X-Men

Alright.  Keep this nice and simple.  Magneto = Jew from Auschwitz.  Magneto = trying to prevent another time where humans destroy what they do not know.  But Magneto wants to exterminate the other humans for not being a meta-human.  He already views it as he is stuck in a perpetual holocaust.  He thinks he knows human reactions to everything that he is doing and that they will try to kill him and all the other mutants simply because they do not know them or what they are.

Magneto misses one thing in all of his assumptions.  Even when the Jews were interned in camps, they had somebody to eventually rescue them.  Annihilation is not the only option and I don't actually think Magneto realizes that since the Mutant Registration Act perpetuates every bit of negative thought Magneto has ever realized.  Only when you realize that because of Magneto's actions, the rest of the world reacts negatively.  It is my personal belief that if the antagonist had never destroyed humanity's faith in mutants then the end result would have been far more positive than the negative results that came from him.

That was very wordy and complex.  But I really think the Magneto is a weak character.  I do follow X-Men comics occasionally and, in the end, he never becomes more than he is.  His motives never change.  And I think there is something flawed in that.  I feel like he is a dynamic and fluid character and that his past would not keep him so stagnant and hell-bent on changing other humans into homo-superiors, as he puts it.  That's just my thoughts on the topic.

Superman!

I've been thinking quite a bit lately on the creation of superman.  How unbelievable that he went through that many transformations to finally become resolved as the formidable comic book giant that he is today.  It makes sense in hindsight that the characters aren't just born so creatively as to remain solid forever, but rather to develop very dynamically through time.  But it still creates basic flaws in the concept of the character from a reader's stand point.  It's like suddenly this tower of so many fundamental (albeit non-human) truths emanating from such a powerful character even though fictional is destroyed.  Not the truths, more like the symbol for the truths.  More on the lack of Superman to come I'm sure because I highly doubt that this rant is over just yet.

The Thing!

I would like to center this week's post around The Thing.  I think that The Thing has many similarities to the Jewish people, whether through design or, much less likely, through chance.  The Thing knows he is different and that he appears no longer human, but rather much more like a golem, as we established in class.  That being said, the Jewish people, hassidic anyways, look different that other humans and are judged due to their appearance, much the way The Thing is.  Another side point in comparison, The Thing is a rock.  Technically speaking, his organs are made up of rocks as well now, so he is literally a moving rock.  The Thing has survived circumstances that would destroy any other being, exception being Wolverine, and has been able to withstand different pressures, usually on a daily basis, that would end the lives of almost anything else.  I would like to draw a stark comparison to Jews with this analysis.  Jews have endured pressures that would have, and sometimes have, eliminated other religions.  If any other group, Christians included, had been presented with a trial and tribulation such as the Holocaust or the Crusades, then I doubt they would have had the integrity to survive.  Some would have survived, sure, but to say safely that the religion would be more or less unchanged is idiocy.  Jews have proven time and time again, much like the Thing, that they will come out of almost any situation unchanged and continue striving towards survival more and more.  Resiliency is their main similarity. 

A Contract with God

Perplexed.  Mesmerized.  Enthused.  Many words come to mind when I think of how I felt after a blistering 2 and half hours of reading A Contract with God.  I literally couldn't put it down.  People called me and I told them to wait because I had was on a voluntary mission to finish it in one sitting.  After the first story, I wanted to know what happened to the new good, young man who picked up the contract and signed his name.  Also, I thought the way the story was crafted to show him gradually becoming more evil and more wicked with every step he took towards blasphemy was beautiful.  The depictions only got deeper and more cruel, as did his animation of his face.  I could barely tell what he looked like underneath that beard, then suddenly you realized how torn and cruel he was after the loss of his daughter.  Even when he becomes so twisted and misconceived as to think to have a new daughter and name it after his old daughter, his face almost writhes off the page.  The others, while they were also phenomenally well done, couldn't compare in the awe and subtlety that Contract had.  It was by far my favorite story and I think reflects quite well on an opposing story of Job.  Like what if when everything went bad in Job's life, he decided to make a contract and stick to his guns; but it started to go wrong again and again.  As it dove closer and closer towards blasphemy, he finally through away all faith and went his separate way to eventually find his way back to where he started to redeem himself.  I thought it was a counter story to Job in that if some actions had been different and his faith had been stronger, then it would have ended differently for him.  Interesting thought I suppose, but I'm going to re-read both stories (Biblical and graphic novel) to compare and contrast any possibilities.