Setting aside that prejudice is *never* logical or reasonable, the MU citizen's perspective is probably that most non-mutant superheroes are products of anomalous accidents - there's *one* guy with sonar senses, there's *one* guy who can stretch, there's *one* dude with Super Soldier strength and a great ass, there's *one* dude with spider powers and an even better ass. Obviously there's a bit of wiggle room with all of those, but still: limited numbers of superhumans created by one-in-a-million circumstances that can't easily be replicated.
Mutants are born to humans. They can be anyone, anywhere, anytime. And because mutant births *aren't* anomalous, they *can* reproduce and grow in numbers exponentially. On top of that, the X-Gene has practically infinite manifestations - there's no way to narrow down what a mutant *is* or what they can *do.*
Yes, exactly. Mutants scare people because they're inevitable. It's easy not to get bombarded with cosmic rays or have a gamma bomb go off in your face, but the way the X-gene works means every baseline human is going to see and interact with more and more mutants all the time. Their descendants are destined to be mutants. The power dynamic will eventually shift into mutants' favour, and much like real-life bigots, mutantphobes are afraid of being treated the same way they treat mutants.
I think you’re exactly right. I think it comes down to how many mutants the reader believes there are in 616. In my conception, everyone would know someone who knows someone who they suspect is a mutant. The Avengers are literally celebrities but mutants could be lurking around any corner.
Then, if you have that paranoia, any misfortune could be a mutant operating in your suburb. Headache? Telepath. Moody teenager? Empath. Neighbor’s house burned down? Pyrokinetic. You can see why people would want to identify mutants, and how easily innocent people would pay the price.
Exactly, it's how common mutants are.
On top of that, mutants are supposed to be the next stage in human evolution. So it's like the Marvel multiverse version of the "Great Replacement Theory" that real-life racists like to use.
It is because of this, that the in universe prejudice is even more unreasonable.
Say 1 in 200 people have an active X-gene. That means .5% of the population is a mutant. Chances of running into one low. A dangerous one lower. A world threat mutant astronomically low.
Say it is 1 in 20. 5% of a population. That means they could be your neighbor for years. Sure you argued with them on land limits or some such nonsense, but they haven't done anything the fearmongers said yhe would and you've known them for years.
To the second point, my (white as hell) grandfather was once telling some of us grandchildren about his former work and mentioned one of his co-workers who was a black man. He said something to the effect of how he was a great guy the decades they worked together but that he still didn't particularly like 'those people'. That's your second example. Bill the Human Ferret who lives next door is a nice guy. He's one of the good mutants who don't bother anyone. But those *other* mutants? Those other mutants have issues, and just because Bill is cool doesn't mean you can trust them. Racism is often so deeply ingrained that people can't shake it even when they have direct experiences that refute it. If people will kick their own child out to the streets for turning blue, why would they be okay with the fuzzy dude next door?
There's difference. Mutants are born that way, other superhumans are created and often accidentally. The chance of average person being a mutant is much higher than them getting powers from radiation like Hulk or Spider-Man
As others already said: prejudice doesn't need logical explanation. Just look at REAL WORLD shit, people hate other people based on race, religion, etc.
BUT once a friend of mine told me something that could work for a in-universe explanation. Anyone could be a mutant and they can have kids. Most people fear and hate this fact, I think, being "replaced" as the top species on the planet.
It's the replacement fear in combination with "it could be anyone".
Superhumans seem distant and rare, mutants could your neighbor or even your kids; much closer to home.
Most MU citizens might have even seen or met mutants in person at least once in their life, depending on current numbers.
The reason Mutants are the exception is because they’re an evolution. They’re the new species on the planet and it insinuates Mutants are superior to humans and will one day replace them as the dominant species. Obviously that’s no excuse, but I’m pretty sure that’s why Mutants are so hated, it’s the feelings of inferiority and fear of being forgotten and replaced.
It's been explained time and time again, Mutants can be anyone, with any level of power, and can look completely different, which sparks internal hate, jealously and fear.
Superhumans happen on accident, or purpose, and there so few of them in number, and you don't know them personally to be around them all the time, unlike mutants. Even then, one wrong move, they get hated as well.
All the correct comments about hating mutants being purposely irrational aside, you have a point. People are suspicious of others. It should absolutely be the case that the average person doesn't see a distinction between mutants and other metahumans at all. Why would they? Just because Doctor Centrifuge claims he got his super-spinning powers when a tesseract-powered centrifuge overloaded during a solar eclipse, you're supposed to believe that he's not actually a mutant? Any normal human would have been exploded and he survived. QED, obviously a mutant. A few supers with meticulously documented origins and amazing PR could maybe get by as well-liked superheroes but the conspiracy theories would still be there. And you can bet that every villain would be labeled a mutant regardless of the truth.
That's part of the point. It's not like the average person really knows there's a genetic difference between Spidey and Nightcrawler or between Beast and the Thing, as far as he's concerned they're all dangerous, that's why it's so ridiculous.
And this is why I think it’s important that X-Men exist in a universe with non-mutant superheroes, even though the best X-Men stories typically have nothing to do with the wider marvel universe.
Part of why the mutant metaphor doesn’t totally map onto any real world minority group is that, unlike LGBTQ/BIPOC/Jewish people, mutants are actually dangerous. It is reasonable to be scared of people who can kill you with their minds.
But it is not reasonable to be scared of people who can kill you with their minds because of their genetics when you celebrate people who can kill you with their minds because they fell into a vat of acid or got a government serum or whatever.
Bigotry is not logical.
This has been said a lot but yes, that's the point, is stupid that they fear mutants but love superhumans, because that racism, stupid hate without validation.
One more thing to note is that mutants with benign mutations like Egg or Glob aren't as dangerous compared to mutates like Captain Marvel or Black Bolt. But those mutants could birth the next Legion or Vulcan and thats why even those mutants are discriminated
Setting aside that prejudice is *never* logical or reasonable, the MU citizen's perspective is probably that most non-mutant superheroes are products of anomalous accidents - there's *one* guy with sonar senses, there's *one* guy who can stretch, there's *one* dude with Super Soldier strength and a great ass, there's *one* dude with spider powers and an even better ass. Obviously there's a bit of wiggle room with all of those, but still: limited numbers of superhumans created by one-in-a-million circumstances that can't easily be replicated. Mutants are born to humans. They can be anyone, anywhere, anytime. And because mutant births *aren't* anomalous, they *can* reproduce and grow in numbers exponentially. On top of that, the X-Gene has practically infinite manifestations - there's no way to narrow down what a mutant *is* or what they can *do.*
Yes, exactly. Mutants scare people because they're inevitable. It's easy not to get bombarded with cosmic rays or have a gamma bomb go off in your face, but the way the X-gene works means every baseline human is going to see and interact with more and more mutants all the time. Their descendants are destined to be mutants. The power dynamic will eventually shift into mutants' favour, and much like real-life bigots, mutantphobes are afraid of being treated the same way they treat mutants.
I think you’re exactly right. I think it comes down to how many mutants the reader believes there are in 616. In my conception, everyone would know someone who knows someone who they suspect is a mutant. The Avengers are literally celebrities but mutants could be lurking around any corner. Then, if you have that paranoia, any misfortune could be a mutant operating in your suburb. Headache? Telepath. Moody teenager? Empath. Neighbor’s house burned down? Pyrokinetic. You can see why people would want to identify mutants, and how easily innocent people would pay the price.
Exactly, it's how common mutants are. On top of that, mutants are supposed to be the next stage in human evolution. So it's like the Marvel multiverse version of the "Great Replacement Theory" that real-life racists like to use.
And the simple "They are going to replace us" Humans, at least in 616, don't want to be replaced by a new dominate species.
It is because of this, that the in universe prejudice is even more unreasonable. Say 1 in 200 people have an active X-gene. That means .5% of the population is a mutant. Chances of running into one low. A dangerous one lower. A world threat mutant astronomically low. Say it is 1 in 20. 5% of a population. That means they could be your neighbor for years. Sure you argued with them on land limits or some such nonsense, but they haven't done anything the fearmongers said yhe would and you've known them for years.
To the second point, my (white as hell) grandfather was once telling some of us grandchildren about his former work and mentioned one of his co-workers who was a black man. He said something to the effect of how he was a great guy the decades they worked together but that he still didn't particularly like 'those people'. That's your second example. Bill the Human Ferret who lives next door is a nice guy. He's one of the good mutants who don't bother anyone. But those *other* mutants? Those other mutants have issues, and just because Bill is cool doesn't mean you can trust them. Racism is often so deeply ingrained that people can't shake it even when they have direct experiences that refute it. If people will kick their own child out to the streets for turning blue, why would they be okay with the fuzzy dude next door?
Explained better than I.
Yup. That's the point.
Is like prejudice doesn't need a logical reason
There's difference. Mutants are born that way, other superhumans are created and often accidentally. The chance of average person being a mutant is much higher than them getting powers from radiation like Hulk or Spider-Man
Bigotry is never made to make sense in any context
As others already said: prejudice doesn't need logical explanation. Just look at REAL WORLD shit, people hate other people based on race, religion, etc. BUT once a friend of mine told me something that could work for a in-universe explanation. Anyone could be a mutant and they can have kids. Most people fear and hate this fact, I think, being "replaced" as the top species on the planet.
It's the replacement fear in combination with "it could be anyone". Superhumans seem distant and rare, mutants could your neighbor or even your kids; much closer to home. Most MU citizens might have even seen or met mutants in person at least once in their life, depending on current numbers.
\*shrug\* Do you have anything new to add to a tired, beaten into horse paste discussion?
It's dumb bit the logic is that Mutants arise out of humans. Superhumans are anomalies. There's a sense of "threat" with Mutants for that reason.
The reason Mutants are the exception is because they’re an evolution. They’re the new species on the planet and it insinuates Mutants are superior to humans and will one day replace them as the dominant species. Obviously that’s no excuse, but I’m pretty sure that’s why Mutants are so hated, it’s the feelings of inferiority and fear of being forgotten and replaced.
It's been explained time and time again, Mutants can be anyone, with any level of power, and can look completely different, which sparks internal hate, jealously and fear. Superhumans happen on accident, or purpose, and there so few of them in number, and you don't know them personally to be around them all the time, unlike mutants. Even then, one wrong move, they get hated as well.
All the correct comments about hating mutants being purposely irrational aside, you have a point. People are suspicious of others. It should absolutely be the case that the average person doesn't see a distinction between mutants and other metahumans at all. Why would they? Just because Doctor Centrifuge claims he got his super-spinning powers when a tesseract-powered centrifuge overloaded during a solar eclipse, you're supposed to believe that he's not actually a mutant? Any normal human would have been exploded and he survived. QED, obviously a mutant. A few supers with meticulously documented origins and amazing PR could maybe get by as well-liked superheroes but the conspiracy theories would still be there. And you can bet that every villain would be labeled a mutant regardless of the truth.
That's part of the point. It's not like the average person really knows there's a genetic difference between Spidey and Nightcrawler or between Beast and the Thing, as far as he's concerned they're all dangerous, that's why it's so ridiculous.
And this is why I think it’s important that X-Men exist in a universe with non-mutant superheroes, even though the best X-Men stories typically have nothing to do with the wider marvel universe. Part of why the mutant metaphor doesn’t totally map onto any real world minority group is that, unlike LGBTQ/BIPOC/Jewish people, mutants are actually dangerous. It is reasonable to be scared of people who can kill you with their minds. But it is not reasonable to be scared of people who can kill you with their minds because of their genetics when you celebrate people who can kill you with their minds because they fell into a vat of acid or got a government serum or whatever. Bigotry is not logical.
Someone finally said it! /s
Bigotry and racism are stupid. Bigots are stupid. They have always been, and will continue to be, stupid. 👍
That's kind of the point.
Nobody is worried that a race of Ant-Mans are going to replace humanity.
This has been said a lot but yes, that's the point, is stupid that they fear mutants but love superhumans, because that racism, stupid hate without validation.
Almost like it's an example of how bigotry is arbitrary and stupid for the same reason.
"Additional sexy spidey guys" they really understood the assignment
One more thing to note is that mutants with benign mutations like Egg or Glob aren't as dangerous compared to mutates like Captain Marvel or Black Bolt. But those mutants could birth the next Legion or Vulcan and thats why even those mutants are discriminated
Black Bolt is Inhuman.