IT’S ABOUT ETHICS IN COMIC BOOK JOURNALISM: THE POLITICS OF X-MEN: RED; Comic Watch, April 18, 2020

Bethany W Pope, Comic Watch; IT’S ABOUT ETHICS IN COMIC BOOK JOURNALISM: THE POLITICS OF X-MEN: RED

"It’s extremely rare for a run of a mainstream comic to result in a story with as much philosophical complexity and clarity of vision as Tom Taylor’s (shamefully abbreviated) X-Men: Red. Because the author set out to tell ‘the best X-Men story’ he could, and because he managed (somehow) to gain something close to free-reign from editorial (as well as having the good luck of being paired with some truly remarkable artists; most notably Mahmud Asrar) the end result was not only the best continuous X-Man story of the decade, but something which will (in time) surpass Whedon’s revolutionary run on Astonishing in terms of fan-regard. In this article, I am going to pick (a little) at the weave of the story in an effort to isolate and reveal a few of the integral threads which form the weft of the narrative.

The central thesis of these eleven issues is that the act of compassion is a more powerful tool than the most brutally cinematic superpower. Empathy is the thing which slaughters fear. Looking at your enemy and seeing a person, woven through with hopes and loves, fears, the usual mixture of frailties, transforms disparate (possibly violent) mobs into a functional community by revealing that there is no ‘us versus them’. There’s only ‘us’. The X-Men are the perfect superhero group to make this point, because their entire existence is predicated on the phrase ‘protecting a world which fears and hates them’. The X-Men have always represented the struggle that othered groups (racial minorities, religious minorities, women, members of the LGBTQIA community) have faced when trying to live in function in a world that is slanted, dramatically, in favor of straight, white (American) men. Such a group is a necessary force in the current, fractured, geo-political climate."

Trump Voters: A Message From the Mom Of A Gay Kid; Huffington Post, 11/11/16

Amelia, Huffington Post; Trump Voters: A Message From the Mom Of A Gay Kid:

"When I point out the views of the new government-elect, these people tell me “but I don’t think that way.” So what? That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that they voted for someone who does. By putting those people in power, they are implicitly condoning―and expressly endorsing―their actions.

I am allowed to pissed off that people think I should now break bread with those who voted for someone who is a direct threat to my child. I’m allowed to be offended that even people who claim to love my child valued their pocketbooks and privilege more than that child’s life, my child’s health, my child’s safety, and my child’s future.

That’s not what love is.

I am allowed to not forgive them.

And I don’t. I don’t know if I ever will.

To all those scared LGBTQ children out there, I have this message:

I am so sorry that this country chose not to protect you. But those of us who truly love you will work hard to keep you safe, so that you can continue to grow into the extraordinary adults you are already on your way to becoming. We will not abandon you.

To the people who are so offended by my anger, I have this message:

Please feel free to be pissed off at me if I ever vote for someone who thinks your child deserves electroshock torture in the vain attempt to “fix” something that’s not a problem. I’ll deserve it."

Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize For Discriminating Against Gays, Ask For Forgiveness; Reuters via Huffington Post, 6/26/16

Reuters via Huffington Post; Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize For Discriminating Against Gays, Ask For Forgiveness:

"Pope Francis said on Sunday that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they had treated them.

Speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him back to Rome from Armenia, he also said the Church should ask forgiveness for the way it has treated women, for turning a blind eye to child labor and for “blessing so many weapons” in the past."

Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94; New York Times, 6/16/16

Robert D. McFadden, New York Times; Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94:

"In 2011, after years of trying to remove the blot on his record, Mr. Dwork, supported by advocates for gay and lesbian military personnel and veterans, won his point. The Navy officially changed his discharge to honorable.

“It meant an awful lot to me because I know I never did anything disgraceful or dishonest,” Mr. Dwork said in a 2014 interview for this obituary, in which he spoke of painful military policies and glacially slow changes toward gay and lesbian service members.

Mr. Dwork, who became a hero to gay people for his persistence in fighting the dishonorable discharge, died on Tuesday in Manhattan, Alan Salz, the executor of his estate, said. He was 94.

Mr. Dwork was believed to be the first veteran of World War II to have an “undesirable” discharge for being gay expunged, although his case may have opened the floodgates for appeals in hundreds of similar cases. His was resolved shortly before the military ended its 18-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred openly gay people from service but prohibited discrimination against those not open about their sexuality."