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phoenix64I am really loving the Marvel Noir series. I haven't been picking up the original runs but I have the collected editions of Spiderman Noir and X-Men Noir and Wolverine Noir should be shipping soon. I'm also really looking forward to Daredevil Noir next month. So far the stories have been fantastic with their commitment to the period and the art has been top-notch, and (as long as I'm paying Amazon prices, damn me) I don't mind paying for the hardbacks.
I'll tell you though, X-Men Noir had some bite to it. A lot of the story concerned eugenics and the related ideas that people can be born bad and can have "bad blood". It's incredibly appropriate for recasting an X-Men story during that time period but still unpleasant to read about. It can be easy to forget how prevalent those attitudes were during that time period, even with J.K. Rowling reminding us. A lot of people believed it and it led to a lot of horrible things being considered acceptable. The sad truth is that too many people still believe it.
I was horrified several years ago to read an interview with Dean Koontz in which he made it very clear that he believed aberrant behavior was solely a factor of genetics, with environment playing no role whatsoever. His rationale for this is that he was horribly abused by his father and it had no ill effects on him, though he and his wife decided not to have children because according to him these things tend to skip a generation. I feel more pity towards him than anger, but I can't help but wonder about the attitudes he's influencing through his writing. I mean, what's the point of getting children out of bad situations if it's not going to make any difference? What's the point in addressing abuse or poverty or drug use or any of those things if if won't change anything?
Science has given us a better understanding of the fact that genetics does in fact play a role, but it's more in terms of vulnerability, a stronger likelihood that an abusive environment will have a disastrous result. As we tend to hear pretty often these days, genetics loads the gun but environment pulls the trigger. Or as one scientist studying the brain development of abused children put it, it's not surprising that some abused children become serial killers; what's surprising is that they all don't.
I believe very strongly that if we could guarantee that every child was loved and safe we'd solve a lot more problems than most people realize. Is that an impossible task? Most certainly. But that doesn't mean it should be an impossible goal.
I'll tell you though, X-Men Noir had some bite to it. A lot of the story concerned eugenics and the related ideas that people can be born bad and can have "bad blood". It's incredibly appropriate for recasting an X-Men story during that time period but still unpleasant to read about. It can be easy to forget how prevalent those attitudes were during that time period, even with J.K. Rowling reminding us. A lot of people believed it and it led to a lot of horrible things being considered acceptable. The sad truth is that too many people still believe it.
I was horrified several years ago to read an interview with Dean Koontz in which he made it very clear that he believed aberrant behavior was solely a factor of genetics, with environment playing no role whatsoever. His rationale for this is that he was horribly abused by his father and it had no ill effects on him, though he and his wife decided not to have children because according to him these things tend to skip a generation. I feel more pity towards him than anger, but I can't help but wonder about the attitudes he's influencing through his writing. I mean, what's the point of getting children out of bad situations if it's not going to make any difference? What's the point in addressing abuse or poverty or drug use or any of those things if if won't change anything?
Science has given us a better understanding of the fact that genetics does in fact play a role, but it's more in terms of vulnerability, a stronger likelihood that an abusive environment will have a disastrous result. As we tend to hear pretty often these days, genetics loads the gun but environment pulls the trigger. Or as one scientist studying the brain development of abused children put it, it's not surprising that some abused children become serial killers; what's surprising is that they all don't.
I believe very strongly that if we could guarantee that every child was loved and safe we'd solve a lot more problems than most people realize. Is that an impossible task? Most certainly. But that doesn't mean it should be an impossible goal.