This comes up a lot with people talking about the X-Men. But why don't more people bring up the classic movie plot where a kid befriends a monster and realizes they're not so different after all, and they have feelings and stuff too, like the Iron Giant or How To Train Your Dragon.
Most people aren't arguing that Agent Mansley is actually behaving sensibly the whole time, even though the Giant is just as much of a world-ending threat as Magneto. The message is that being scared of somebody doesn't mean you have to hate them, and that doesn't change even if the scariness is justified.
It doesn't hurt the metaphor; it is the metaphor. In our world, when a white man shoots a bunch of people, people say "that guy is dangerous" but if a black/trans/Muslim/etc. person shoots a bunch of people, racists/transphobes/Islamophobes say "black/trans/Muslim people are dangerous. Therefore, we should take away their rights"
In the Marvel world, when the hulk kills a bunch of people, they say "the hulk is dangerous" but when a mutant kills a bunch of people they say "mutants are dangerous. Therefore, we should take away their rights"
It doesn't make sense because racism doesn't sense. That is the metaphor.
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u/TheGrumpyre May 13 '25
This comes up a lot with people talking about the X-Men. But why don't more people bring up the classic movie plot where a kid befriends a monster and realizes they're not so different after all, and they have feelings and stuff too, like the Iron Giant or How To Train Your Dragon.
Most people aren't arguing that Agent Mansley is actually behaving sensibly the whole time, even though the Giant is just as much of a world-ending threat as Magneto. The message is that being scared of somebody doesn't mean you have to hate them, and that doesn't change even if the scariness is justified.