has anybody noticed how most"ordinary"people in the MU fear and distrust superfolk?

[Fantasyartist]

Has anybody noticed just how much "ordinary people" in the Marvel Universe(not just officials) fear and distrust "super-folk"(even those who unambiguously on the side of the angels such The Avengers, FF, X-Men and Spider Man)?
I have a theory that it stems from fear and suspicion of those who are"different"(never mind how altruistically they use their super powers). Does anybody think as I do?

It's kind of like "Casper The Friendly Ghost"- no matter how pleasant and kindly Casper tries to be towards "fleshies", they still reject him just because he's "different""

Terry

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Um, yeah.

It's been one of the underlying themes of the Marvel universe since its inception? Its pretty obvious.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

There are a couple exceptions. Captain America, for one. I mean, every hero in the Marvel universe has some fans, but the people who respect and admire Cap seem to be the majority. The Fantastic Four are also pretty beloved. Probably why they can operate as they please now, in spite of Osborn technically being their boss, without worrying about a Dark Fantastic Four springing up to replace them. F***ing with them would be a political disaster for Osborn.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I don't really think people disliked Casper because he was different, I think it was because he was a ghost

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The other ghosts disliked him because he was different, didn't they? Casper is universally despised. Except by random kids who are psychologically damaged in such a way that they're not afraid of ghosts in the first place and can appreciate him mostly for the "friendly" part.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, he said fleshies rejected him because he was different, that's what I was talking about. The only other ghosts I ever remember were his uncles, but they were, like, utter *****e bags.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, given that Casper is singled out as the friendly ghost, I imagine most other ghosts are like those *****ebag uncles. They're dead people cursed to float around aimlessly forever, after all. I imagine *****ebags are the rule rather than the exception among them. It's surprising Casper's not a *****e too, come to think of it, since he obviously died a very young child and never even got a real chance at life. Casper's a very tragic figure.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Maybe his life sucked like really bad or something, so death was a good thing? I don't know much about Casper's back story or anything. I saw about 20 minutes of that first movie and turned it off when Dan Ackroyd ran out of the house as a Ghostbuster scared of his uncles. *Pssst*

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The Ghostbusters would totally own Casper.

 

[Max Shrek]

The people in the Marvel Universe aren't treated like actual people. They're not written as if any are actual humans with likes, desires or REASONS for thinking the way they do; they're plot points. Why do the population fear and dislike mutants but adore the Avengers and FF (who for all they know COULD be mutants)...? Um... because it's more interesting if the X-Men are feared but we need the other two to be typical superheroes? Why is America following Osborn just because he shot a Skrull on TV...? Um... so Dark Reign could happen? There's no thought or logic put into ANYTHING they do; they're dancing monkeys for whatever the plot needs them to be.

 

[Hound55]

The Ghostbusters would totally own Casper.

The Ghostbusters would go Les Grossman on Casper...

 

[Alastor]

"Look, f**kstick, I'm incredibly busy. So why don't you get the hell out of here before I snap your d**k off and jam it into your a$$.."

The average citizen in the Marvel U have been like this since the beginning. They have always has the illogical fear/hatred of Spider-Man, just b/c of one news paper, but loved the Avengers (who had mutants and ex-criminals). Whoever said they are a plot points is right. So its not a surprise that the public is buying Osborn. They should just establish that Norman is using Purple Man or someone to collectively influence the public, everyone that isn't a superhero.

 

[Zoken]

The people in the Marvel Universe aren't treated like actual people. They're not written as if any are actual humans with likes, desires or REASONS for thinking the way they do; they're plot points. Why do the population fear and dislike mutants but adore the Avengers and FF (who for all they know COULD be mutants)...? Um... because it's more interesting if the X-Men are feared but we need the other two to be typical superheroes? Why is America following Osborn just because he shot a Skrull on TV...? Um... so Dark Reign could happen? There's no thought or logic put into ANYTHING they do; they're dancing monkeys for whatever the plot needs them to be.

Max, I think you should read "Marvels". They go into a lot of the very ideas you discussed. Of course it doesn't come as recent as Dark Reign or anything, but the idea of hating mutants, worshipping certain heroes and turning on them at the drop of a hat. All of that is explained pretty clearly. It was society.

Remember, all these "ordinary" folk have to go on is what the media reports. and thanks to our media George W. Bush is painted as both Mentally retarted and Sinister Mastermind of a global conspiracy. They're being pulled around and half-truthed the same way we are. Spider-Man is the perfect example; JJJ is constantly publishing editorials and stories against Spider-Man, thus most of the public, except those he's individually saved, believe the worst of him.

Think about how celebrities are treated in our media. I remember back just after 9-11 Jennifer Lopez hadn't donated as much to charities as other celebrities and the media crucified her for it. Because she only donated something like a 1000 rather than the 10,000 that others were donating. Because they are more visisble we hold them to different standards, it would be the same with super-heroes, moreso probably.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Hell, enough "ordinary" people fear and distrust the President talking to our kids in school!

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, to be fair, he's obviously from the 5th Dimension

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

I don't really think people disliked Casper because he was different, I think it was because he was a ghost

Well, for me, it was the second Casper movie, and the various ones that came after. Then the hatred really started to build.

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

There are a couple exceptions. Captain America, for one. I mean, every hero in the Marvel universe has some fans, but the people who respect and admire Cap seem to be the majority. The Fantastic Four are also pretty beloved. Probably why they can operate as they please now, in spite of Osborn technically being their boss, without worrying about a Dark Fantastic Four springing up to replace them. F***ing with them would be a political disaster for Osborn.

I didnt read their Dark Reign mini, what went on with Osborn in that?

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

Well, to be fair, he's obviously from the 5th Dimension

I always considered him more like Darkseid. I mean, Glen Beck basically says he's anti-life.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didnt read their Dark Reign mini, what went on with Osborn in that?

The Dark Reign: FF one? I don't know, I didn't read it either. I was just offering a possible reason why Norman hasn't messed with the FF at all since taking power.

 

[GyLocke]

It is a wonder that the Avengers were loved for so long. Superhuman mistrust comes naturally. In the MU heroes seem to call villains and threats to existence, not the other way. It's not like the MU has a different history from ours - the last few centuries weren't plagued by superhuman criminals, alien invaders, tyrranical supercomputers, technomage european monarchs - they only started to appear after the superheroes themselves (sure there were mages and random WW2 heroes, but the world didn't know much about them, there's not much about them in history). It's not like giant alien monsters were tearing apart New Amsterdam, they only started to attack 20th century New York after the Fantastic Four appeared. Superheroes didn't come to be as a response, to fight the terrible plight of these "extranormal" threats. The threats came after them.
So it's no wonder regular people, who just want to be safe, want things to go back the way they were before the dawn of the moder miracles, and want the superheroics to go away.

Marvel New Yorkers had to face a lot of **** lately, from invading symbiotes, to brutal magneto attacks (Morrisson) to who knows what on a weekly basis. It's a wonder people are still living there. So yes, I wouldn't trust any supe in the Marvel World, and I would clap like crazy for the Initiative. For Osborn, not so much, but after the biggest invasion yet, I don't find him such a strech as most readers. .

 

[kguillou]

Haha, thats true Gylocke, its a wonder people still live in Marvel's New York. I bet getting an apartment in Manhatten is much much easier and cheaper in the marvel world than it is in real life. lol

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Damage Control takes care of everything. Don't worry about it.

 

[Anubis]

Also, Caper is the Ghost of Richie Rich.

 

[runawayboulder]

In Marvels, the press played a HUGE role with how super-humans were viewed especially the FF.

 

[GyLocke]

Yeah, but Reed worked his ass off on PR - to make celebrities from the the four of them from the very beginning, becouse he was smart enough to see this whole superhuman blackslash coming. They are the exception of the rule. The way we let some celebrities get away with whatever ****ed up **** they're doing, and crucify others.
Jack Nicholson would be allowed to eat a child on live TV and people would call it charming, but Tom Cruise is a psycho-cultist-homosexual-beardnapper.

Which is funny, considering Franklin is raised to be a huge "Uncle Tom" mutant too.