Heh - because I've been neglecting my journal

Someday I'll actually write something for my journal again, until them - a quiz!Millionaire playboy by day, dark knight by night.You are the world's greatest detective. You areBatman, and you are feared and respected byboth hero and villian. Which DC Super Hero Are You? brought to you by QuizillaW

Tarot

HERMIT"the meditator, philosopher, sage, wiseman"You can not and will not compromise your values andhave a desire to complete past things beforebegining the new (you value completion,perfection, and introspection highly). You area natural way-shower, sage, and seeker. Youhave an appreciation of the body and the wisdomof the earth and its natural process. You havea deep love for beauty, harmony, and order. which major arcana of the thoth tarot deck are you? short, with pictures and detailed results brought to you by QuizillaDon't usually do these things but I like Tarot stuff.

Bald Idealists (Iconography of Popular Culture 3)

There are some powerful thematic elements in the Marvel X-men universe - discrimination, acceptance, the feeling of being different and what that can mean. Many of the characters in the comics represent various aspects of these themes; lets start with the Bald Guy, Charles Xavier - the dreamer behind the Dream.There's been a lot of comment on the differences between the movies and the comics - everything from clothing styles (or lack thereof) to canon history, behavior and morality. Several people have been much more satisfied with the movie incarnation of Professor X rather than the seemingly blindly naïve professor from the older comics. Marvel too, has observed the change in readership and in Ultimate X-Men and New X-men both, Charles has become much more ambiguous in behavior and motive than his origins suggest. Most people call him more realistic and approve of his willingness to mentally manipulate or control others under the pressure of necessity. I seem to be in the minority in that I quite disagree with that choice.This is because I believe that Professor X has to be the idealistic, determinedly naïve character of the earliest comics. The one who did not allow his students to kill while sending them into life threatening situations, the one who refuses to read people's minds casually or violate their free will.Charles Xavier represents, and voices an ideal. Like all ideals, it's fit in the real world is less than perfect. He also represents the hope that people can be motivated to do good and remain good. The professor is an idealist, just as Magneto accuses, but idealism does not have to mean ignorance of the 'real world'. I do not see the professor as naïve but determined, in the face of harsh choices, to not yield to the temptation of expedience.He has asked himself some excruciatingly difficult questions: If it's wrong to invade someone's mind and bend them to my will, is it ever right?If I chose to manipulate someone's will with my powers in one circumstance, what about the next? And the next?Is it right to manipulate the minds of people, even if it will save lives? How many lives would make it worthwhile?If it's immoral to break into someone's home to gain illicit information or blackmail materiel, is it right for me to use such information I gain accidentally through my powers?I'm one of the most powerful people in the world, what should I do with that power? People manipulate and control each other in all kinds of ways, is using my telepathy any different?Does power corrupt?How will I know when I've gone to far and who could stop me if I did?And he came up with answers, very difficult answers. The professor did not chose the path of expedience, he chose to adhere to his morality, even when that morality cost him friends, followers, lives.It's perfectly true that people chose to harm others all the time and telepathy is - at least - not physically damaging. Is going in and erasing people's memories or altering their personality any worse than imprisonment or drugs? That's a question everyone has a different answer for and I think that the professor has decided that if it is not right to drug someone into compliance it isn't anymore right to screw with their memories or personality either.Professor X isn't portrayed as a stupid man, or an ignorant one and with those assumptions I can't believe that he doesn't recognize that his refusal to take certain kinds of actions makes live harder and more dangerous for everyone. I think he recognizes that his rigid adherence to his morality has costs and chooses to pay them.He's an idealist but not a naïve one.I think this is important because Professor X and Magneto represent two poles on the same issue; what to do when faced with fear, hatred and persecution. Do you become like your persecutors and answer violence with violence? If your attackers are disregarding law, mercy, justice and common humanity do they deserve anything better?Magneto has his answer and he has become like the enemies he despises. The Professor has chosen his answer as well. He believes in mercy, justice, law and fellowship and extends this belief to friends and enemies alike. He will not allow the cruelty of others to make him cruel.By making the professor more realistic, and more in line with 21st century morality (which is more comfortable with killing or manipulating the 'bad' guys than the morality of the 1960's) of the movies and more recent comics, I believe he looses much of his strength as a character. He simply becomes a 'good guy' because he's drawn with the white hat rather than through any of his actions. He's good in comparison to the 'bad guys' but being better is not the same thing as being good.The professor was never intended to be a morally gray character, he was originally defined as a good guy and - as I've mentioned before - the artists chose to portray him with ambiguous imagery as a contrast to his actions. In a world where he is hated and feared because he is a mutant, Professor X was meant to be the last person in the world to be afraid of.Professor X chooses to represent good, in its most idealized form, despite all wisdom to the contrary.