Meditations on the New Mutants

In the wake of the previous article, Doug Ramsey: Reloaded, I've been thinking about the New Mutants. I always liked the idea of an 'X-Men junior varsity' team. I wondered what it would be like to have superpowers when I was a teenager.^* True, the stories weren't quite as good as what the X-Men got, and the artwork was absolutely atrocious sometimes. But I still really liked the team. Here are my thoughts on them.

Cannonball
Sam Guthrie was always my favorite member of the team. He was tall and a little clumsy, bright but socially awkward, and hung up on a girl who didn't even know he existed. He also had a strong sense of what was right and wrong and always wanted to do the right thing, even if he wasn't always sure what that was. I found a lot in him that I could relate to. And his graduation costume rocked!

Mirage
Dani's personality made her a fine complement to Sam as a team leader. Her 'I hate all white men' thing was a little clichéd and annoying, but fortunately it didn't peek out too often. The development of her powers was sometimes a little incoherent, though. Being able to show someone their deepest desires or fears is pretty cool—but what does it have to do with communicating with animals? The ability to create objects from thin air was a fairly logical development of her power, which I liked. But the Valkyrie thing made no sense to me. It seemed like the writers never knew what to do with her. They should have spent more time developing her personality, not her powers.

Karma
I thought Shan had a lot of potential, but any time she was on stage, her personality—like her mutant power—was just a little too one-dimensional. Too bad.

Wolfsbane
I also found some things to relate to in Rhane, and she did show some growth as the series progressed. But I think the writers put way too much emphasis on the internal conflicts and angst caused by her religion. Why is the media so quick to portray anyone with strong religious beliefs as either a prude, a fanatic, or just plain unbalanced? We're not all freaks....

Sunspot
One of the few bricks in comics that didn't also have exceptional defenses. Strong and powerful, yet also strangely vulnerable—which is also a pretty good description of his personality. His bravado at times seemed like a cover for deep insecurities he may not have even realized he had. And of course there was his hot temper. Every team needs an irritant, and Roberto made for a good one.

Magik
Every team also needs a bad@ss, and she was it. Illyana was just not to be screwed with, especially if you relied on any kind of mystical forces to keep you in the fight. I think even her brother was afraid of her—and he was seven and a half feet tall and made of steel.

Magma
While Amara's powers and personality were interesting enough, what I really liked about her was her history. The idea of a Roman colony lost deep in the South American jungle for centuries was a nice touch. Too bad the writers decided to retconn it and make it a hidden mutant colony instead. Lousy rewrites!

Warlock
I guess teams also need a 'fish out of water' character from time to time, and I suppose Warlock was as good a fit as any for this team. He did provide for a few interesting story lines, but usually only because of being pursued by his father, the Magus. Other than that, I never really felt that he fit in with the rest of the team. And having him run off with Sunspot and leave Doug (Cypher) behind in the "Fallen Angels" miniseries was just stupid.

Cypher
In retrospect, I can see that Cypher was just a waste of a good character concept. See the previous article for details. He had a lot of potential for growth and development in his own right, but was usually relegated to the roles of DNPC for the rest of the team, or someone for Colossus to get jealous over (because of all the time Kitty spent with him). The one really decent story involving him was the time he combined with Warlock to defeat the Magus—by rewriting Magus' DNA. That was seriously cool, and worthy of any true science geek (even a linguist).

Wow, it's kind of fun to think about characters from so long ago. Maybe I'll take a look at another superteam soon. Alpha Flight, maybe. That team really put the 'dis' in 'dysfunctional'. Suggestions, anyone?

--
^*Heck, sometimes I still do.

Doug Ramsey: Reloaded

I found this article through Fark.com about the Top 10 obscure comic-book characters that should be brought to the big screen. Some of IGN's nominees included Animal Man, the Question, the Flaming Carrot, and the spectacular Spider-Ham. And one of the nominees was someone with whom I was actually familiar: Cypher.

Yes, that Cypher. Doug Ramsey of the New Mutants. And my initial reaction was, "You've got to be kidding. Cypher? That guy's as useless as a chocolate teapot. Even dying didn't make him interesting."

And then I read their proposed story:

"Mutants live in a world that fears and hates them, but truth-be-told, if Doug Ramsey existed in our world, he'd be one rich man. Cypher has the ability to instantly understand and communicate in any language, even binary. Rather than your typical X-Men flick, Cypher would actually be an incredibly successful intelligence agent, who happens to house the deep, dark secret that he's a mutant. A Cypher flick could prove to be the rare superhero thriller."

And I thought, that's one decent story idea.

Which is exactly one more decent story idea than the geniuses at Marvel ever came up with for the character.

Science Fiction and Fantasy as Equipment for Living

Since Mike posted some ideas for my potential class here at Army of Dorkness, I thought I'd add a follow up. After several hours of writing and rewriting, I think I've developed a suitable course description. Check it out.

This course explores the ways in which science fiction and fantasy media (film and television) contributes to an understanding of contemporary human life. Embracing the futuristic, the magical, and the spectacular, mediated forms of science fiction and fantasy invite viewers to enter a public dialogue concerning issues of science, ethics, art, and religion. Throughout the semester, students will examine the ways in which mediated artifacts assist in the constitution and negotiation of human aspirations and apprehensions.

I've also developed a working title.

Rocket ships, Replicants, and Ringwraiths: Science Fiction and Fantasy as Equipment for Living

I'm open to suggestions for the title. The only requirement is that the second half of the title--Science Fiction and Fantasy as Equipment for Living--has to stay the same. I'm using a couple articles that talk about media as "Equipment for Living" as the foundation for the course (mad props to Marsha for reminding me of the piece). With that in mind, I also had a couple other potential titles.

Metahumans, Magicians, and Monsters from the ID
Starships, Simulacrum, and Sorcerers
Hyperspace, Hellmouths, and Hobbits

The more I think about it, the more I like the 3rd postential title. It's vague enough that it captures the spirit of science fiction/fantasy and specific enough that it reveals some of the films/programs that we'll watch.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Society

Over at Rhetorical Imprints, Derek talked about teaching a class that explores the way science fiction and fantasy have addressed important social issues. I think this is an excellent choice. In my mind, one of the defining characteristics of "real" science fiction has always been that it provides a lens through which to look at important social issues, especially those dealing with technology. While modern sci-fi and fantasy cinema may not have this goal in mind, they still provide occasional thought-provoking moments.

Derek listed several movies and their relevant issues, then asked for additional suggestions. Here are mine:

X-Men, X2: X-Men United
Marvel Comics' X-titles have always been an allegory for racism (except in the 90s, when the X-titles were about Wolverine's bad temper and superheroines drawn to look like Dolly Parton in zero gravity). These two films carry the issue of race over to the screen quite well. There are other issues of being different from what is accepted in society as well. For example, the "Have you tried not being a mutant?" line from X2 is a clear reference to sexuality.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Matilda
Both movies feature exceptional children who are abused and/or neglected by their parents or guardians. What obligations do parents have toward their children? To what degree are children responsible for obeying parents who don't love and take care of them? When does the state become responsible for removing children from abusive situations? And what kind of a difference can a single role model (a teacher, for example) make in the life of a child?

Hercules
Most of the recent Disney animated films can be viewed as morality plays in miniature, in my humble opinion. This one serves as a mirror for fame in popular culture. How does our society define heroism? At what point does a person go from being merely famous (or notorious) to being truly heroic?

The Incredibles
I can see at least two issues addressed by this movie. First, what balance exists between the push for equality and the drive for individual excellence? (Dash: "Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of. Our powers made us special." Helen: "Everyone's special, Dash." Dash: "That's just another way of saying no one is.") Second, what is (or should be) the role of the family in today's society? What is the balance between devotion to family, personal development, and professional success?

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek tends to get a little preachy sometimes, and this movie is certainly the preachiest. But it raises important issues about humanity and the ecosystem. What obligations does humanity have towards other forms of life on Earth? And how can economic concerns and ecological concerns be balanced?

Bicentennial Man, Artificial Intelligence: AI
The book "I, Robot" raised important questions about the relationship between Man and machine. Most of the reviews I read indicated that these were left out of the film. If "I, Robot" had been more like these two movies, I may have bothered to see it. Okay, enough ranting, on to the questions. As computers become increasingly complex, at what point do they begin taking on organic features? What is the difference between computation and sentience?

The Running Man
I've even got a prospective title for a paper on this one: "Reality Television and the Culture of Voyeurism". If you've watched any reality TV lately, I think you'll agree that we're not all that far away....

Okay, that's what I've got. Comments?