Aliens are integral to the superhero mythos we enjoy every Wednesday. After all, the age of heroes did start with a baby falling from the sky. At a certain point it’s almost easy to take all the myriad of non-humans running around for granted, but then I realized how far we are from finding life out in the void here in the real world. This discrepancy gave me pause. Of course I’ve thought about the absurdity of the way aliens are portrayed in comics, and have been hesitant to write about it because I want to say something scientific about it rather than just complain, but today I “can’t stands no more” to quote a swarthy sailor. So here are just some of the issues I have with aliens in comics.
....
You have more genetic material shared between you and a tulip than you would with any alien you might encounter. Yet as always, I don’t like to gripe without coming up with a solution that at the very least allows myself to read the comics anger free. Even though for the life of me I can't figure out why martians, our cosmic neighbors, look so weird whereas Krytonians look like a typical WASP. So my thinking is that species whose bodies evolved to look similar to humans tend to be the species that come here for an extended stay. And the really nasty customers go find a planet where everyone looks more like them. Thus, Starfire is welcome but Starro keeps getting sent home.
So we let the hotties stay on earth because— well they’re hot. Yet that’s still pretty disturbing. These things are not human, they just aren’t. I can’t quite see how being attracted to an alien is much better than bestiality. I suppose Clark Kent has an excuse since he was raised among us. But Dick Grayson should know better.
36 comments
"I can’t quite see how being attracted to an alien is much better than bestiality. I suppose Clark Kent has an excuse since he was raised among us."
If he has intercourse with a human woman and comes inside her, would that then be similar to her getting a gun, loaded with live rounds, fired up there?
Get out of your terracentric bauble dipshit. We`re not special or "only ones" in any way. We`ve yet a long, long road ahead to even begin to count ourselves as a truly advanced. If the looks of martian manhunter disturb and anger you, I can even hardly calll myself the same species as you are, judging from the brain activity demonstrated.
You hate diffrent and it disgusts you, I am fascinated by it, given the choice to leave your obsolete hardware you`d probably cling to it like your mothers breast whereas I already have quite a few designs in mind for better and improved form for myself.
It’s called suspension of disbelief. If you can believe a man can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes, you can also believe that he is an alien that is able to pro-create with human women.
Thus, Starfire is welcome but Starro keeps getting sent home.
Or, and I am just throwing this out there, it’s because Starfire is benevolent while Starro constantly tries to conquer the Earth. (Its by-name “the Conqueror” should be a hint
)
I suppose Clark Kent has an excuse since he was raised among us. But Dick Grayson should know better.
Bullshit. Dick Grayson spent the majority of his life in the company of aliens and other people with non-human appearances and powers. Plus, he’s Romani, so he knows better than to judge people by their ancestry and the corresponding prejudices, but by their character and actions.
I absolutely agree with all but the last paragraph (except for any bad things I overlooked). Aliens would not very strongly resemble specific Earth life, especially not those newcomers who have only been around for a couple Ma by the most generous definition. Of course, with life-action, your options, especially for regular characters, are limited, but for comics/animation, there is no such excuse.
At least aliens are beings of the physical world like terrestrial life-forms. I wonder what he would think of Percy Jackson, or Jesus.him .
I don't see the Fundie here.
Yeah Dick Grayson does know better, he knows better then to turn away someone as hot as Starfire.
They are fictional characters, but (here's the point you miss) like all fictional characters, they were created by humans, to appeal to humans in some way. Anthropomorphizing their intents and emotions is inevitable. Villains have to have evil intentions, heroes have to be someone you would like if they were human, or the fans won't understand them on a gut level.
If you want fiction whose characters are completely alien to most of us, I suggest one that describes "real humans" of a much earlier century: The Name of the Rose (and a fond farewell to Umberto Eco). The monks and their attitudes toward "God's will", and their explicitly stated indifference to whether or not a person is really guilty of a crime, might find a sympathetic ear in the most extreme fringe of fundies on this site, but they are incomprehensible to most modern humans.
Sentience, and informed consent.
Also, Superman was originally human.
Dunno about fundie, but this post is fail all over.
Bestiality is legally defined in a certain way out of practical necessity. The basic idea is that since it's generally assumed no animal can or ever will be sapient enough to give informed consent that we can blanket all non-humans as so incapable. Entering fiction, as ever, plays hell with such broad brushes. Brainy Barker of Krypto the Superdog is a genius and could inform the hell out of consent. The many pony scientists of Equestria could also put many human minds to shame.
When dealing with fiction, if you are going to overlay reality, do it in good faith, which means understanding the reason for laws beyond "It's icky, like gays and interracial couples."
I’ve thought about the absurdity of the way aliens are portrayed in comics,
Do you mean that *gasp* they might not be humanoids in rubber zipper suits, after all, like in the movies?
If it's sapient, it's on the same level as humans. Most aliens in comics aren't limited to merely sentient like animals.
@Malingspann
"If he has intercourse with a human woman and comes inside her, would that then be similar to her getting a gun, loaded with live rounds, fired up there?"
Unlikely, for the same reason taking a shit doesn't destroy half the city like an orbital cannon.
So Robins into big chicks that can kick his ass, that's actually one of the least surprizing revelations of a character I admittedly despise. (Should have never been a Batman sidekick, doesn't fit especially since he's been re realized for decades as the dark knight. If there was a sidekick, why a boy, why so damn gayish? Shoulda been retroed out in the 60s)
Teen Titans is stupid too although I'll admit very well done. Robin's not that stupid a character either, I guess, if it was generated outside the Batman mythos.
But I digress.
And I suspect the fundie index will remain a zero on this one.
Ok, so what if it's a hermaphroditic alien that happens to have a bipedal lupine form? Is that a sort of double-secret bestiality?
Dude, seriously... If it's sapient, and it consents, it's fine. Follow the path of James T. Kirk, man!
@Canadiest
" (Should have never been a Batman sidekick, doesn't fit especially since he's been re realized for decades as the dark knight. Robin's not that stupid a character either, I guess, if it was generated outside the Batman mythos."
Robin was generated inside the Batman mythos when a family of circus trapeze swingers was killed and their son Dick was the only suvivor. The killers started after him to finish the job. Bruce had Dick move in with him while Batman tried to solve the murders.
Because Dick was so athletic and rope swingy and acrobatic Bruce decided to make him a sidekick.
This was in the early 60s when the baby boomers were young, the comics needed teenage characters to keep this demographic.
That's why we have kid flash, speedy, supergirl and wondergirl. And snapper Carr.
Am I the only one that noticed that he missed the point where Jor-El specifically sent Kal-El to earth?
Cause, you know, one of his criteria for a planet might have been a species that Kal-El could relate to?
@Mister Spak
Fully aware of his origins, about 10 at best in the golden age and early 60s. Batman would have been that dark knight that fan base claims he's always been if Robin had never happened, Batman would have been better for it too. Alfred was enough of a confident and Gordon was a stretch but workable.
Had Robin been born on the outskirts, a side story, that'd be fine but I hate the Batman sidekick, destroys the essence of the character for me. My opinion and as stated directed entirely at those that claim there was never anything but the Dark Knight crusader yet still accept the little boy.
I'm saying this because I like the Batman but that boy crapped it out in year one in my opinion.
@Canadiest:
I have to disagree. In my opinion, it makes sense for someone like Bruce Wayne to (at least subconsciously) try and create a kind of family for himself, but warped through the lens of his trauma, his self-imposed mission and his control-freak tendencies.
That said, I can see where you come from.
Someone should call Stephen Hawking; we need to postpone the research into unifying the theory of relativity with quantum theory whilst this problem remains unanswered.
"So we let the hotties stay on earth because
well they’re hot. Yet that’s still pretty disturbing. These things are not human, they just aren’t. I can’t quite see how being attracted to an alien is much better than bestiality."
It may surprise you, but some people might consider being attracted to alien hotties as weird too.
@Kuno
I can see your And Mister Spaks points too, after all he's been a popular character longer than most have existed and many have carried the name. I'm in the minority, It's just me, don't like the whole Dynamic (see what I did there?)
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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