The Big Picture: Magneto Was Right

[BlindMessiah94]

Very good points Bob.

But I have to say I wouldn't be on any side that was about violence and superiority. Then I'm no better than the bullies that bullied me.

It was Gandhi who said "Violence begets violence".

No matter what injustice was done to us, it doesn't justify us doing the same to others. That just keeps the cycle going, instead of breaking it.

That said bullies are idiots who should be taught a lesson. Maybe just not such a violent "KILL THEM ALL" one.

 

[Space Lion]

Hmm, I don't know if you're joking but there's people agreeing with you so I'll say it for their sake. Every single person on this planet struggles with feelings of inadequacy. Charlie Sheen deals with feelings of inadequacy, obviously his way of dealing with it is fucking insane but no human is exempt. The ways of dealing with it vary greatly ranging from bullying, working hard, becoming a drug abuser, killing as many people as you can in your school, finding a woman who accepts you for who you are. It is a fundamental driving force of human psychology and the only difference between you and the bully is you have the common decency to not satiate it by belittling your fellow man. So why would you follow Magneto? You think that even if you where a technically superior individual that you have more rights than the average person? You know white people technically are a more evolved species of human being. Does that mean we should have more rights? I don't think so. Civilization has come a long way, we have in most part learnt that every single person has the potential to help us or teach us something. Even the bullies. In the words of Kenny Powers, "I transcend race, hombre".

 

[Mister Linton]

Yep, you were picked on because you were so much smarter and better that the bullies were intimidated by you. Diluted much?

 

[reaper_94]

To be honest, i'd probably be in the middle. I'm of the mindset 'I may look weak, but please, lay a hand on me.', i'm a strong believer that when you knock a bully's d%$# in the dirt, he runs away like a b%$#. Case in point, someone almost hit my dad's car, then at a red light, he got out to kick my dad's ass(he uses a f%$#ing cane..), so i got out and gave him the "I'LL F%$#IN' KILL YOU!" eyes. He said 'What? What?! You want some of this?!'... While he was getting back in his car. 9/10, a bully doesn't know what to do when met with resistance.

 

[duchaked]

not all of us in the nerd culture are fat ugly and picked on...

hahaha no I kid (sort of). but yea I get it tho. sure, I do feel like I live "under" some levels of "upper tier" people in society (altho I'm not exactly whining about it)

and never got picked on when I was a kid. well I did a few times...but those guys went away with Wolverine-like scratches on their faces-OH SNAP

but hm...Magneto's cool, but I've always been a Wolverine fan. might also explain why I relate well to Firefly's Captain Reynolds. sometimes...really...I just wanna get by in life. don't need to seek revenge on society that has wronged me, or save it from whatever. just the people, my family folk and kin, around me...assuming I have any left of them.

 

[Inkidu]

I'd have to say, I'd fight on the "lets all just get along" side. Why? I didn't stop being human because of my (hypothetical) superpowers. To paraphrase from another Marvel franchise, it's my responsibility. If I start tormenting and getting even with people inferior to myself (hypothetically) then I'm no better than they were; in fact, I become inhuman. I don't want to be that. Every human has that Golding or Conradian heart of darkness, but how long can you give into it before you lose all your humanity?

 

[Aprilgold]

Bob, once again you made me smile, and think hard about stuff, you rule.
Oh, um, I was suicidal because of my bullies, three years of my childhood too. [Imagine the fucked up nostalgia factor in a few years] I'd probably be with magneto, and hope to god I got some invisible power so I could snap necks much easier. And the fucking 'Just ignore it' line from the teachers, do you know something, the more ya ignore it, the FUCKING MORE POWERFULL THEY BECOME!! Ya see, I believe that bullies just feed off of the cries, shreeks, etc. of their victims, and the less they hear of it, the more they will beat ya with it! But then again, I'd probably fuck up magneto once I had my fill of the evil side, and then go all good guy.

 

[Aprilgold]

If I can take anything away from this whole screed, it's that MovieBob is the biggest jerk alive and deserved to be bullied. He spends the entire time informing us of how obviously brilliant he is, then carefully explaining that since he's still brilliant that we all have to recognize him as superior.

Excuse me, but did you ever think that you weren't so much bullied as being knocked off your high horse? Here you are with a voice across the Internet and the best you can do is pen your own deluded revenge fantasies, getting lost in the same fantasy of the ones you call nerds and geeks.

Hey, I got bullied at one point or another in my life, and I am pretty sure nearly everyone did in form or another, too. The only difference is my own bullying did actually make me a better person, because it's very important to recognize that when one person feels slighted, all he'll be obsessed with in the future is making sure others pay. You're the bully now, but luckily your role in society is relegated to your myopic little non-reviews.

Grow up and get with the present.

Um, from what I got from this was never that he was on a high horse, and he NEVER SAID anything about his own intellect and was just talking about the subject he saw fit, I find it really wierd that you caught the whole "High Horse" thing, [its not in there anyway] how would you have talked about it, thats my question.

 

[TJF588]

All but undoubtedly treading months-old ground (for the thread, anyway), but I take the approach of just skipping everything and dumping some text, especially on these pages-long yarns.

Thinking about it, the bullies prolly have their own pecking order (perceived or, even, enforced) that they can't rally against, so you, the different ones, outside of and beneath them, receive the brunt of their frustrations due to their social trappings.

'course, this doesn't really factor too hard into how the victimized "differents" go about "rational"izing the matter, but it does eschew* nicely into a plug for The Breakfast Club, which touches on this from a bully's point of view, as well as how the "upper crust" perceive lower social groups. I consider it a classic of American cinema (look at me, typing like some movie nerd), and while Bobby here's all but undoubtedly seen it, anyone should check it out.

...okay, maybe not people with objections to liberal use of "F"-bombs.

*I know this is pretty much the opposite of what I mean, but it sounds like a word that does mean what I want it to. Y'know, when you know a word exists but can't remember just what it was. If I ever manage to look at further posts here, maybe one of y'all could provide me it.

 

[Adultism]

Man, Honestly, Who cares? Don't linger on the past. I was bullied in grade school, and I toughened up in HS and made friends, I was different, Its how you act at school that may cause you to get bullied, maybe you seem smug? But you shouldn't linger and rant on your show.

Also, Revenge is never an answer, you keep talking about how you want to make those bullies pay, but they probably don't even remember you. Sorta makes you seem like a bad person, I'd use stronger words but the Mods would probably warn me.

Oh and HS was awesome, if you had friends in HS it was awesome, if you didn't then yeah, you probably hated it.

 

[Anchupom]

Just as a note: the second and third "nerd's ultimate fantasies" you showed come as a benefit of the harry potter ultimate fantasy.

 

[VioletHorizon]

I have a bully in school. He likes bullying because he needs someone to be the center of jokes. He just chooses his victims by random; it's not about your interests. All bullies look for are victims unconfident enough to allow themselves to be bullied or to create satisfying reactions. Avoiding bullying is all about confidence and the ability to gain respect.

Does anyone from the Escapist actually read these comments?

 

[V TheSystem V]

I was bullied throughout primary school (elementary school to America) and comprehensive school (high school to America), and it made me more confident and more proud of what I am (a nerd) rather than hate myself. I would side with Magneto if the entire human race hated what I was, but if it was a minority that hated me for what I was, I'd side with Xavier.

 

[munkymp3]

That's my favorite Incredibles quote (and one of the things that made it my favorite film). It's ingrained my brain. Love it.

To be completely, honest, I'd be with Professor X but respect Magneto. For one thing, Xavier would never try to get other mutants (another way of saying "people like me") killed. Also, if I were to compare my political and environmental activism today, it would definitely translate the same way as it does for Professor X. Plus, I don't think militant strategies will gain you much popularity.

 

[AuspexAO]

"A bully relies on their superior physicality to intimidate and exersize control over those who can't defend themselves"

You're so wrong. I'm a big dude (not fat, big) 6'3" in high school and more than able to palm someone's face like a basketball if I wanted to. However, I was ruthlessly bullied. Not by people hitting me or throwing me into a locker or whatever, but by people throwing food at me anonymously in the cafeteria and other such sniping attacks. They knew I could beat them physically, but I was a straight A student and didn't want to get in trouble be making a scene in the lunch room.

I was always told to be civil and stay out of trouble, to be helpful and compassionate. I had lots of friends and the respect of my teachers, but I definitely got bullied for it. Bullies are generally weak-minded cowards that merely attack people who won't fight back.

Whose side would I join? The X-men, of course, mainly because people who do terrible things are a small part of this world. We only remember them because they stand out in our lives for being cruel and hateful. The majority of people are decent folk and I couldn't stand by while they were hurt to pay back crimes they didn't even commit.

 

[MB202]

Here's the part that always gets to me, though:

The standard response, of course, is "Because you're different." Now, is it just me, or did that ever strike anyone else as a particularly stupid sentiment? EVERYONE is DIFFERENT! Hell, I could personally attest that my bullies came in all shapes, sizes, and colors! It was a veritable rainbow coalition of torment!

That's SO true, the whole "because you're different" mindset does NOTHING to justify this kind of treatment, ESPECIALLY since we were taught this sort of thing back in preschool!

That said, I'm a lover, not a fighter, and I don't feel the need to get "revenge" on the ones who have bullied me. I mean, don't get me wrong, if you push me, I WILL retaliate, only to immediately regret it seconds later. Because, you know, I was angry, and I wasn't thinking straight. Violence should NOT be the answer, which is why I'm so pissed off that this sort of thing is STILL happening!

Also, there's a documentary coming out about bullying March 30:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjjeHeAzZZM

And there's a petition to drop the rating down to a PG-13 instead of an R, so it can reach a wider audience:

http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-dont-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-a-pg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I've always known I'd be on Magneto's side, without a doubt. There is just no end to the stupidity evident in humanity's prejudice against mutants that I would be reluctant to throw down with humans even if Magneto's team didn't exist. There's not even anything really sick or abnormal about his methods; he's very clear about what he intends to do and he follows through with it. My biggest fear would be having a stupid mutation that wasn't of any use to the cause.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

It's a bit of a step to the side, but I'm just pleased the MPAA did the right thing in dropping the rating for the movie. It's not a gratuitous smutty comedy or gory horror flick, it's uncomfortable viewing because it has to be. I'm fine with them cutting a few swear words, it doesn't bother me, and tbh if you hear a beep, you end up hearing 'fuck' in your head any way. In the end a few bleeped profanities is a small price to pay to get it past the censors to a wider audience.

I've seen another documentary,'This Film is not yet Rated' and it showed just how mysterious and closed the ratings system is in the US, normally accountable to no-one, so this is a good thing. That's an interesting watch too, showing how they will up the age rating on a movie if they dare to show a woman gaining any pleasure from sex, but male enjoyment is just fine. Unless it's the gays then you may as well just take the highest rating now.

 

[Alar]

Personally I don't know what side I'd be on. I'd probably be neutral of the whole affair, simply because I don't like Magneto's plan for dominating the world and tormenting people who may have had nothing to do with the discrimination and bullying, and because I don't think I'd be willing to stand up for those people either. I would rather just live my live with my kickass new superpowers, hurting or hindering people as I see fit.

I'm probably Neutral Good.

 

[wearesoneutralthatithurts]

the nice team. i have started to hurt myself 14 jears ago because i realized that hurting other people instead makes me none better then them, actually i felt worse. so all the self hurting shit was because i had and have now to cope with situations, so self inflicted because of my uttermost stupid behaviour, some inflicted on me because some people thought it would be fun to do so.

i don't think that paying it back is good-you know too much conflicts exist because of that and most victims will become culprit sometimes-often observed in cases of domestic violence. after i hit so hard with a stone that she was very bloody facewise (i was too jung to get "real" problems for that, i was 11.
i started to ask me "what does it solve" nothing. and i feld even worse because there was the pain that was done to me and the pain that i did to other people-and ask yourself- how often its the case that the actual perp gets payback and how often someone much weaker gets it?
often the weaker person because we can feel the superiority and feel not so "might-less"(or non mighty?eh, whatever. its too late*yawn*) anymore-and we become the people we disgust.

i never wanted that. so i startet this emo-shit-cuting and all the other not very good coping strategies-but they work thats the problem. and, jeah, everybody is special. i am too-because i talk way to much and often understand people not-and i dont want it either (well since 4 jears i have bo friend. no going out, no onlinegaming, nothing. and its okay i think. but this seems bo send negative "vibes" to other ppl. and i read that ppl with my "conditions" have a higher chance to become the victim of bullying anyway.

but it is how it is (or how ever ist in englich: "es ist wie es ist"-> "it cant helped" maybe.