ultimatefan said:
I don´t think it´s fair to comparing her condition to that of the other X-Men, or black, or gay, or whatever... In her case, the mutation was a serious problem, she couldn´t touch anybody, which is a fundamental affectionate, sexual, etc., human experience. I used to be obese, I was a victim of discrimination, I was picked up at school... But it wasn´t the same thing as being black or jewish, that condition really brought me problems beyond other people´s perceptions... my physicality was limited, I could develop heart diseases, diabetes, even some forms of cancer. I ultimately took a "cure" for it - I made a treatment, actually - but it wasn´t for the other people, it was for me.
Wow... that's a very, very good metaphor right there. It is too bad they didn't make that a hell of a lot more clear, though.
On a non-metaphorical level, I'm thinking maybe in the next movie she'll get control of her powers--maybe the cure will not actually cure her, but change her so that she has better control. Like if her powers slowly come back, maybe she'll learn in the process how to keep them from affecting those she doesn't want to harm. So, in a sense, maybe she'll find a healthy weight for her rather than going from obesity to anorexia and back.
If I were Rogue, I'd have taken the cure hands down. I mean, sheesh... not even being able to kiss someone, let alone have sex... screw this. It's cure time.
Aiding the cure advocates--the fact that Pyro says Rogue wants the cure because she's "pathetic". Which is so judgmental and wrong and such complete bull that I think it makes a point in and of itself--that, yeah, we can all sit back and be high and mighty, but it's really easy for somebody like Pyro to say that, for whom his power is never going to cause anyone involuntary harm from him just touching them out of love or friendship.
It's easy to compare mutation to skin color or sexual orientation, but my lord, it is NOT THE SAME. Not even vaguely. Mutation is a complex metaphor for ALL differences, both positive and negative, it's not just a metaphor for being gay or black or ANY one thing. Being unique is great, but there is a CLEAR difference between having beautiful wings to fly with and being cursed to lack the one thing you long for so deeply (human touch.) Wings are strange to those who don't understand, but still clearly as great as having an unusual skin tone or hair tone or such like. Being unable to touch anyone is like being unable to walk; it's a disability, not just a difference. Rogue being cured is like a crippled person having surgery so they can walk again.
Maybe being unable to walk would make someone unique--and there's certainly not a damned thing wrong with it, there's no reason to treat someone as a lesser class citizen for it, and you can live a full life even with such a difficult situation--but it would be horrendously hypocritical and downright ludicrous to say to a formerly crippled person, "you know, you should be ashamed of yourself for having this surgery that would let you walk again. You should've stayed in your wheelchair where you belonged because I say it's who you are." Nonsense. So easy for a person on the OUTSIDE to say.
All kidding about waiting for Leech to grow up aside, anyone who says they wouldn't take the cure if they were Rogue? You'd have a long and lonely life ahead of you with no gain to show for it. Rogue didn't take the cure because she thought being a mutant was dirty, or she wouldn't have come back to see Bobby. She took it because for her, specifically for her, it was all drawback and no wonder or joy. She appreciated the unique qualities of her friends, but for her case specifically, mutation was not like it was for them. She was... different from them.
I like Rogue taking the cure particularly in that it shows what the X-Men movies have been trying to teach all along--
respect for individuality! Humans not respecting that mutants are different is the same kind of bigotry as Pyro not respecting that Rogue's mutation is different from his. In fact, now that I think about it, that's an amazing point. I wish they'd done more with the concept. It's really what the theme and the heart of X-Men is all about; respecting each other's differences, and learning to appreciate them rather than shunning those who aren't in the same category as we are.
) exemplary rational thinking
