295: Gifted Youngster

[Outright Villainy]

An excellent article. It's always nice to hear heartwarming tales like this.

I don't really have anything meaningful to contribute, just that this is good stuff!

 

[PorkChopXpress]

Bravo Susan, loved it!

 

[Monkey King]

Great article; I like to tell people that the X-men taught me tolerence. Not my parents (who complained that the Asians were stealing our jobs), not my religion (that told me my Sophmore year roommate was sinful), not my school (that said that girls couldn't wear spandex to class...fascist pigs!
)No, I learned a lot of the "free to be, you and me" stuff from a supersmart bald guy, a Canadian with unbreakable bones, and even one very angry guy with a great helmet. And in keeping with their lessons (well, not Mag's lessons; he wants me to hold the UN hostage), I try to accept those that are different, and to point out the intolerence in others.

Just wish I had an optic blast to go with it....

 

[The Random One]

And they tell me there are people who are normal, but I don't know what they look like because I've never met one. [http://www.viruscomix.com/page500.html]

 

[Jmurray21]

Great Article.
It seems society forces fitting in into our lives without needing to.
Again What is normal. How do we define a normal situation. Your likes don't define your
status or how "normal" you are. to have hobbies and things you enjoy is to be normal in my opinion. We're not human without them. There should be nothing wrong (to an point of completley wrong and sick such as wanting to go and rape)with things you love and enjoy doing.

I love The Beatles and people at school always lay into me for it. I still like DBZ and funny enough I still think as ,an overall comic series, x-men is brilliant. X-men did show many hidden signs of teaching kids of the original generation about tolerance. That something the parents wouldn't have realized. To them it was just a 60 cent comic book.

Being different is better then being the follower.

 

[NaramSuen]

First off, great article!

I grew up in a relatively small city and went all through school with basically the same bunch of people. Perhaps it is because we were a small school that everyone was pretty tolerant towards everyone else, but I never had any of these issues growing up. I was always upfront about my geekery, I even wore Star Trek shirts to class in high school and I never got any crap about it. Obviously, the guys on the sports teams (in my case hockey) were the most popular, but the geeks were not bullied by them.

As an adult, I have met people who had a very different experience growing up and it makes my wonder why people have to be such dicks. People are not all the same, they have different interests and hobbies. How can a world where everyone is the same be interesting? My life is richer because of the passionate people I have met who have shown me how the look at the world in a different way, not by trying to fit into someone else's idea of normal.

 

[Mutos4]

Hi all,


Excellent article, that hit me like a deja-vu. As other pointed out for themselves, I experienced the same feeling Susan Arendt analyses in the article.

Back to the days of childhood, I've always wanted to be an inventor, while others talked about policeman, assistant, firefighter, caretaker or lawyer. That may be why I'm now an engineer : that was the nearest I could find in real world schools... And even as an engineer, I engaged into a "normal" career in industry, consultancy, public services and then back to industry. But the key moment was when I didn't apply for that videogame company called Delphine Software, because, well, in 1993, getting a job at a videogame company was not serious and my initial contract at a great industrial group was about to be renewed. I knew game design was my way, but at the time I couldn't resist the pressure of school-induced and family-induced prejudices.

Now, 20 years from that day, I've never been perfectly fit in a single company I worked with, and my personal publishing project is only a way of keeping a link with my true homeland. I fought this feeling during years, "in the hopes that I would accidentally find the secret formula to acceptance", to no avail. Finally, a skills review prompted deeper recognition and I decided to devise a strategy to get my personal project from leisure to pro without putting my revenue at risk, step by step. Because now that I earn my life and have a house and family to support, I can't just let go my dayjob to follow my dream. I live in France and the job market isn't as fluent as in the US. Now, trying to catch up the pieces of my dreams is what I'm currently doing and why I'm an Escapist-addict (if primarily lurker) in the first place.

Now that, at least, I've publicly wrotten down that facts, I feel at ease. I have no more need to play fake. I can be true to myself and work on catching my long-neglected dreams. So, thanks Susan for the article that prompted it all ^-^

 

[thepyrethatburns]

And they tell me there are people who are normal, but I don't know what they look like because I've never met one. [http://www.viruscomix.com/page500.html]

Gawd. I fall under panel 5, 6, 8, and occasionally 9. Possibly 4 depending on your definition of odd clothing.

 

[Trestin]

Nicely put

 

[Squiddo]

That was a beautiful story.

 

[Neferius]

We are all Mutants here. The Internet is our Sanctuary

 

[OutforEC]

Nice article. The Claremont era of the X-men will always be one of my favorites, not only because of the way the characters were brought to life, but because it occurred simultaneously with an amazing time in my life. I had a great group of friends that didn't care about what anyone else thought, and in the days of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and 24/7 texting, when everyone is hung up on how many friends/hits/twits they have, I can't help but miss them.

 

[Wilbot666]

Thank you Susan. Something about this article resonated with a 14 year-old version of myself that still exists deep beneath my (supposedly) grown-up exterior. I well remember that feeling of otherness and even after all this time it's great to read your article and maybe feel just a tiny bit of vindication that I was right: There was never anything wrong with me, I just hadn't met my peers yet.

 

[CatmanStu]

This article speaks to the very essence of what Stan Lee was doing when he, as good as, created Marvel. Stories and characters that spoke to the readers sense of isolation and idealism, as well as extolling moral virtues without shoving them down our throats.

The Hulk taught us that rage is ultimately destructive and should never supersede reason;
The Fantastic Four taught us that family is most important and stronger than the sum of it's parts;
The X-Men taught us that no matter how shitty the world treats you, you have to rise above it;
Spider-Man, despite what Kick Ass claimed, taught us that being true to ourself is the key to happiness and a fulfilling life;
And Captain America, well, he taught us is that the truest heroes are the ones with no powers at all.

It's a crying shame that Marvel has been corrupted by the taint of financial success and self important creators who have no respect for where the characters came from.

 

[epikAXE]

We love you Susan

 

[MaccGyver]

"Susan Arendt hopes that someone eventually gets Gambit right in an X-Men movie."

Me too, Susan - me too.

 

[Baresark]

This is a great article. But it's not actually news. A little tidbit for everyone. The feelings of being different, being apart of a world that fears and hates you for who and what you are, these feelings were the exact reason this comic was created. The manifestation of the characters Mutant abilities is a proxy for the feelings and changes a persons body goes through with Puberty.

This book from day one was meant to resonate with people going through that. With people experiencing the same feelings of being different, being a freak, and not being in total control of what is happening with your body.

It's never ever a bad thing to be reminded of this though. And it's further proof about the validity of comics as a form of literature meant to speak to people on a deeper level. It shows the possibilities of what someone can become with what is happening to them. Both the heroes and villains of the stories are a stand in for what each individual person can and will eventually evolve into.