tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post4344412637134387605..comments2024-02-28T17:50:10.303+00:00Comments on LUCID FRENZY JUNIOR: FROM MONSTERS TO MUTANTS: X-MEN VS. THE FANTASTIC FOURGavin Burrowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-74196800855114354652022-02-24T10:43:29.337+00:002022-02-24T10:43:29.337+00:00This is a strange comment. Racism works precisely ...This is a strange comment. Racism works precisely <i>by</i> denying certain social groups access to decent education and so on, then acting as if that was somehow their own fault. The cause of racism is not skin pigmentation. Skin pigmentation is just a hand hook to hang it on.<br /><br />And even that isn't always necessary. In 'Gentleman's Agreement' the lead character passes himself off as Jewish simply by stating he's Jewish. And the social assumption is that no-one would say that unless it was true.<br /><br />It's a bit hard to tell the order, but I fear the notion Covid variants would get progressively less severe was a popular one, which Bojo the Clown then used to base his completely dishonest policies on. I've found that, when I tell people that's not the case, some express surprise but many simply tune me out.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-48509114612913062142022-02-24T00:32:35.898+00:002022-02-24T00:32:35.898+00:00"Couldn't you just ask a black and a whit..."Couldn't you just ask a black and a white person, then note the differences?"<br /><br />You could. But you surely see that this is much less rhetorically forceful. The point the film makes is that <i>the same man</i> is treated differently depending on whether he is perceived as black or white. There is no wiggle room for someone watching the film to say "Well, of course the white man is treated better than the black man, it's because he's better educated, or had a better social background, or [some other reason]". But with the film as it stands, no such argument can be made.<br /><br />"Here's a day-job question - is there a term for the notion that evolution always inherently accumulates advantages? 'Teleological' isn't quite right, as it implies working towards an end point."<br /><br />Hmm. You'd think there would be a term for this, but I can't think of one -- unless you count "wishful thinking". It's essentially the same kind of assumption that people are operating under when they assume that each successive Covid variant will be less severe than the last -- something that there is no scientific reason to think will be the case.<br /><br />Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-11590412269393933862022-02-22T13:20:06.841+00:002022-02-22T13:20:06.841+00:00I am in a profound state of non-disagreement.I am in a profound state of non-disagreement.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-82063016608104378532022-02-22T13:13:50.441+00:002022-02-22T13:13:50.441+00:00I have been promising to think about The Tomorrow ...I have been promising to think about The Tomorrow People as well. It’s not very good. Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-89237757124200673842022-02-22T10:46:30.020+00:002022-02-22T10:46:30.020+00:00Well I've never seen the film either, and it d...Well I've never seen the film either, and it didn't stop me. (NB Have seen 'Gentleman's Agreement', not 'Black like Me'.) Couldn't you just ask a black and a white person, then note the differences?<br /><br />Wait, i have opposable thumbs because of radiation? Stan Lee is righter than i thought!<br /><br />Here's a day-job question - is there a term for the notion that evolution always inherently accumulates advantages? 'Teleological' isn't quite right, as it implies working towards an end point.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-23076240603797202162022-02-21T21:04:43.430+00:002022-02-21T21:04:43.430+00:00"The formula is - radiation catalyses mutatio..."The formula is - radiation catalyses mutation, which in turn catalyses evolution. Evolutionary biologists are most likely sighing loudly at this point."<br /><br />Evolutionary biologist here. Actually, no, this is pretty much spot on!Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-65859818160846694592022-02-21T20:47:24.763+00:002022-02-21T20:47:24.763+00:00"And our modern sensibilities want to ask why..."And our modern sensibilities want to ask why, instead of getting a white journalist to essentially black up, to know what being black or Jewish feels like - why not just get someone to tell us who’s… you know… black or Jewish?"<br /><br />Not having seen the film, perhaps I shouldn't comment.<br /><br />But this is the Internet, so you know I'm going to.<br /><br />To me, this seems like obviously the right move. The real power of this film is surely the <i>difference</i> between how the same man is treated when he has white and black skin.Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-68052850649358052222022-02-19T15:21:12.669+00:002022-02-19T15:21:12.669+00:00Thanks! Not only is the mutant thing a poor metaph...Thanks! Not only is the mutant thing a poor metaphor for racism, the irony is they threw away a more workable one - the monster - to get to it.<br /><br />Just what makes the TP something you say "good luck with" about, that's something I'll pick up on.<br /><br />I did think, very tentatively, of doing a successor series about the mutant trope in Yer Proper Books. Went so far as buying a copy of 'Slan', after near reading any Van Vogt before, but unstarted as yet.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4202625234167413814.post-79057063070080440072022-02-19T15:10:41.106+00:002022-02-19T15:10:41.106+00:00Interesting. I have something presently on the bac...Interesting. I have something presently on the back burner along these lines and agree that the mutant soap as metaphor for racism deal seems a little overstated / convenient. I'm presently wrestling with our guys as an outgrowth (albeit indirectly) of the Gernsbackian (etc.) fascination with supermen (see A.E. van Vogt's Slan and others), itself wrestling with the still not entirely digested realisation of biology being subject to change, as distinct from determined by the man upstairs, with which everyone from Shelley to Stoker to H.G. Wells wa preoccupied to a greater or lesser extent. Thumping good read as ever, and good luck with the Tomorrow People. Rather you than me.Lawrence Burtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17090260063135283767noreply@blogger.com