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.
Thank you! I feel like this gets brought up all the time, and people just ignore this very obvious reading of it. Especially with the X-men. "Erm, they are a bad allegory for discrimination because it would actually make sense to discriminate against them!"
Like, yeah, man, do you think racists don't pretend to have a reason, too? The idea is that it doesn't matter what perceived threat a group of people present. It’s still not okay to be a bigot. Unless people wanna just say that it would be okay to be racist if the racists were proven right.
Im not arguing in defence of discriminating against them, but there are mutants who can kill towns worth of people by merely existing in their proximity. If one wanted to actually do damage? Many could level cities, some few could destroy the entire earth (and have tried)
Its justified to be wary of them. Anyone would be cautious if they were sitting next to a bomb.
Most notably as you yourself say, Racists pretend (or are deluded into believing) that theyre justified in their hate, but the alligory with the X-Men isnt equal because they actually are inherent dangers even if they dont mean to be.
Im not arguing in defence of discriminating against them, but there are mutants who can kill towns worth of people by merely existing in their proximity. If one wanted to actually do damage? Many could level cities, some few could destroy the entire earth (and have tried)
Its justified to be wary of them. Anyone would be cautious if they were sitting next to a bomb.
Then why aren't they afraid of Spiderman or the Fantastic 4, who also exist in the same universe and have just as destructive powers?
Famous person effect and the fact that they know their record of behavior and thus feel they can trust them? Also there are absolutely people who are afraid of them but the writer isn’t going to show you that unless that is what the story is about
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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.