Mutant Rights vs General Safety
Jun. 3rd, 2003 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakOne of the aspects I admired about the X-Men movies is that Singer is playing fair as far as the swelling of anti-mutant attitudes is concerned. It's not all bigotry, envy or personal resentment; as Singer & Co. mention in the audio commentary of 1.5, even Senator Kelly has a point. The idea of superhuman powers in the hands of people you don't have any kind of control over is deeply frightening.
X2 illustrates that Charles Xavier, if he wanted to, could committ global genocide, and it's only his sense of ethics which keeps him from using this power as a leverage. Yet how many people have such reliable ethics? The whole idea of democracy is based on the conviction that the principle of a single ruler, no matter how high-minded, is wrong. On the other hand, as Jean Grey points out in X1, one does not license people to live. Or to live in freedom instead of in a glorified state of apartheid.
On Babylon 5, we get presented with one possible scenario about humanity's reaction to mutants. Or, to use the B5 lingo, telepaths. (Telekinesis being a very rare occurance in the B5 universe; other superpowers are limited to non-humans.) I could see the X-Men movie universe develop in this direction, too. The telepaths in B5 do live in a state of apartheid. They either have to take drugs to surpress their abilities, or join the Psi Corps. Even within the Psi Corps, they are subjected to severe rules; they are barred from a number of professions (the military, for example), have to wear distinct clothing (gloves and the Psi Corps badge, at the very least), and most aspects of their lives, including marriage and reproduction, are regulated by the Corps. Not surprisingly, there is a considerable number of telepaths who go for a third option - running away, neither joining the Corps nor surpressing their abilities.
The presentation of the Psi Corps in B5 is more layered than it appears at first. On the one hand, they're certainly an Orwellian evil; on the other hand, both the show and the best of the B5 media tie-ins, the Psi Corps trilogy (which got declared canon by the show's creator), make it clear that the reason Psi Corps came into being to begin with was the fear and downright hysteria among the general population when telepaths were originally discovered, which led to a bloody witch hunt until the Corps was established. "We may not be pretty", remarks the Corps member the audience is most familiar with, the Psi Cop Alfred Bester (yes named after the author), "but we're a hell of a lot better than the alternative." It's the laws of the Earth Alliance - the democratic Earth, long before the change into dictatorship which occurs within the show - which forced telepaths into their supervised ghetto existence to begin with, and none of the shows' heroes apparantly had a problem with that until they get into personal conflict with the Corps.
The way the show presents Bester - who would get along with X-Men's Magneto perfectly (they're both ruthless, witty, convinced they only want the best for mutantkind/telepaths and equally convinced the mundanes of this world are inferior at best and a constant danger at worst) - is an example of the layers I spoke off. During his first two appearances on the show, he seems to be a straight forward villain (and ditto for the Corps); by season 3, however, things get less black and white. The Corps is no longer presented as a single unity but something with various factions; Bester (always with his own interests in mind, of course) does help the show's heroes (not that the mutual dislike stops), and the narrative makes it clear that the Psi Corps dogma - "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father" - isn't some hypocritical phrase he utters; it is what he believes. (Bester's backstory in the novels - literally the child of the Corps in the sense of being raised by them from the time before he could speak, but ironically at the same time the biological child of the two most famous renegade telepaths, which he refuses to accept - is fascinating.)
Sheridan once calls the Psi Corps "Fascists are us", and he's not wrong, but at the same time he isn't above accepting both the help of invividual "fascists" (i.e. Bester), and the existence of the organization per se. As much as the B5 crew may sympathize with renegade telepaths, at no point do they make any effort to change the system (and by season 5, they would be in a position to do so). And not coincidentally, the most important renegade telepath on the show, Lyta Alexander, who gets steadily more powerful throughout the seasons due to her associations with the Vorlons, is treated as quintessential alien. The same Sheridan who sees the Psi Corps as a fascist organization he despises and distrusts threatens to hand over Lyta to them if she disobeyes him in the season 4 episode "Epiphanies", something he would never do with any of the "normal" staff members; this after she has risked her life for the good of humanity repeatedly. By the fifth season, Lyta is so thoroughly alienated that she turns against the crew and ultimately has no choice but to leave. How could it come this far? Among other things certainly because the idea of uncontrolled psi power is still deeply frightening, and the "mundanes" behave accordingly.
Simultanously, the last we see of Bester is the season 5 episode "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father", which as pposed to the others is shot from his and two other Psi Corps' pov, and the perspective is none too flattering for our heroes; they - with the exception of the ever humane Dr. Franklin - appear as a bunch of aggressive bigots. Now at this point, the audience is of course aware that this an extremely one-sided view, but also knows it's no more one-sided than the idea of Bester as a utterly evil villain.
One of the points here - that yes, telepaths/mutants/people with powers can be dangerous, but treat them as enemies and they WILL be dangerous - offers no easy solution, only a diagnosis. And honestly, I'm not sure how I'd vote, if I were asked about a Mutant Registration Bill. Would I put the idea of freedom and equal rights for all above the idea of some form of safety against the abuse of superior powers? Would you?
I love Sci-Fi when it doesn't make things easy for me.
X2 illustrates that Charles Xavier, if he wanted to, could committ global genocide, and it's only his sense of ethics which keeps him from using this power as a leverage. Yet how many people have such reliable ethics? The whole idea of democracy is based on the conviction that the principle of a single ruler, no matter how high-minded, is wrong. On the other hand, as Jean Grey points out in X1, one does not license people to live. Or to live in freedom instead of in a glorified state of apartheid.
On Babylon 5, we get presented with one possible scenario about humanity's reaction to mutants. Or, to use the B5 lingo, telepaths. (Telekinesis being a very rare occurance in the B5 universe; other superpowers are limited to non-humans.) I could see the X-Men movie universe develop in this direction, too. The telepaths in B5 do live in a state of apartheid. They either have to take drugs to surpress their abilities, or join the Psi Corps. Even within the Psi Corps, they are subjected to severe rules; they are barred from a number of professions (the military, for example), have to wear distinct clothing (gloves and the Psi Corps badge, at the very least), and most aspects of their lives, including marriage and reproduction, are regulated by the Corps. Not surprisingly, there is a considerable number of telepaths who go for a third option - running away, neither joining the Corps nor surpressing their abilities.
The presentation of the Psi Corps in B5 is more layered than it appears at first. On the one hand, they're certainly an Orwellian evil; on the other hand, both the show and the best of the B5 media tie-ins, the Psi Corps trilogy (which got declared canon by the show's creator), make it clear that the reason Psi Corps came into being to begin with was the fear and downright hysteria among the general population when telepaths were originally discovered, which led to a bloody witch hunt until the Corps was established. "We may not be pretty", remarks the Corps member the audience is most familiar with, the Psi Cop Alfred Bester (yes named after the author), "but we're a hell of a lot better than the alternative." It's the laws of the Earth Alliance - the democratic Earth, long before the change into dictatorship which occurs within the show - which forced telepaths into their supervised ghetto existence to begin with, and none of the shows' heroes apparantly had a problem with that until they get into personal conflict with the Corps.
The way the show presents Bester - who would get along with X-Men's Magneto perfectly (they're both ruthless, witty, convinced they only want the best for mutantkind/telepaths and equally convinced the mundanes of this world are inferior at best and a constant danger at worst) - is an example of the layers I spoke off. During his first two appearances on the show, he seems to be a straight forward villain (and ditto for the Corps); by season 3, however, things get less black and white. The Corps is no longer presented as a single unity but something with various factions; Bester (always with his own interests in mind, of course) does help the show's heroes (not that the mutual dislike stops), and the narrative makes it clear that the Psi Corps dogma - "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father" - isn't some hypocritical phrase he utters; it is what he believes. (Bester's backstory in the novels - literally the child of the Corps in the sense of being raised by them from the time before he could speak, but ironically at the same time the biological child of the two most famous renegade telepaths, which he refuses to accept - is fascinating.)
Sheridan once calls the Psi Corps "Fascists are us", and he's not wrong, but at the same time he isn't above accepting both the help of invividual "fascists" (i.e. Bester), and the existence of the organization per se. As much as the B5 crew may sympathize with renegade telepaths, at no point do they make any effort to change the system (and by season 5, they would be in a position to do so). And not coincidentally, the most important renegade telepath on the show, Lyta Alexander, who gets steadily more powerful throughout the seasons due to her associations with the Vorlons, is treated as quintessential alien. The same Sheridan who sees the Psi Corps as a fascist organization he despises and distrusts threatens to hand over Lyta to them if she disobeyes him in the season 4 episode "Epiphanies", something he would never do with any of the "normal" staff members; this after she has risked her life for the good of humanity repeatedly. By the fifth season, Lyta is so thoroughly alienated that she turns against the crew and ultimately has no choice but to leave. How could it come this far? Among other things certainly because the idea of uncontrolled psi power is still deeply frightening, and the "mundanes" behave accordingly.
Simultanously, the last we see of Bester is the season 5 episode "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father", which as pposed to the others is shot from his and two other Psi Corps' pov, and the perspective is none too flattering for our heroes; they - with the exception of the ever humane Dr. Franklin - appear as a bunch of aggressive bigots. Now at this point, the audience is of course aware that this an extremely one-sided view, but also knows it's no more one-sided than the idea of Bester as a utterly evil villain.
One of the points here - that yes, telepaths/mutants/people with powers can be dangerous, but treat them as enemies and they WILL be dangerous - offers no easy solution, only a diagnosis. And honestly, I'm not sure how I'd vote, if I were asked about a Mutant Registration Bill. Would I put the idea of freedom and equal rights for all above the idea of some form of safety against the abuse of superior powers? Would you?
I love Sci-Fi when it doesn't make things easy for me.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-03 06:26 pm (UTC)And I love when you wax analytical. My thoughts are provoked.
Also, it makes me wonder about the post-Chosen Buffyverse - you've seen it now, yes? A similar dilemma faces the world now, and I don't see it becoming an important plot point on Angel, but it could, and it also could be explored in the Notorious Fanon.
Absolutely.
Date: 2003-06-03 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-27 01:59 am (UTC)Sheridan seems to be constantly shown in a very flattering way on the show - all the constant comparisons to Jesus Christ, for one thing - and then you suddenly hit a moment where he's shown from another prespective and things become quite jarring. For me, that really called into question how much we can trust the perspective we've been seeing. We get this whole heroic narrative, and then we're reminded that a heroic narrative is exactly what it is.
Ah yes...
Date: 2003-07-27 05:50 am (UTC)Anyway. Sheridan. Is The Hero of the narrative, but JMS goes to some lengths not to make him the perfect hero; remember, in the season where he gets introduced there is one episode, when he interrogates Morden, which shows he definitely has his dark side. (And here's an interesting question: if Delenn had not told Sheridan about the Shadows at this point, just how far would he have gone with Morden?) And in relation to all the telepath-centric episodes, we really get the point of view thing hammered in. As I said, Sheridan isn't wrong when he calls the Psi Corps "fascists", but Bester isn't wrong either when he thinks of Sheridan as a biased hypocrite (in regards to telepaths). The treatment of Lyta being a case in point.