The dude who responded to my post didn't get my point (btw, of course they were both false analogies, thats what I was trying, poorly, to show).
I know that you were attempting to present a false analogy. My point was that the appraoch to that analogy was off. MD's point presented an experience from which Peter, being a responsible person should have learned from the mistakes of others. Your point, while perhaps being meant to be flippant, presented Peter choosing to make an irresponsible choice simply because he failed in a few attempts, even though he'd succeeded far more than failed. And as I mentioned, the fact that your examples don't represnt the same types of failures, make it even more off.
With Captain Stacy, he made a failure in judgment, using an untested formula on Ock's tentacles which resulted in Stacy's death.
With Gwen he simply couldn't save her. No actual failure on his part. Things just didn't work out.
With Harry, Peter didn't fail at all. Harry did what he did to himself.
The other thing is that MD's point reflected in-character choices for Peter, while yours was not.
The bottom line with all of this is if you felt like Pete made the WRONG decision, you don't like what happened and will marshall arguments on its behalf. But, similarly, you can view Pete's decision as an heroic sacrifice as well. I don't think you can dismiss that argument any more than you can dismiss the arguments folks make saying Pete's choice condemned him to eternal damnation and forever destroyed the character. Multiple views exist on this subject. Reasonable people can disagree about it.
Nah, it was just the wrong decision. No heroism, no sacrifice even. Since he gets to forget the circumstances of his marriage ending and simply see it as a relationship that ended, he gets off pretty much scott-free. If he remembered the loss and why-that would be some kind of sacrifice. If he were never to love again- that would be a sacrifice. Merely forgetting he was once married so he's free to date isn't a sacrifice.
But ultimately his choice was selfish. The only person actually benefitting here is Peter. Not May. Not even MJ.
I happen to think the marriage was a huge, out-of-character mistake that damaged the character. Pete may have been "the marrying kind," but he chose not to because he understood his responsibilities.
And this is where you keep throwing me. I agree that the marriage was an editorial mistake, because it was a gimmick and never developed. But When did Peter (aside from the movie) deny himself pursuit of a relationship out of "responsibility"? Even after Gwen was killed, and MJ nearly killed, the thought never entered his mind that he shouldn't pursue a committed relationship.
Before he was Spider-Man, others prevented him from having a typical high school life because they refused to let him be a part of things--an external force.
But as we all know, a "typical" high school life usually includes for some/many the type of rejection Peter received. What made Peter unique is that he didn't let it get him down or strive to become one of the In-crowd.
Once Pete became Spidey, he gave up his normal life, an internal thing. He tried to get it back on occasion, largely by giving up his powers.
Again- when was this? Sure, Peter knew that as Spider-Man he'd never have a "normal" life (How many people do?) And at times attempted to quit being Spidey. But he never eliminated dating with the hope of marriage from his life. I'd love to see actual examples of what you're referring to here.
Others may certainly disagree, I respect that. But, bottom line, is that I like the new direction of the character and I like the fact Pete's single. He never should have married.
But the point you seem to miss is that even with this change, Peter isn't living the life of "responsibility" you keep championing. He still lived with MJ. Still brought his troubles as Spider-Man home to her. And the relationship didn't end out of any sense of responsibility either. It just ended. And he's still pursuing relationships in BND. So what's the difference aside from the policy of Peter never being married again?
It was a bizarre way to end the marriage on Marvel's part, but I suppose one can argue that it adds complexity to the character. Pete's never been perfect. He's tried to do the right thing, as best as he could, and sometimes failed. Maybe he didn't do the right thing by saving May, but he did what he believed to BE the right thing. And he made a substantial personal sacrifice to DO what he believed the right thing to be. To me, that's the very definition of a "hero."
Hitler thoght he was doing the right thing. Charles Manson thought he was doing the right thing. And while I'm of course not placing Peter at their level, clearly, merely doing what you believe (Or have convinced yourself of) is right doesn't make you a hero.
And I also disagree with this making Peter more complex. If anything its just the opposite. A magical reseting of his life to which he is blissfully ignorant. A world-encompassing mindwipe to relieve him of his id reveal screw-up. He doesn't have to deal with the ramifications of his choices. Having to deal with his choices would make him complex.
) and came up with the idea of Norman beig the father. So it isn't as if JMS and Quesada haven't been of two minds regarding Spidey's direction.
