Natural Diversity: In Praise of Marvel

I'm writing this after seeing Doctor Strange, and I'll be honest, I'm still not tired of Marvel's movies. Ever since Birdmam it seems trendy to hate on the blockbuster superhero movies, but I still find them to be quality content. Every movie has some similarities, sure, but most of those, good dialog, interesting effects, Easter eggs, etc. make for a good movie. Beyond that, Marvel has just done a good job of building a broad genre.
As time goes on and Marvel continues to dominate the subgenre, every movie, and even their growing catalog of TV shows are thematically different. For example, Antman was a heist movie, Guardians of the Galaxy was a space opera, and Doctor Strange adds wizard to the mix. Thematic diversity isn't what I'm concerned with here.
The unfortunate paradox of comic books is that the movies own Hollywood, but books are selling as bad as ever. So, in the last couple years, we've seen Marvel do some bold things with bug characters, like name Thor a woman and Captain America black, and then later a member of Hydra. You couldn't do that in most mediums without a lot of confusion, but by nature comics are absurd, so it makes some amount of sense. That has carried over to the film division.
I don't say Marvel hasn't had missteps, like making the Mandarin white in Iron Man 3 (spoilers, but that movie sucks anyway). They've really done more to progress the medium than they're given credit for.
Amidst the overwhelming white domination of the Oscar's the last few years, there's been renewed controversy over diversity in Hollywood. Liberals point to a desire and necessity to show more of the American experience, and conservatives insist on fighting PC culture.
The fight is ugly, but by cleverly raising obscure characters to prominence, Marvel has made some really cool moves. I'll start with the most high profile example I have. Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most famous actors in the world and as Nick Fury, he represents a prominent and widespread influence throughout the Marvel universe.
Here's the thing, until Jackson took on the roll, the comics always featured a white man in the comics. As a character emerging from the Vietnam era, it shouldn't be any surprise he was white, but race was never important to the character. Marvel could have stuck with cannon (maybe use Tom Hanks) and people probably wouldn't have cared. Instead, they added some color to a remarkably pale industry.
This push for diversity went unnoticed,  but it shouldn't. Sure, he's still a big star, but they still succeeded in inserting a diverse character into the universe, but that wasn't even the first instance, look back to Thor for a larger example.
Thor is, obviously, based off traditional Norse mythology, and so a Frozen approach where the characters are traditional Scandinavian people would be logical. Instead, the studio acknowledged that gods operate on a different level and mysterious ways.
Is this perfect? No. But it's progress. And I'm grateful to have something.

The Anit-Registration Papers: Part II, Safety

Why do we submit to the government? As a species, and certainly as a nation, people value their freedom; however, humans almost universally submit to government authority and the rule of law. Why? Many people argue, but the basis for our American union comes from John Locke's social contract where people sacrifice total freedom to secure the rights to "life, liberty, and property." Implied within these rights is the essential right to freedom needed to maintain these essential freedoms. Unfortunately, another essential part of human nature is violence. No matter how much progress we may make as a race, war, murder, and general acts of violence refuse to leave us alone. Particularly when we get scared.
People fear nothing more than what they can't understand, or things they don't know which is the reason we fear anything from the dark, to a shark, from people of other orientations to people of other nations. Imagine how scared people might get of someone biologically or accidentally empowered with abilities that made them definitively different. If white supremacists have a problem with someone who has brown skin, how will they feel about someone who occasionally has green skin? I don't think I have to explain the horrendous actions that hate groups can act out, but let's consider what happens when groups are convinced that some different poses a threat, consider what happens.
Why do homophobes act violently against gay people? No, not the religious objections, why do people assault, injure, kill, and torment someone from the LGBT community? For the authors two cents, throwing boiling water on my lover and myself seems like something that convinces a gay person that straight people are kind of crazy. There has to be more to that than a simple belief in a higher power, it is a fear for the things one knows and has always known. Why did the white middle class fear the entrance of the African-American community? Because tradition of the time dictated that they were unintelligent, and violent. Imagine if there was a group of different people who could do literally anything. Not in the figurative way where someone can work their way out of poverty to a better life, but as in the little boy sitting next to you might be able to manipulate the space-time continuum. In the Marvel Universe, that has been a reality.
Consider the X-Men (I know I've brought them up, shut up). More specifically, think about the Sentinel Program. The Sentinels were the result of Congress skipping the registration step and getting straight to the hating. The Sentinels were super-powered robots specifically engineered to seek and destroy mutants, regardless of their ability. Maybe it was an Omega Class like Phoenix or Professor X, but as I've previously mentioned there are also some mutants who posses the magical ability to not get off the couch to change the channel. If the representatives of the people within the cannon are willing to pass that plan, along for action instead of passing a budget or something, what would happen if they had their targets already marked? Magneto's fears might prove accurate.

Among the dark moments of Marvel is Magneto's backstory as a survivor of the Holocaust. Those were just people that a small angry man convinced Germany were harming them and their blood. If we live in a nation where people can be convinced to go to war across the world because a guy on cocaine thinks we should, than what will happen when some random guy in sunglasses has unstoppable lasers come out of his eyes.
I know what everyone reading this is thinking, what about the people who might get hit by said lasers? I will never say that isn't a relevant concern, but no one has the right to assume that might be a problem. Cyclops can keep his vision contained with quartz sunglasses, and a threat that isn't acted out isn't really much of a threat at all. Let's look at the Second Amendment.
Any way you look at it, a gun is a threat to someone or something. Even with a responsible owner, accidents can happen. Guns are designed to inflict damage on, if not kill something. Those are not humans. People need to be treated equally, and to ask people to risk their safety without reason is a true violation of basic rights. People are people, not weapons. Maybe they can hurt someone, but so can absolutly anyone else. Now, let's say you do see superhumans as weapons.
Certain people aren't allowed to bear arms, but the average person can, and even then, a person chooses to buy a gun. I don't just wake up one day with an AK in my bed. I would register it, because I am choosing to gain the ability to be dangerous. The average superhuman might not be a threat, and they certainly don't want to. That's like forcing me to take an AK and then routinely checking the rounds. Iron Man is the worst person to talk about the necessity of registration. He is free from the concerns of regular heroes. He chose to have powers, he makes his abilities, and he really doesn't need to worry about anything happening to him, or the people he loves.
That is the final security to be wary of, the security of the people around the powerful. If you're worried about spoilers, don't read any further, but know some bad things happen, and potentially in Civil War itself, and remember there's a reason the family of the President's family also gets Secret Service protection.
Tony Stark has nothing to worry about. He has enough money and influence to protect himself and Pepper. What about a poor high school student, someone like Peter Parker. In the Civil War plot line of the comics, as soon as Spider-Man shows his true self, Aunt May dies. While the stereotype of superheroes would suggest that they have no one to lose, every hero has someone close. Daredevil has Foggy. Hawkeye has a wife. Thor has Natalie Portman. V, also has Natalie Portman. Even if a hero has power that could be a threat, the revelation of their secret identity could hurt the powerless people who just happen to be in the lives of a mutant. As a billionaire arms manufacturer, Stark might be able to ensure the protection of those around him and himself beyond his powers. The average person, and therefor the average superhuman, can' t.

I would like to imagine that the presence of superhumans wouldn't scare people toward violence, but looking at the world around me, and the world contained in the Marvel Universe, I can't. If they don't give a reason, superhumans shouldn't be considered a threat, and so they shouldn't have their safety and the safety of those around them jeopardized.

The Anti-Registtration Papers: Part I, Privacy

A civil war is looming over comic book and film fans alike, and it has already begun to take its toll, driving multiple debates between myself and Tess Jones, who may be authoring the Registration Papers. The fight over the question of superhero registration is a serious one that poses serious questions for real world political and moral values. While this obviously takes place in a separate world (MCU is a fair choice, but I will also pull from canon within the books), the question addresses that world's United States.
So, while this might be a separate universe, we can assume relatively similar conditions and mindsets to those facing the real life United States. While those arguing for registration may have everyone's best intentions in mind, and I certainly feel a great deal of respect for Mr. Stark, I must take up the Star-Spangled Banner alongside Mr. Rogers (not that one) and argue in opposition of superhuman registration.
The question of how much liberty humans ought to forfeit in exchange for what measure of safety is one that is as old as government itself. While a totalitarian state is the most safe for a nation, it also asks too much of the people living under its social contract. Superhuman registration is a fundamental violation of the right to privacy found in the US constitution, and established by the Supreme Court in the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut. The majority of superhumans, and the one's I am personally concerned with, receive their abilities either by natural born mutation, or medical development, and the government has no right to know either of those.
First, genetic super humans. Prominently featured among the X-Men these are beings born through the process of evolution with whatever ability they may possess, and that's the important thing, it is theirs. Most legal arguments currently view DNA and other genetic information as being the private concern of the individual or even property. While the specifics are still being hashed out in court, it is clear which way the wind is blowing. The government has no right to know what your genetic makeup is because it is most likely your patent-able property, and if it isn't, it certainly is no one else's business.
As for those who develop their abilities through misadventure, often from radiation like the Hulk and Spider-Man, that is your own personal medical concern. The medical field is one of the primary fields of concern for the right to privacy. The only time you can be compelled to share your medical status is if your have a disease that can be spread to someone else, and even then you don't have to register yourself as someone with a disease, you're just quarantined until you no longer pose a threat to anyone else.
Many would say that someone with nothing to hide shouldn't be scared of releasing information, but if the state is fine with everyone's information being shared, why not make everyone's private information public? Maybe my exceptional height is a sign that I'm developing into Colossus, so I should be monitored to ensure I don't develop into a superhuman. That is the same argument that every major surveillance program ever used on innocent civilians, most prominently the  NSA scandal revealed by Edward Snowden. With total surveillance, the government could possibly know more about an individual knows about them self.
Not every superhuman knows that they are a superhuman. Many don't see any manifestation of their powers until late in life, and some have powers so small that they wouldn't even notice it them self, like a mutant with Dr. Xavier whose ability is changing the TV channel at will by blinking. What would be done with these truant registrations? Punishment would be unethical for someone with a condition they were unaware of, and if that argument holds, then any superhuman could claim ignorance upon interrogation. To punish people for circumstances beyond their control and beyond the rightful knowledge of the government is the wrong action.

In Part II of the Anti-Registration Papers, I will discuss concerns for the safety of the superhumans themselves.