weapons. Case in point a bunch of WOLVERINES running around the planet.

Anyway, that’s my Opinion.

@mooty_pass: There's actually some reasons fans postulate for why Mutants are hated more than any other type of metahuman(although, metahumans of all kind are also hated). Mutants are closest to humans, in a sense. They are just humans who evolved with a different set of genetic codes, thus giving them special abilities. It's sort of an uncanny valley/jealousy/prejudice sort of thing.

And yeah, Mutants were meant to represent not just the LGBT community, but also any mistreated minority.

Why is a literal Norse god or a rando billionaire with an tank-tuxedo any less scary than a dude with claw hands or a woman who makes lightning? There's always been the double standard of "humans with powers" somehow being more acceptable than "mutants with powers"

It just...doesn't work for me if they're an allegory for all minority groups since there's a difference between prejudice over how someone looks and prejudice based on super-powers.

As for the bold part, well no, one is racism, the other is safety. Not wanting your child to go to school with black children isn't the same as not wanting your child to go to school with kids who can shoot lasers out of their eyes.

@tomkatie: because while Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four are all super powered beings...they are all humans, and the public relates to them and looks up to them. Thor and other gods or alien heroes are seen as saviors from the sky, which humans are almost wired at this point to look up to and praise. Mutants are seen as the next phase of evolution, but more importantly, seen as humanity's replacement. There is a primal fear that comes from feeling inferior to another species (a superior species) that is growing in your midst. The fact that their scientific name is literally "Homo Superior" doesn't help calm that fear. Humans in the Marvel Universe just feel overall threatened by mutants on the basic fact that, from an evolutionary standpoint, we are inferior to them. They are us but evolved...us but better. Their naturally destined to take our place, and that scares people.

@huthimamwa: What you are saying would make more sense if people knew knew how a lot of these mutated heroes got their powers. Sure, they might know that Thor is an extra-dimensional being but they don't know that Spidey was bitten by a radioactive spider or that Captain Marvel became part Kree because of a weapon. Why don't they assume those two are mutants? We know they are not but doubt most humans in the comics are aware that they are not mutants.

No, it's completely reasonable. The part that doesn't make sense is why they single out mutants out of all the super people, which is probably just plot anyway.

An argument can be made for both sides. You shouldn't punish the group for the actions of the individual. We see this today with Muslim Americans being treated like criminals by some people in their communities because of random attacks they had nothing to do with. And when you give the government too much authority over the situation, it could open the floodgates. I feel like that's why the X Men have always been popular among any group who considers themselves outcast, because when you see some of their struggles, you can relate.

However, minorities and sexual preference is radically different from someone who can telepathically make you walk in front of a bus. And while you don't want to judge the group as a whole, all it takes if for someone with the power of a nuke to have a bad day. And honestly, if I was a human in the Marvel universe, I would absolutely want mutants to be monitored closely. There is no right or wrong answer in this scenario, just a lot of gray. But it also makes for good storytelling. Imo, The Gifted on Fox does a pretty good job of showing how mutants and humans would act in modern day post 9/11 America, and it ain't pretty. But you do see both sides point of view.

In universe logic, this doesn't really make sense since superpower is basically common on Marvelverse in general.

@socajunkie: Right, and I understand your point. It’s absolutely fair if it doesn’t work for you. But the X-Men represents the Minority that’s what Stan Lee created them to be. They ARE the minority in comics, to the people and in their Own superhero community. Prejudice has no type. If your born different, look different, talk different and you hate or don’t feel safe to be around that person or whatever reason then your being Prejudice.

No, it’s not simply just racism or simply just safety. It’s plain ol prejudice. Those People who did not want their kids going to school with Black children were saying the exact same thing. They felt that their child was not safe going to school amongst other Black Kids. It’s exactly the same argument. That’s why the X-Men are so closely related to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

@wollfmyth209: Yup. I agree.

No, mutant prejudice is unethical.

Mutants are sentient human beings. Not bears, not big cats, not wolves, but human beings who have control over their actions. Therefore, they can't be judged as threats. Therefore, it's unethical to discriminate against them simply because of what they have the potential to do. Just because they could hurt people with their powers is not a valid reason to assume that they will.

Think about it; what if we discriminated against all boxers, fighters, and martial artists? They could also hurt people (and in many cases, kill people) if they chose to. But why don't we? Because when you're sentient, you have control over your actions, and should be given the benefit of the doubt.

It's like the movie Zootopia. Just because predators could hurt prey (at least in most cases) was not a valid reason to assume that every individual predator was a danger to society, and it was not a valid reason to start discriminating against the predators.

1. Eh, mutants are supposed to "represent all minorities in America" or just people considered "different" in general. I've always kind of called bullshit on that and thought the X-Men were an allegory for Jews considering their creators and the significance of the letter X and Jewish immigrants back in the day, not to mention a slew of other similarities. Also, in the very early issues the X-Men were liked by the public and obviously more of a teenage sidekick influenced book than anything else.

2. The mutant metaphor is sort of dumb, but, it's not impossible to make sense out of if you really had to.

Mutant prejudice actually makes sense in the movies. It doesn't make sense in the comics.

Is not a one to one comparison. Is meant to be relatable and is a allegory to discrimination in general. What is important is the message and less so the logic especially when you have a bunch of different superpower people with crazy and nonsensical abilities.

@mooty_pass:

Fairs, I understand but I just don’t agree with it.

Come on man, those people having a fear of black people are irrational, having a fear laser eyes is is perfectly rational and not wanting to risk having your chile’s face melted off is...good parenting.

@socajunkie: Yes your right, but Go back into the era of the 50’s and 60’s and try telling that to a white Female who is a mother of 3 that her fear of black people is irrational. And your right it is irrational, but that’s what they felt and actually believed back then. But also good parenting is to educate your child that they live in an era of Monsters and Demons as well that can melt their faces off. Not just Mutants. Thats Good Parenting.

Haha idk if I thought about it before but tbh you got a good point lol you may be right.

Mutants are lame and disgusting they deserve to be relentlessly hunted into extinction. Dirty cheating bastards just spawning with powers and deeming themselves superior. You want powers do it the old fashioned way, by accident or experimentation.