Select ONE of the following prompts and compose a MINIMUM 500-word response sometime prior to our exam period. As always, be sure to refer to specific evidence from the texts studied to support your own ideas. During the exam, you will read all of the entries and post a second response--a minimum of 400 words--to extend and deepen the conversation.
A) The X-Men comics contain fictional characters that deal with real social relationships and problems. William Blake also created characters from his imagination to explain the realities of life as he saw them. What parallels are evident between the X-Men comics and Blake’s cast of characters? Are there ways in which these imaginary worlds resemble our real world? (Use specific details from the texts and research.)
B) Looking at the exploits of the X-Men, we see the eternal conflict between good and evil. Some humans in the Marvel universe believe that all super beings, good and evil, must be annihilated because they are different—this is the only way there can be peace. Noting the similarities between the X-Men and Blake’s characters, consider what Blake would have thought of the views of these humans, and add your own reasons why they are right or wrong. (Use specific details from the texts and research.)
In response to the first prompt:
ReplyDeleteThe parallels that can be drawn from Blake's characters and the X-Men are not only unique, but also very interesting to look at. Obviously, X-Men posses a very strong aspect of imagination. All of the characters have certain special powers, that humans cannot realistically have. In order to understand X-Men, one must be open to the imagination involved. This is the same with Blake's ideas. Even though, at first, his ideas seemed more realistic to me and that there was a better connection to human life, this is not true. X-Men connects to human nature just as much as Blake's ideas.
The characters in X-Men may have special powers, but they all posses the same characteristics as humans. A great example of seeing this is through the character of Professor X. The one clear way that Professor X expresses his human nature, is through his love. Though it may not seem like an aspect of an imaginary character at first, Professor X's love is very powerful over his lifetime and his decisions. Just like any other human, he is hurt when things do not go according to plan: “Later, Charles was devastated when Moira broke off their engagement without explanation” (Marvel, 1). This is the first example which proves that Professor X has a strong aspect of human nature, even if he is not “real”. The second time that he proves his love, is later in life when he falls for a different woman. His love seems to have a very strong affect on his life: “Charles met Amelia Voght, a young nurse who fell in love with him and renewed his will to live” (Marvel, 1). Professor X proves that the X-Men characters represent different aspects of human nature as well; even if they are imaginary. Though these quotes may not seem very effective or important at first, they represent a huge idea seen throughout the work revolving X-Men. The characters do have strong aspects of human nature, even if they are not real.
In Blake's work, the characters that are shown and written about, also represent a clear connection to human nature. They all show Blake's involvement in the deeper meaning of imagination and the whole idea of life and the afterlife. Each character shows some deep sign of suffering and the daily struggles that human beings have in real life. Nebuchadnezzar was my favorite character out of all of Blake's figures that we looked at. Even though he shows strong pain and oppression, he also shows a very important aspect of human nature. Not only does he look like a tired, angry, beast, but also shows the wild-like aspect that each human has to them. I enjoyed connecting this with daily life because it helps to learn these certain behaviors in one self, and helps to try to overcome them.
In conclusion, these two are actually very similar. They both had people who could not accept their imagination, they both show different elements of human nature, and they both have different ideas involving life and the human's limits. It is interesting that they both take a stand in which the human limits are questions. Nebuchadnezzar is shown in an animal-like form, which is not common to the normal image of a human. Also, X-Men shows that there are no limits to human power. It says that abnormal powers can exist. With both of these, it takes imagination. One needs to be open to such ideas and aspects that are not always what we think of the “normal” ideas, but it is better for us to question ourselves anyway. In connection to the life we live in today, one can take the ideas that Blake and X-Men bring up, and apply it to our own lives. Many aspects of human nature are seen through both, and drawing connections with the present-day life is intriguing.
We have been discussing the works of William Blake and his various ideas regarding society and the ways of the human beings who inhabit it. Blake’s very distinctive outlooks regarding contraries are some of the most interesting. He believes that contraries are necessary to human existence and progression. When we began studying The X-Men, a popular Marvel comic book, I noticed some very clear connections to Blake’s belief about contraries. Since we are surrounded by contraries in day to day life, it was easy to see these connections in The X-Men.
ReplyDeleteDuring my X-Men research I noticed the idea of contraries. In life, there are good and evil powers. They can be represented differently, but they will always be present. In The X-Men, this can be shown through the innocent mutants and the evil, villainous mutants that Professor X tries to ward off along with his brigade of good mutants. These contraries are just one example of the many that play a role in our lives. Recognizing that there are evil and good players in our lives is important.
Blake raved about contraries. He thought that for humans to be able to recognize the true beauty and love in our lives, we had to experience their opposites. These opposites would give us something to compare to. Having these benchmarks allow us to understand the true value and worth of our successes. Without hate, we wouldn’t know how amazing true, unconditional live is. In The X-Men, there is a very distinct display of this idea of contraries. Professor X, who is mutant himself, helps guide the other innocent mutants through a life of fighting crime. The villains they fight are also mutants, however they are not so innocent. The villains they fight are evil criminals.
This contrast is exactly what William Blake talks about. The “good guys” wouldn’t be as honorable if we didn’t compare them to the “bad guys” that they fight. The conflicts between the innocent and evil mutants seen in the comics are the perfect examples of Blake’s idea. The importance of contraries was something that William Blake believed in so strongly. In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Blake goes into depth on this topic. In The X-Men the contraries are exposed to the reader by way of the characters. They demonstrate the most basic of the contraries: good and evil.
In Blake's “Cast of Characters,” there are many contraries depicted. Like the cast of mutants that star in The X-Men, the contraries that we live with in day to day life are shown in Blake's work. Blake's beliefs about the necessity of contraries has deepened my thought on the matter. I agree with his ideas on the subject and both his cast and The X-Men themselves display properties of the struggles and victories in real life. Though both sets of characters are fiction, they represent triumphs and downfalls that we all see. Our lives are filled with contraries, as are the lives of these characters.
I immediately noticed the similarities between X-Men and Blake's “Cast of Characters” but there is one similarity that I chose to focus on in this blog entry. Many of Blake's characters in his stories portray the idea of the contraries, Good and Evil. This idea is heavily “examined” by William Blake, for he believes that this contrary is “necessary to human existence”, meaning that human existence would be in a way impossible without “good and evil”. In Blake's many characters, his characters include creatures that appear heavenly and god-like (good), for example “Newton”, who is painted as a young, very strong and attractive man. He is shown creating the universe and at least to me, he appears to me just like mythical gods were and are portrayed, both in appearance and purpose in the story and painting. It also includes those who appear as the Devil or Satan (evil), such as “The Ghost of a Flea” who is “inhabited by the souls of bloodthirsty men”, therefore the creature is “bloodthirsty” itself. This creature is only appears as small as a flea because if it was larger, it would be too harmful. Those are just two examples in Blake's characters that represent the contrary of Good and Evil. But this contrary is also shown in the X-Men characters and two examples were much easier to find in it because they are literally separated into two groups, good and evil! The “good guys” are mainly the original X-Men but as the story goes on, there are more characters that become part of the X-Men. But just to name a few of the original X-Men; Professor Xavier (founder), Angel, Beast, Marvel Girl, Iceman and others. These characters are the “founding members” of the X-Men and they fight the “villains” or the “bad guys” that obviously represents evil. To me and to many, these members of the X-Men represent the heroes of the story and they fight the villains, just like in so many story plots today. Both of these stories, the X-Men comic collections and William Blakes Cast of Characters clearly portray the contrary Good and Evil by simply having a character(s) represent either one. I have found myself writing a lot about what I am going to announce next. I mostly discussed the next topic in my reading response to X-Men.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting for me to think about the similarities of these two great pieces and the real world. For me, comparing these two things and finding a similarity was not too difficult for me to do because I found it as I was reading the two works, not writing this response. As I see it, human existence, like Blake believes, DOES rely greatly on the contrary of good and evil and us humans follow the plot that these comic stories do. As crazy as that sounds, I just think about how much GOOD relies on EVIL, and vise-versa. Would evil be considered so bad if you didn't have good to compare to it? Would good be so heroic if you didn't have evil to compare it too. This effects the definition of a hero, which is something that in our existence is greatly acknowledged. But say if there was the situation of man and a woman. The man is trying to say burn a house down and the woman is able to stop him. This woman would be considered a hero, wouldn't she? She is putting herself in danger for good and also, getting herself into something that she has no concern with. But without this man who wanted to do harm, the woman would never be considered a hero. Hero's need evil to do their job or to even be considered a hero at all in some cases. If everyone was evil, “evil” wouldn't be considered so bad and if everyone was a saint and “good”, good wouldn't seem to heroic. Basically, the point I am trying to make is that without the other to compare it to, neither seem so “bad” or “good”.
X-Men is about mutants that have supernatural superpowers but still restrain all of the same human characteristics. These mutants possess abilities that normal human beings do no have. Their primary objective was to be trained to use their supernatural powers for good such In X-Men, such as helping the US Military, buy they were still feared and therefore discriminated against by mankind.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake was discriminated against because he created abstract figures with a different inspiration than most artists. He used his imagination from the understanding of experience and life. Many people did not understand his work and therefore labeled him as crazy.
From the imagination of Blake to the imaginary mutants in X-Men, a common resemblance occurs in the real world as it does in these. Human beings are resistant to accept things they do not understand.
In X-Men, mankind does not understand the mutants and their purpose so instead of accepting what they do not understand they assume the worst out of vulnerability. For instance, Charles Frances Xavier, a character in X-Men decides to devote his life to, “protecting humanity from evil mutants and saving innocent mutants from oppression” (Professor X 3). Humans assume the X-Men are all dangerous and evil. Meanwhile, Charles is devoting his life to save and protect those in need because he has the superpowers to do so. If humans could have given them a chance before they judged them, they could have understood that the X-Men were not bad men.
Making judgements of others is part of human nature. Whether the judgements are good or bad, they do not define the truth but rather a perspective. If people were not so quick to judge what they do not understand, humans would have a lot less to fear because the more they shut things out the more vulnerable they become. If all of these humans did not oppress the X-Men they would not have been perceived as such evil creatures. If people were not so quick to discriminate against Blake's artwork maybe they would have been able to have a different perception that would allow them to understand and gain knowledge of his unique outlook on life. The more accepting humans are to the new aspects that come across in their lives, the more they can broaden their horizons and attain that much more intellectual understanding.
I am responding to prompt A. X-Men comics and Blake's cast of characters are similar in a few ways. They both are drawn similar and have same facial expressions. X-Men comics and Blake's cast of characters are drawn where they have outrageous muscles. The characters are also drawn sad or with a serious face; the characters never seem to be happy. X-Men characters seem to always be sad, because they aren't human. They don't know what it is like to be human. It's almost like they are out of place. Plus they are all in a way being singled out. They round up kids into a school specifically for mutants to keep them safe from people who might take them away to do testing on. The reason why they are so serious majority of the time is because their job is no joke. They have to defeat the bad guys and keep the kid mutants safe, which isn't a laughing matter. Blake's characters are usually sad I believe mostly because they are in not so happy places, hell. Blake's characters are in depth and have deep feelings. Obviously one doesn't know Blake's characters actually feeling but there is so much detail in their faces that it is like you can tell. They are also in pictures that hold the theme that aren't so happy.
ReplyDeleteThese imaginary world resemble our real world in more than one way. The way in which the woman act really appealed to me in the way that many woman act today. The woman mutants in the comics always seemed to wear outfits that focused on their breasts. The times have changed in todays world. Woman tend to show more cleavage than ever before. Many woman in today's society wear low cut shirts to show their cleavage as does the X-Men woman. In almost all of the female mutants that are seen throughout the comic books all of them show their cleavage, except Psylocke.
The woman mutants in the comics also mark their territory. The woman mutants claim their man. They stand next to them closely, keeping their hand on them, or hug them always touching them and also kissing their man. It seemed as if they were marking their territory to the others girls. As if saying, “He is mine.” This is an act of human nature especially in today's world. It's human nature for a girl to call out her territory with men; to make sure the rest of the woman around know that he is taken. Jealousy gets the best of many girls and woman. They act in certain ways toward their man friend to make sure that other females around get the idea that he is with her.
The X-Men comics and Blake's characters are very muscular both women and men. This is a huge difference between this imaginary world and the real world. Many people today are either skinny to where you see the bone or obese, and you don't ever see people as muscular as these characters. These characters are almost impossibly to muscular.
-Francesca Marie Scopetti
It is interesting that in the X-men story the X-men are oppressed by humans who fear the mutants and want to exterminate them all. While humans saw the mutants as evil, they oppressed them just because they were different. It is a stretch to compare the hate of X-men by people to the hate of Jews by Adolph Hitler in the mid 20th century, however; there are similarities to the prejudice and hatred seen in the holocaust and in most genocides. The hate of X-men was similar to some of the pre-conditions that led up to these horrible events.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake believed in contrasts, and it is my belief that he would have seen this hate of humans as necessary for the good of the story. In other words, without the two different groups, the story would not be as interesting. The evil monsters which the X-men fight, often to protect humans also serve an extremely important purpose. Without these characters a reader would not necessarily see the X-men as heroic and good, because the monsters serve as the necessary contrasting aspect to the good of the X-men.
William Blake was a very eccentric man who believed that without evil, life would be boring. He believed that the presence of evil in stories enhanced and enriched the story making it intriguing In his poems and artistic works, he always included some form of evil, sometimes in the form of despair or sadness. For example one of his popular icons which exemplified evil in many of his artistic pieces was the devil. Often these works included the devil and another figure which represented the good in the story being overtaken, or in some instances even being killed.
Blake would have seen these people as a necessary piece to these stories. It is necessary that these people be in the story because Blake would believe that they would contrast the good of the X-men, showing the X-men for who they were, and not the monster's they were believed to be. While I do believe that the opinion that these people had of the X-men was not fair or nice, it is necessary in the story to make an effective and interesting story. The other evils in the story are additionally important for the same reason. Additionally, it is possible that with the presence of the people who doubted the X-men and hated them, that the X-men were motivated to prove these people wrong. They were motivated to prove that they were not bad, but actually good, and without the presence of this group, the story line would completely change.
A) The illustrations of both: Blake's characters and the characters in the X-Men comics are stylized. They people are overly muscular or surprisingly skinny. The background, foreground, middle ground and all other grounds have exaggerated color schemes; there is either an abundance of color and action or a complete lack of anything except gloomy colors and people struggling to survive. In addition, the messages that are being sent through the paintings and cartoons are equally amplified. Blake is proving to the world that he is more important and all knowing than the greatest philosophers of not just his time, but of all of eternity. Also, the X-Men are saving the world from evil super villains who, no matter how many they capture and destroy, keep popping up.
ReplyDeleteThere really is not a giant sub-level of human life devoted to creating havoc in the lives of everybody, but there are people who purposefully plot to destroy various aspects of life. When this happens the events also tend to get blown out of proportion just as the images seen in Blake's drawings and in the X-Men comics. For example, take the recent events with airport security. Since September 11, 2001 everyone has noticed the increased attention at the airports regarding what can and cannot be taken through the security checkpoint. In this regard both the X-Men comics and Blake's drawings are similar to our lives in that they are can be exaggerations of what reality is.
In addition, Blake's drawings and the pictures seen in the X-Men comics are trying to create an emotion in the viewer/reader. In general, Blake tried to convey his emotions through his paintings to the viewer. However, he retrieves the images from his mind instead of taking advantage of what is around him because he found that they made his point more clearly. Many times Blake's paintings evoked uneasiness and fear while he was visually explaining how he felt about subjects ranging from politics and politicians to his views of religion versus science. This idea of fear is not only a constant in Blake's work but also in the X-Men comics. I read the comic, "Playing God" which emphasized the idea of applying fear to people to get the desired result. The villain in this story, Warp Savant, notes that: "fear never goes out of style". As the bad guy, he preyed upon his victim's fears, as well as his own; he sent them into the fears of his mind when he used his evil powers to "melt" away those he faced.
Fear is not just present in comic books and paintings however, it is seen in real life as well. Looking back at the previous real-life scenario a lot of fear has been included to create the exaggeration that we see today. People are fearful of being bombed out of the sky. People are scared that they cannot prevent death and destruction. But also, people are afraid of the fears they have regarding airport security. Fear is an emotion that is frightening and unstoppable, and as seen in both Blake's paintings and the X-Men comics, easily brought into the spotlight where it is not wanted. Fear is a constant in human life, but it is also repeatedly seen in Blake's drawings and the X-Men comics giving us another way how paintings from the 1700s and burly super heros can have similarities to the life we're living today.
pt 1
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In many ways, both X-Men and Blake's characters, represent the world we live in. X-Men exemplifies “real social relationships and problems” that exist in the human world. Similarly, William Blake idealized reality by forming a group of characters that symbolize elements of existence. Both X-Men and William Blake attempt to demonstrate and reveal aspects of life that are not always apparent or comprehendible.
Blake created characters that seem to symbolize aspects and characteristics of life. For example, Albion is a joyful character, “inspired by the newly-independent America and revolutionary France”, but who is often depicted “sleeping, suffering or in despair until his revolutionary fervour is awakened”. In several ways, this represents an element of reality. Sometimes, people may be inspired but lack the encouragement or confidence to be able to express themselves. Blake created a character that is mythological, but may exist within people. This is consistent in many characters. Additionally, Orc, the “Revolutionary Spirit”, is a character that “symbolizes the spirit of rebellion and the love of freedom”. There are many people who search for a “free” lifestyle and existence. Blake is describing the inner spirit in some people. These are examples of the hidden truths that exist in reality. Sometimes, however, these emotions are hidden for certain reasons, such as Albion who is seen in a miserable state despite his inner inspiration. Blake seems to argue that there are hidden emotions within everyone.
pt 2
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, X-Men demonstrates real-life situations and may reveal emotions or characteristics that are not always apparent to people. X-Men consists of characters who possess powers and have unique histories, that may symbolize the true character of people. However, people may not understand or appreciate the “gifts” of others. This allows X-Men to provide an alternative view of people and existence in the sense that it puts forward a representation of how people interact and the hidden qualities of people. It is a view of how one understands existence. For example, Dazzler is a mutant who struggled to gain the confidence to do what she truly wished in life. Eventually, she was able to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer. When she discovered her powers, she attempted to hide her abilities. However, after some time she decided to fully exercise her powers. Dazzler represents one who tries to express their inner self, but lack the confidence to do so. This depicts a common dilemma for some people. It is difficult sometimes to be able to follow your own path. X-Men clearly exemplifies this real-life situation. In addition, Pixie is a cheerful, optimistic character who “has shown to be a resolute and pertinacious individual”. Af first glance, Pixie might appear to be upbeat and optimistic, but X-Men describes Pixie as a much stronger-willed and stubborn character. This is an example of how X-Men brings out the true character of mutants that may not always be so easy to recognize.
Additionally, both Blake and X-Men depict a universe in which good and evil prevail, in an endless battle against each other. William Blake shows this with two of his characters, Los and Urizen. Los represents a character who has an imagination that corresponds to that of the loving and forgiving Christ, who is clearly a good being. On the other hand, Urizen oppresses the people's desire for freedom and inspiration, which is suffocating the human need for a soul. For some, this represents a contradiction between good and evil. Blake suggests that Los is encouraging life, while Urizen is crushing one's desire to live. Similarly, in X-Men, Professor X struggles to defeat evil. He brings hope and inspiration to mutant world and works to make the world a place in which “mutants and humans can coexist”. Several times, Professor X has sought to reduce evil in the world, which is seen when he and Jewish Magnus stopped the terrorist group, Hydra, from being launched by the “nefarious Baron Bon Strucker”. Both Blake and X-Men show a tension between good and evil. In reality, this is also seen. The good people of the world fight against the evil in the world. When Hitler tried to kill all the Jews, people finally came together to make sure Hitler was not successful. For as long as human nature has existed, good and evil have also existed. Additionally, it seems as though there will always be a battle between the forces of good and evil. For as long as humans continue to roam the earth, human nature will exist. What should be sought after, however, is to reduce the difference between good and evil, hopefully to the better.
Blake would have detested the views of these people. As he said in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, "without contraries there is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence."
ReplyDeleteHe believes that our existence depends on having conflicting feelings, our urges and our principles. If you have no principles, you're just an animal. If you have no urges, you're a computer. Every human has conflicting feelings. That's Human Nature. Being human is having an inner struggle between different aspects of yourself. Blake's characters Los and Urizen and the X-men are representations of these warring...personalities?
Blake's philosophy is that the conflict is the essence of existence, and that the only peace that can exist is oblivion. The people in the X-men story who want to destroy the X-men would only succeed in destroying the meaning of life in their universe. In the marvel universe, you quickly notice that humanity is basically irrelevant to anything interesting going on. The cartoons are about X-men, not humans, who fight each other over whether humanity will be enslaved or live free. The X-men characterize the good and evil in humanity, the qualities that make humanity. If they were to be eliminated, there wouldn't be good or evil left, only boredom.
Differences between mutants and humans are also a factor. Humans want to get rid of the X-men not just for causing and embodying conflict but because they're different and special. It's important to remember that differences are what define people. No too people are exactly alike, even identical twins. there are always differences, and the more of them you eliminate, the more you eliminate what makes us who we are. when the mutants are gone, everybody left is "just human," and no longer defined by their lack of powers. it makes us and our world less interesting and a little emptier. It's destruction just for the sake of destruction.
I firmly agree with Blake. It is one thing to want peace in a world like ours so full of hate and suffering, but would anyone really want an absolute peace? The words of buddha advise us to "take the middle path" between two extremes, which seems to be wise advice. But this wisdom is the exact contrary of Blake's view, who regards the middle path as nonexistence and nonfeeling. These two views are contraries the same as Blake's ideas of freedom and law, and I can see the merits of both. Buddha says that peace is what we want, the elimination of desire not just the restraint of it. Blake says the greatest good is in desiring things and struggling with ourselves over how to deal with them. I follow Blake's philosophy. To eliminate the struggle is to eliminate life. Life is struggle, has always been struggle, and will always be struggle. Nature in animals is the struggle for survival. The difference between man and animal is morality. It's human nature to want to do right. But humans are animals too, and we want what is best for ourselves. The two desires are often contradictory, and we define ourselves as people by the paths we take between satisfying the two desires. To not have one or both of the desires leaves us all to walk the same path, and to be the same person. The only meaning of life comes from defining ourselves and being ourselves. To annihilate differences is to annihilate personalities, and people are only personalities.
A) (Post is too large and is broken into two posts by the paragraphs)
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Within both the characters created by William Blake and those who make up the X-Men, a deep sense of control exists. The control is different in many ways; The X-Men control the non-mutant population through their protection of them, and through this protection comes power. Do the gods and free spirits that Blake created not also have power and control? The entity Urizen certainly exhibits signs that they do: “Urizen is the God of the Old Testament who, in alliance with kings and priests, creates 'nets of religion'. With these nets. . . he keeps the people down. He uses them to restrain their yearning for freedom and justice. . . and to suppress their sexual desire”. Urizen is simply and illusion to the control that the Old Testament has over devout Christians. Blake recognized this authority and put a face to it. It is hard to know whether anyone ever took Urizen seriously, but many do take what he governs seriously. Although it would be phrased differently, religious authorities do attempt to suppress sexual desire and yearning for freedom and justice. Whether they do this because they believe it is right or for their own selfish reasons is debatable. Marvel too put forth a character that exhibited signs of control over actual human beings. During a time where this country did not look good in terms of war, one could easily find the bright reassuring face of Captain America, clothed in the makings of our flag and kicking some Nazi ass. To my understanding he was strongly endorsed and approved of by our government at the time, as he seemed to bring forth a sense of calm from many of our nation’s citizens. While Captain America demonstrates power through reassurance and protection, however, The Flea and Magneto present it through fear. There are a few different types of super villains, some who seek wealth, some who seek power, and some who seek revenge. Magneto definitely falls into the power category: “With an army of mutants at his disposal following the deadly Legacy Virus being cured, Magneto declared war on mankind”. That’s a pretty significant statement, declaring war on mankind. Genocide is a terrible and powerful idea, but genocide on the entire human race? The Flea, too, represents the fear that humanity shares concerning the supernatural. Especially the supernatural that wants to drain every drop of blood from our bodies, leaving us as cold and empty skins. OK, that was a bit of an extreme sentence. But so is: “. . . while he was sketching the flea, it had explained to him that fleas were inhabited by the souls of bloodthirsty men. . . if they were the size of horses, they would drink so much blood that most of the country would be depopulated”. Magneto declares war on humanity. Blake suggests that The Flea could depopulate the majority of an entire country. The fear that is common to both statements demonstrates the paralleled ideas between William Blake and the X-Men.
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ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of things in comic books that are very different from the real world. There is the obvious; most of us believe that beings inhabiting this earth do not possess those types of powers, or at least to that great of an extent. Events are not nearly so cut and dry on our world in most cases, nor are bodies so consistently perfect. Yet one thing I constantly noticed when I used to read comic books, and one thing I was reminded of during this unit, is that human error is significant both in the comic book universe and ours. Mistakes are what propels the story forward, the constant battle between good and evil, the game of life. In comic books it is not just the mistakes of the hero, such as not discovering a cleverly disguised villain who has infiltrated their life. It is also the mistakes of that villain, the evil-doer who fails to recognize that for the most part, the good triumph. There are many powerful individuals in the world that do dishonorable things, things that greatly affect the more honorable and less powerful inhabitants of our earth. But we all know, that despite their great power and despite the terrible things that they might be doing, these individuals will not win. Whether their mass effect ends when they die, or even years afterward, it will end. That is why, like the super-villain, whether they think it is or not, it is quite possible that what they are doing in the long run is a mistake.
B) The millions of people in the X-Men universe who say that mutants and humans cannot coexist because they are different are, in essence, racists. They would be the same people who say that blacks and whites cannot live together because they have different colored skin. Those people often make stereotypes and make assumptions that simply aren't true. I would be willing to bet that the people who are prejudiced against mutants have not really made an attempt to assimilate with them. I can't really say if Blake would agree with those people because I, for one, would not say that mutants are opposites of humans.
ReplyDeleteI think that Blake would say that people like Magneto are necessary because they represent the evil of the world, which is needed to contrast the good of the X-Men, who Blake would also believe are necessary. I think that the X-Men and their opposing villains simply serve to represent the opposites that Blake talks about so much in his work. The mutants themselves are not fundamental to the universe but the exaggerated themes of good and evil that we see in them are
I think that Blake has a similar feeling about his own characters. His figures are, much like the X-Men, very exaggerated and I think that he would say it is not the figure that is essential, it is the idea. In the explanations of Blake's characters it does not really talk about their actions or significant things that they have done, but rather about what they represent. This is what is most important to Blake’s work. It is not so much about the individual or the action, it is about the overriding ideas and themes that flow throughout his work.
The most obvious theme that flows throughout his work is that of contraries and we see plenty of the in the X-Men comics. They are filled with the themes of good and evil, which is the most frequent contrary used in Blake’s work. It is used so much in both probably because it is the easiest to write about and is by far the easiest contrary for an audience to relate to, which is probably the most important thing. The people in the X-Men universe are clearly aware of this conflict between good and evil and are content to blame all the evil in the world on the mutants, while taking credit for all of the good. In reality though, the mutants do not contribute a majority to either side, the simply make the theme of good and evil much more visible. I think that, were Blake a part of the X-Men universe, he would see the mutants as positive in that they make people more aware of the contraries that he believes are necessary to this world. He would not be one of those people who blame the mutants for all that is bad in the world. In fact, maybe we should try to get some mutants in our world, they certainly couldn’t make anything worse.
This is ANDREA
ReplyDeleteA) I really liked how the first response was written because I think that these superficial characters have similar traits to those of people in the "real" world. The problems the superheroes face are definitely more dramatic than those we run into, but the facts are still there, both worlds will continue to have problems needing to be solved. We have icons that we look up to, and like to think that they do things for the best. Professor X was one character from X-Men that appeared to do everything he did for the best. He wanted to save the world by devoting "his life to protecting humanity from evil mutants and saving innocent mutants." He was able to unite mutants as well as teach them how to "use their powers for humanity's benefit." We want to believe that in the real world there are people willing to help us, save each other, and rid the world of the evils. Ordinary people won't be able to save the entire world like Professor X did, but they still can do everything they possibly can to help improve the world.
It is human nature to want to help mankind and teach those of your kind, which is what Professor X did. One of the characters William Blake created was much like that of Professor X. Los is the version of a humans drive to create things. However, the X-Men stories also include representations of the darker side of human nature. A major theme in X-Men is the fear and oppression of those who are different from us. The mutants are often shunned and hated both for their human differences, and the actions of the few evil individuals. While not all are bad, the few that are create such a fear that it is hard for humans to fully trust anyone that is different from them. The human fear of the unknown and the focus on our differences opposed to our similarities creates havoc. Professor X built an entire school from the ground for the good of mankind, in hopes to save people from the evil mutants. Professor X and Los represent different aspects of human desires, mind, and fears. Los represents imagination, creativity and drive, while Professor X represents determination, the overcoming of oppression, and the desire to help others. Aspects of both characters are embedded in the imagination and the power of the human mind. The works represent both the good and the bad of human nature. The personalities seen in both fictional characters are easily noticed in people of this world.
Throughout this class we have looked at many different non-fictional characters, all of which seem like those of the fictional characters seen in X-Men and in William Blake's imagination. Imaginary characters are sometimes based on those in the real world; they are altered and exaggerated to fit the creator's idea of what reality is, like William Blake's. As one can see, there are many parallels evident throughout these comics, Blake's imagination, and the real world.
This is ERIKA!
ReplyDeleteQuestion B)
There is no doubt in my mind that William Blake would not believe in annihilating those who are different. I might even go as far to say that Blake may have wanted to annihilate those who, in the case of X-Men, discriminated against mutants, or at least prove them wrong and change their opinions.
I think there is a lot about William Blake to support the fact that he would disagree with the concept of super beings, both good and evil, preventing peace among the “normal” people of society. If anything, I think that he thoroughly embraced the idea of those who are different and unique, because he believed that he himself was in fact different and unique.
Like he said in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence.” He felt that everything needs an equal and opposite force, and that the differences among the members of the human race is what gives us strength as a whole.
In his work, Blake often states his opinions and thoughts on discrimination. For example, in his poem, The LIttle Black Boy, Blake speaks from the perspective of a little boy who has been made to feel incompetent through the lies of discrimination. He believes that, the light of heaven touches the English child so deeply that his skin is “white as an angel,” and furthermore, that he himself has been “bereav’d of light” thus causing his skin to look so dark that it appears black, though he believes his “soul to be white.” Upon hearing this, his mother tells him that his black skin gives him strength in the eyes of god. She tells him that his skin is not dark because it lacks light, but rather because he has received so much of heaven’s light that it has darkened his skin. The little boy than realizes that the color of his skin is a good thing and that, as he puts it, when he is in heaven with the English boy with the skin as white as an angle, and they are both kneeling at the feet of the lord, he will be able to shade the English boy from the heat given off by god, until he too can bare it’s intensity.
This poem further proves Blake’s point that though we may be looked down upon for our differences and contrasts, they are the very essence of our strength and ability to achieve. I believe that in a way, both the works of Blake and the X-Men comics portray the strength that lies within diversity in a very literal way as well. In the comics, the muscles of both the good and evil mutants are very obvious and defined. It is made clear to the reader simply through the illustrations that the X-Men’s force comes from their super human abilities, as well as their physical abilities. The same can be said for the characters created by Blake. Whether he was displaying the divine or the demonic, he always gave them an unrealistically muscular appearances.
I believe that the X-Men give further meaning to the fact that everyone strives to be accepted. The reason for this constant need to be accepted comes from the fear of being different. The X-Men challenge this fear, and prove that though you may be different, you are not alone. X-Men also confront the discrimination and prejudice in the world, just as Blake did through sharing his beliefs and creating his art. The X-Men still defend the innocent though they unfairly treat all mutants as outcasts, and for this, the X-Men are considered heroes, while the mutants who misuse their power for their own selfish, and evil desires are labeled as villains. In other words, in the X-Men comics and in the works of William Blake, the glory is given to those who not only embrace their differences, but who also show all those who oppose them why their differences are worth embracing.
This is CAILYN!
ReplyDeleteThe X-Men comics and the William Blake artwork actually has a lot in common. William Blake is a 19th century poet and artist. He was very well known for his drawings of mythical creatures. He often would see mythical characters and interpret them in his own way. The X-Men on the other hand are a little bit different they are all about justice and doing good. There are some evil characters in the comics though. There are a bunch of similarities between the X-Men characters and Blake’s cast of characters.
One of the main similarities that I found between the X-Men and Blake is that the men in both the comics and Blake’s paintings are very built and exaggerated. For example in the X-Men comics Wolverine is portrayed as very masculine. He is shown with huge bulging arm muscles, and long razor like claws. An example of a built and exaggerated man in Blake’s artwork is the flea. In his painting the flea is very muscular and dark, scary looking creature. Both of these characters are similar They are both very exaggerated in the sense that most men do not look at all like them.
Another example of a similarity between the X-Men and Blake’s characters is how the main characters in both are mostly men. In the X-Men the most well known characters are men. The men that are most well known are very big and strong. They usually have some kind of really awesome super power. Blake’s characters are mostly men as well. The X-Men have more women in their comics. But the women are very sexual and made up. They look very fake but they are strong. Basically a girl version of the men. Blake’s characters are men most of the time because I think that maybe he thought that men were tougher so he made them the more prominent characters. It is true that men have more muscle than women but women can be very strong as well. The comics have started to show more ladies over the years though. The X-men and Blake’s characters both show similarities by being really masculine and strong.
Believe it or not there are a few of Blake’s characters that have a positive idea about life. Blake’s painting of ‘Los, Spectre, Enitharmon, Druid Temple Jerusalem’ shows the loving and forgiving of Christ in the New Testament. This is one of the few of Blake’s positive painting. For some reason Blake always sees the dark and miserable side of things. It is nice to see that he is not all bad. The X-Men characters for the most part have a positive idea about life. The fantastic four are a very well known group of X-Men. They are always trying to find justice and do the right thing.
The X-Men characters and Blake’s characters have a lot in common. In both of the sets of characters there is a very strong sense of masculinity. All the men in both X-Men and Blake’s paintings are very built and strong. Another similarity is that most of the characters are men. There are hardly any girl characters in either. And the last example is that characters in both are very positive about life. Even though there are only a few of Blake’s characters that think like that, but they are still there.
I believe that Blake would have thought eliminating forces that cause good and evil would eliminate human progression. Blake believed contraries were necessary to life, and that we could not live without them. In X-Men, it is the forces of evil that continuously drive the good men to do their good things. If Blake were still alive, and willing to read comic books, he would perhaps believe that they were great tales of an essential part of life.
ReplyDeleteIn Blake’s poetry, one of his strongest lines was: “Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to human existence. From these contraries spring what the religious call Good & Evil”. The X-Men are highly representative of reason. They set out to do good deeds, and Professor X wants only the best for the mutants: “[He] created a safe haven at his Westchester mansion where he could train young mutants to use their powers for the betterment of mankind.” If Professor X is the reason, then it is probably Magneto that would be energy: “Magneto proclaimed his intended dominance over mankind, standing ready to unleash an entire nation of mutates upon the planet.” Can you imagine the X-Men comics without conflict? The two characters feed off of each other. Eliminating good and evil would deplete these characters of their purpose. Blake would say “terrible idea” because…it is in fact a terrible idea. The world would be living in peace and although that sounds nice, it does not sound interesting.
This brings me to my next point. Remember Deepak Chopra? He said he would rather be in hell because in heaven there is no creative energy. I believe Blake would feel the same way, and that X-Men shows this well “In Cairo, Egypt, he encountered Amahl Farouk, a mutant capable of summoning forth the darkness in the souls of others. This confrontation led to Charles' decision to devote his life to protecting humanity from evil mutants and saving innocent mutants from human oppression.” That is, perhaps, my favorite example of evil inspiring good. Because the evil was brought to the surface, motivating Professor X to find a way to defeat the evil. Blake would probably tell the humans that this conflict going on around them is essential. If they stopped seeing the plights of the X-Men as a continuing war, and began to see it as …inevitable, they would not mind the fighting as much.
“Good is the passive that obeys Reason. Evil is the active springing from Energy.” The two are
“necessary for human existence”. I believe this would be Blake’s strongest argument for the purpose of the X-Men. A world living in total peace is not feasible. It’s the contraries in our lives that make things interesting.
Blake’s views of Heaven and Hell really show how balanced his thinking is. His poems tell stories of people from all walks of life. He writes of darkness in some and the light in others. Even the illustrated characters show his spiritualism. I don’t think Blake would be okay getting rid of a whole group of people. I think instead he would relate more closely to them and see them as a needed part of the world.
ReplyDeleteBlake often wrote myths that: “described the struggle between enlightenment and free love on one hand and restrictive education and morals on the other”, yet I think he would be able to satisfy both of those desires if there were super-beings. Super-beings might have the power to see farther than human brains. Questions that Blake had might have answers that super-beings could help to answer. If they were a part of our world perhaps we would know more as a whole. The people who want to rid of the super-beings might reconsider if they listened to Blake’s ideas. He wanted to keep morals and education in check while finding love and enlightenment.
“Every night and every morn, Some to misery are born, Every morn and every night, Some are born to sweet delight.”
Blake understood that we are not all the same he knew the future for everyone was different he accepted that and thought it added to the world. He also said “Nought can deform the human race” If Blake was faced with the issues that the people in the X-men world were faced with he would be most like Professor X, trying to make everyone understand his ideas about the world. The humans with the opposing views wanted to expose “truth” to the world that all the super-beings are different. It is true they are different from humans but what is so wrong with that? They were trying to say things that would make the super-beings look like they were messing up the world. Blake wants truth but only if it is for the good. He writes: “A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent”. Blake doesn’t want to uncover things that could destroy people. I think that if people would look at the history of their world they would see that getting rid of those that are different brings hate and destruction to the world. It brings everything but peace.
The humans who think they have the right to choose the fate of other people are arrogant in their stubborn ways. Blake saw arrogance as a weakness in people. His character Nebuchanezzar was an example of that. His way of thinking meant that he didn’t accept arrogance in his life and that he thought it was a bad trait. Punishment for Nebuchanezzar was that he was exiled from the rest of people and had to live like an oxen for the rest of his days. I think that Blake was trying to say that one has to be a primitive animal to think that arrogance is acceptable in life.
The way the people in the marvel universe see the mutants is like they are looking through those unclean doors of perception. They don't see the mutants for what they really are (good and evil). They are so quick to judge the mutants on what they look like and what powerful things they can do. They don't look past all that to see the good and potential god inside them. They don't understand them nor do they give them a chance. A chance they ALL deserve. Blake would have looked at these people and probably would have just looked at his feet and shook his head. He would be saddened because people like this should look past all the differences and clean the doors they are looking through, because its not right to judge people, humans or mutants. In my eyes, Blake's eyes and hopefully your eyes. I believe that all the x-men have good inside them, as well as some evil too. Its all a balance. Just like with Blake's characters. If everyone had thinking similar to Blake's then I think the marvel universe would have a lot more diversity and the people would be more understanding towards the mutants, And if more people cared like Professor X did then it would be an even better place.
ReplyDeleteA) I think that Blake’s characters are really the precursor to all of the comic books and graphic novels today. Blake was a very talented artist that had a huge imagination and the ability to create vast worlds and creation stories. He used illustrations to get his point across (and to sell his books) much like modern day comic book writers do today. One of the most interesting characters that Blake made was Urizen. He was Blake’s imagination of what logic can do. He symbolizes logic and reason, which Blake does not agree with all the time. Urizen, “meaning 'accepted wisdom' - accepted by everyone, but not by Blake” (William Blake Online) was an old man. Blake’s ability to think outside the box was being threatened by logic in his opinion. The character of the X-Men that best represents Urizen in the Marvel Universe is Professor X. X is the staple in the whole X-Men series; he founds the X-Men, provides the base for them, and makes all the decisions as leader. He is the logic and wisdom for X-Men, but unlike Urizen, who Blake uses to show why accepted wisdom is a bad quality in human nature, Professor X is commended for those very qualities.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of similarities between X-Men characters and Blake’s Mythology is the style of them. Both show the men as very fit and the women as beauties. This is because of the marketing ploy, because no one would want to read a story about characters they didn’t admire and want to strive to be like. Also they are depicted as such because most of them are gods (in Blake’s case) or Heroes (X-Men) and if they are among the elite, they have to look like they belong.
The main reason that I think Blake is still the father of comic books, is because he took the idea of creating a whole fantasy world to the next level, that no comic books I have read up to this date have rivaled. Blake did not only make these characters, but made a whole mythology to go along with them, spanning many books and are detailed. Marvel did not do this because they need to sell comic books to make money, so they have to make the stories last one book, or sometimes a couple. By doing things like that people can just buy a comic book and read it and enjoy it without having to read the whole series to completely understand it. I’m not saying that they don’t throw in little hints to past issues of mention something that happens in the past, but Blake did not have to deal with this because he did not only make his books for other people to read, he made them for his likings to. The man was not a very wealthy man, “Blake was poor for much of his life,” (“22 Amazing Facts about Blake”). He created something that he had no idea if people would read them at all, which is completely different from the mentality of comic books today, which is MAKE MONEY.
I'm going to be talking about question 2, like i wrote my first post on. But reading Krystyna's post about the other prompt, i found something interesting. She said mankind doesn't understand mutants, so they assume the worst.
ReplyDeleteIn previous blog posts and class assignments, i've argued that people are natural optimists, because we see the life we live as good. Somebody else (I don't recall who) said that Blake has taught us was that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in good and evil. From the nature of contraries, one thing cannot exist without the same amount of another. So really, the lives we know and live are every bit as evil as they are good.
But relating to the Anti X-man prejudices of humans in the marvel universe, we can see the opposites of people's conclusions about good and evil in their lives and worlds.
The X-men are very different from humans, and the difference is irreversible. People cannot understand how X-men live. it's a life, a world so separate from their own that they dismiss it as being worse. Throughout history it's been proven that people have a natural hatred and fear of things that are different. It is our instinct to be on the cautious side and fear the unknown. It is our doors of perception that have to be cleansed in order to see things from another's perspective and realize that evil comes from everyone, even ourselves and the ones we love and that good comes from everyone, even our enemies.
One response that I found incredibly interesting was Holly's. I definitely agree with what she says about “exaggerations of reality” because many of the X-Men comics and Blake's characters are the perfect example of this point. But I'm confused on why airport security was chosen. From what I understand in the blog is that airport security has been blown out of proportion and I disagree. I feel like it is not an exaggeration of reality because I feel like it's something that is incredibly necessary. Considering that after September 11th, airport security was heightened all around the world, the man from Nigeria was still able to get on a plane, with an explosive in his underwear and attempt to blow up a plane on Christmas Day. This made America and Europe terrified that even after 9/11 and heightened airport security, another terrorist attack was so close to taking place. So because of this, airport security is getting MORE stronger, just after we thought it couldn't get any more strict. So when I read this blog, my opinion is that airport security is certainly not an exaggeration and in fact is it greatly needed for the safety of everyone. It's scary to me to think about because I really thought that the security was incredibly extreme as it was and thought it was impossible for a bomb to reach the inside of an aircraft. But it did, even when this man was on a list saying not to board him on airplanes. That makes me incredibly nervous with airport security and the government for not catching this guy sooner.
ReplyDeleteThe next blog I would like to respond to is Jimmy's blog. I really liked when he is talking about human nature and said: “It's human nature to want to do right. But humans are animals too, and we want what is best for ourselves. The two desires are often contradictory”. I completely agree with this statement and I saw a very small connection to my reading response to X-Men. I liked how he explained how humans are animals because in fact we are and animals describe just the kind of creature we are. We all want to do good and be a hero or a saint, but we also want to do whats “good and safe for ourselves”. And hopefully this is what Jimmy was saying (Jimmy, correct me if I'm wrong please!), that humans may want to do greatness and do good, but we also want to keep ourselves out of harm's way. And because of that, doing good is sometimes impossible for those who put their own self and safety in front of what is right.
In the blogs that people wrote I found many other interesting ideas on how Blake and the X-Men are similar. One of the ideas that I found very interesting was Oriana’s idea about imagination. I had never really thought about imagination having an effect on these works. Now that I think about it, in order to create a comic book with a lot of life and entertainment or a painting with your own ideas about greek gods and mythical creatures one would have to be really imaginative and creative to come up with such ideas.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea that I found was interesting was Krystyna’s idea about discrimination. The X-Men were looked at differently and even feared because of their powers and their looks. Even though the X-Men are good and fight against evil in order to save these people and the world people still think about them as if they are monsters. Blake himself got discriminated against everyday because of his ideas on life and death. Also, because of the way he portrayed his ideas on gods and mythical creatures. People always looked at him funny and judged him because of his beliefs on things.
In my blog one of my ideas were about how both the characters from the X-Men and Blake’s characters are very masculine. Francesca had the same idea but she also talked about their facial expressions. The men in both the comics and the paintings had such strong serious faces. She said that one of the reasons why is because they are not human. I do not agree with that. I think that the reason their faces are so stern and focused is because they take saving the world as a very serious job. Most of the time in the comics they are battling some sort of evil doer. They do not have time to smile about things.
Oriana had one last idea that I thought was very interesting. She connected Blake’s characters to human nature. She said “each of the characters show a deep sign of suffering and the daily struggles that human beings have in real life.” One of the examples that she gave of this is Nebuchadnezzar he is one of her favorite Blake characters because even thought he is a tired and angry beast he also shows the wild aspect that each human has to them. It is very true that everyone has a little bit of Nebuchadnezzar in them.
While reading all of these entries, I wrote down lots of points and aspects in which I wanted to respond to. After looking at my sheet when I was done, I realized that it would be too chaotic to respond to every response that I had jotted something down. So, in short, I did want to address some of the things I wrote down, but I mainly want to focus on responding to Ben's post.
ReplyDeleteIn Kia's post, she addressed her idea that all contraries are necessary for human existence and progression. There are good and evil powers in everything, and these opposites give us something to compare to. I found this idea very intriguing and really liked the way she worded it. Krystyna made the point that, “human beings are resistant to accept things they do not understand”. I liked this quote because I agree, that it is much harder for human beings to accept something they do not understand, or something they disagree with. Another thing I found interesting within the blogs, is how both Cheddar Ball and Holly Ruth commented on the overall physical appearance of the X-Men characters and Blake's characters. I didn't even think to comment on this, but thinking about it more, it does represent a certain false reality in which we live in. To wrap up the small notes I had, I wanted to express that I saw a common thread of emotion in which both Courtney and Holly Ruth talked about. Holly Ruth wrote that: “Blake and X-Men are both trying to convey emotion to the reader,” while Courtney wrote: “Blake seems to argue that hidden emotions are within everyone”. These are both extremely interesting points in which I wanted to address.
I found Ben's post extremely interesting, especially when he began to talk about the evil and two different groups seen in X-Men and Blake's characters. When talking about X-Men, Ben wrote, “without the two different groups, the story would not be interesting”. This is a very interesting point that triggered me to start thinking about the “evil” in the world, just as in X-Men. Ben says that in order to keep the story interesting, there must be some evil. I agree with this completely. If X-Men had no evil, it would be pointless. This is what started my deeper thinking. Is this the same with life? Without evil, would things become “boring”? As sad as it is to think about, once one starts questioning these things, it seems as if evil is a necessity for life. Though I do not like saying that this is true, history has proven time and time again that it is. We have never really lived in a society without evil, so imagining a world without it, is very hard to do. While thinking about X-Men and Blake's characters, one can easily draw the connections with our present-day life. I would like to think that a world without evil would not be “boring” and that we do not need evil to keep things exciting, but it seems to be human nature to grow and flourish on evil. Would we ever learn if there was nothing bad to compare ourselves to? As hard as it is to say, evil does seem necessary for human life.
Well, first of all, I noticed that many of us chose to respond to Prompt A, which is pretty interesting. There was also a common thread that I observed when reading many of these responses to the original prompts. Many of us chose to write about the contraries depicted in both Blake’s characters and those of the X-Men comic books. Those of us who talked about these contraries wrote about how both sets of characters represent real social relationships and situations and Erika went as far as saying that the differences give us, the human race, strength. This is something that Blake would firmly stand behind, and I myself agree with it. The contraries shown in X-Men are good and evil. These are just about as basic as contraries can get. We learn about right and wrong from the moment we are introduced into the human community. We live by one set of morals and values that vary from person to person based on experience. When these ideas regarding the morality of a human decision aren’t held into account or respected, injustice is inevitable. This is what we see in X-Men. All people, or mutants rather, of one fold making different decisions and exposing who is “good” and who is “evil.”
ReplyDeleteFrom a young age, we are taught that the heroes are good and the villains are evil. This is displayed in cartoons made for a young audience and the action-packed thrillers, which often star Tom Cruise or Arnold Schwarzenegger, that are aimed at an older crowd. We are exposed to the contraries of good and evil for our whole lives. That is why I think a great number of us chose to talk about them. It’s something we are very familiar with. Blake’s words regarding contraries helped me put my ideas about contraries into focus. When he calls them “necessities of human existence” it solidifies a basic aspect of human life.
I was extremely interested in an idea developed in Ben’s response. Ben said “Additionally, it is possible that with the presence of the people who doubted the X-men and hated them, that the X-men were motivated to prove these people wrong. They were motivated to prove that they were not bad, but actually good.” When I read this, I thought of Nelson Mandela. People reading this are likely to say “Wow Kara. That’s quite a stretch…” but let me explain. Nelson Mandela was locked up for 27 years and he came out and made it his goal to protect and defend those who had put him in prison for so long. This shows an incredible amount of forgiveness. It would have been so easy for him to neglect and mistreat those who had hurt him, but he forgave them and focused on the betterment of South Africa and made unity his goal. In X-Men, the mutants and Professor X show this same type of forgiveness. There are people who, as Ben said, hate and doubt them, but rather than fight back, they protect them and ward off the evil that wish to do them harm. Both Mandela and the mutant gang fight an inevitable aspect of human nature: to fight those who attack you and defend yourself. They proved the people who didn’t trust them wrong by becoming heroes and protecting justice.
After reading through all of the blogs one of the most prominent themes that I found how both Blake and the X-Men both use the idea of contraries, especially that of good and evil. Many people also discussed how good and evil are dependent on one another and how that can be seen in our world today. I thought that the example that Molly used at the end of her post about how the woman who stopped the man from burning down a house could not be considered a hero without the evil act of the man was very good. Good and evil depend upon each other and, as Jimmy said, the struggle between those is what defines existence. A few people also mentioned the idea of fear, which I found to be very interesting to connect to the struggle between good and evil. Fear is one of the most basic human emotions and I think that it is, in large part, what contributes to the struggle between good and evil and therefore makes existence possible. Contraries are very important in Both Blake’s work and the X-Men and it is those differences between people that make us human and make us so great. However, it is also those differences that lead to fear and therefore evil which then, ironically, leads to good. As we see in X-Men, people fear what is different from them. Mutants are discriminated against and most humans want to see them gone. We see examples of discrimination in our world every day due to race, religion, ethnicity, social class and a million other reasons, it is part of human nature. That fear of those different than ourselves often possesses people to commit atrocities that no one can really understand. There is no way to understand why we discriminate against people but it is because of that fear that almost all conflict in the world exists. We would not be at war in Iraq if terrorists had not bombed the Twin Towers because they feared and detested Western culture and values. There would have been no Cold War if the U.S. and the Soviet Union had the same type of government. And there would not have been a Holocaust if Hitler had not scapegoated the Jews, whom the typical German feared because the Jews had much of the wealth. The fears that are cause by differences in people leads to much of the evil in this world. However, as I mentioned earlier, if there were no fear and therefore no conflict, there would be no opportunity to do good. If there were no conflict and no evil in the world, we would not be able to see the contrast between good and evil and therefore would not be able to recognize what good really is.
ReplyDeleteOne of Krystyna's points is that people are afraid of the unknown, just like the people are afraid of the X-men mostly because of the unknown powers that they possess. It is true that people are always afraid of the unknown. For example; when you were younger were you afraid of getting out of bed because there might be a monster under your bed, or were you afraid of the dark, because some unknown monster could jump out at any moment. This idea is evident in many movies today; horror movies in particular. Plots often include someone in a dark place, having to venture into an unknown place, or open a door where anything could happen. The unpredictability of actions is what scares humans the most, and this can be connected to human nature.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point made was that as in the case of the X-men comics, evil vs good is interesting to readers and ultimately sells books or stories. The best selling book of all time( the bible)
includes these themes of good vs evil, and without them, what would religion be. It would be a useless waste of time, without temptations or battles to overcome evil, the bible would be both boring, and unpopular.
Francesca made a point that the X-men were sad, and this was interesting. I read some of the backgrounds of the X-men and found out in addition to Francesca's evidence why the X-men would be more somber than the average person. Most of the X-men had troubled childhoods, including being neglected by their parents, bullying because of their differences. They had really been persecuted for being different even as children, and this could have been a main reason why the X-men were generally so somber.
Holly brings up and important point discussing the colors in both X-men and Blake. She points out that the theme of light vs dark or contrasting colors are almost always used in the comics and artistic works. This is because colors contrasting agrees with Blake's ideas of contrast. Along with contrasting ideas or figures, colors are also very important to make things interesting. Had the X-men been in black and white, it is my belief that while the initial content would still be there, that the story would not be as intriguing due to lack of color. People rely greatly on color to set moods. Yellow is a happy color, and is often portrayed as good in paintings vs the black that is evil. Blue is often seen as a quiet or sad color, and red is seen as a zealous and emotional color. These colors, while we may not think about it, actually play a large role in determining how we feel as people, and our moods.
Holly brings up another interesting point that the X-men are needed to defeat the evil Villains. I do not disagree with this idea, however; the evil villains are actually more necessary to the story so that they can define the good and make it so that we as readers see the X-men as good.
The contraries in x-men between “good” and “evil” go along so good with Blake's type of thinking. I like what Sam said about Blake would want Magneto there so there was a contrary or conflict between “good” and “evil” and I also think that the discrimination from the people is needed to keep that contrary in check. I also agree with the fact that the people who discriminate against the mutants for being different are “in essence, racists” because thats exactly what it is. People think that just because you are a little bit different that you should be annihilated from existence. This I believe is also a spin off to the contraries that go on between “good” and “evil”. I also agree with Erika's point that Blake may have wanted to “annihilate” those who discriminated against the mutants for being different. I believe this would be because the are looking through dirty doors of perception. People don't take the time to look past what is on the surface. To Blake his visions (what he thought to be a more “real” reality than the real reality) didn't have just muscular, strong and in some cases very weird physical attributes, but the all mean something, they all have tons of “good” and “evil” emotion, and that is more than skin deep.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the blog posts, I found a common thread to be: the existence of good and evil in both the X-Men comics and in Blake's work. This was to be expected when The X-Men are about super humans fighting super villains and Blake titled his work, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell". None of us has to dig too deeply to find contrast in the sets of work nor to find the variations of good and bad in real life. I liked the idea that Courtney touched on when she said: "Blake idealized reality by forming a group of characters that symbolize elements of existence."
ReplyDeleteTo me what she's saying is that Blake is not showing contrast as we made it out to be, but that he is symbolizing what good and bad mean to him. The same can be said of the X-Men; the heros are what every child dreams of becoming and the villains are the scare mechanism that can deter them from doing bad things. If you think of the paintings as symbols I think that it makes the entire cast of characters deeper. They are no longer fighting and struggling in their worlds, or being heroic to save it but now, they embody the characteristic of either good or evil. The conflict (or lack there of) that they are facing, or simply painted inside of, is the contrary. And now, the people within the situation are symbolizing how the forces of good and evil effect a person. As Jimmy put it, "conflict is the essence of existence". There will always be a struggle to figure out what is good and what is bad. There will always be fighting and disagreement; it's a given. There will also continue be people trying to find a way to express how they're dealing with their findings. I think the idea that Blake painted symbolically contrary (ha!) to what we've been thinking about in class, but interesting nevertheless. It's a different way of thinking to believe that Blake did not try to create characters that were deemed to be good or bad, but that he drew people to express that they were a representation of what he was feeling. The first example that comes to my mind is his painting of Newton under the sea. Yes, I know that Newton didn't really create the world under the sea, I don't mean that I find Blake's paintings realistic. But let us say that he did not draw Newton, and we think symbolically; Blake simply drew a man having a difficult time finding the meaning of life. The painting would have the same affect on a person seeing the painting if it physically had not changed. The viewer understands that this person is going through a hardship and hardships are bad. The contrary still exists, but the painting is now thought of as symbolic as opposed to before where it was definitively Newton expressing an "evil" in life.
Throughout reading the blogs I found that many people had the same ideas, but others went farther into depth or a new look on the theme. I focused on a few people and the different takes they had on many of the looks seen in X-Men and Blake's characters. I focused on three main view's that intrigued me. The idea of contraries of good and evil seen through both X-Men and Blake's work. The opinion of discrimination seen in the characters and also the creators. Last the view of the exaggeration and the imagination within the work. I would like to credit these themes to Laura, Kia, Neonpink, Krystyna, Ben Holly, and Oriana; it was a collaboration of all of their ideas.
ReplyDeleteThe contraries that are seen in both X-Men and Blake's characters are good and evil. William Blake thought that without evil life would be boring. It also gives us a greater outlook and makes us more thankful for the good in our lives. Since Blake believed this is it made me think that this is why his characters seem to always have the expression of sadness. I thought that Laura's point on how Blake believes contraries were necessary to life was really interesting. The way in which he based much of his work around the contraries of good and evil. I also agree with Blake it is necessary for life to have contraries. To imagine the world without contraries just seems odd and not right; to only have it one way and not the other. I also agree with you Laura on the way in which I believe Blake and Depok Chopra had similar ideas on the out look on evil.
I thought Krystyna's idea on how the way in which X-Men mutants are discriminated against is similar to the way William Blake is discriminated against was really interesting. Now with thinking about this idea I agree with you and think it is an excellent point. He had created new abstract characters and because of that was labeled as crazy. Blake's work is something that had never been seen before. The easiest thing for people to do was to go against it, instead of except it. Ben also brought up a good point that relates to Krystyna's idea; how the discriminating seen in X-Men and Blake's characters is an aspect of human nature that is seen many times in the 20th century.
I thought that Holly and Oriana idea's were related to each other in a way. The idea that Holly brought up about how X-Men and Blake's drawings are similar to our lives in that they are exaggerations of what reality is. Which ties together with Oriana's view on how X-Men poses an aspect of imagination so in order to understand X-Men one must be open to imagination. I believed they tied together in the way that Blake's work is a deeper meaning of imagination and related to reality but stretched, or exaggerated.
I found a significant connection between the initial posts of Sam and Jimmy. At a point in his entry, Jimmy states: "The X-Men characterize the good and evil in humanity, the qualities that make humanity. If they were to be eliminated, there wouldn't be good or evil left, only boredom". I agree with most of this statement. I'm not sure if the X-Men represent evil, per-say, but they most certainly do represent good, and there are other mutants in the Marvel Universe that represent evil. That is not to say, however, that The X-Men don't commit dishonorable deeds, deeds that should not be looked at as purely good. As a human living in the Marvel Universe, I too would not look at the X-Men as purely good. They commit acts of violence, and these acts may be intended to prevent further violence, but at what cost? I side with the the people of the Marvel Universe when they express that their Universe would be better off without mutants, good or evil. I believe Jimmy is right, however, that without these mutants, without this phenomenon, a gaping hole would exist (boredom). In the shoes of Blake, earlier in his essay, Jimmy also states that: "the only peace that can exist is oblivion". This is an accurate statement in that this is exactly what Blake seemingly tries to hit home in much of his earth. We need evil. We need death, destruction, poverty, and hunger. I am in no way saying that we should not try to prevent these terrible parts of life, merely that without them, there would be nothing to prevent, nothing to fight against, no common goal. There would only be oblivion-Boredom. Sam too discussed a similar idea: "In reality though, the mutants do not contribute a majority to either side, they simply make the theme of good and evil much more visible". The people of the Marvel Universe look upon the X-Men as unnecessarily violent and monstrous creatures. I would say that that opinion sums up to evil. It is safe to say that the majority of readers look upon the X-Men as good, as heroes. I agree with Sam, however, that the X-Men don't characterize either side, they simply represent the ideas that each side puts forth (If that is not close to what Sam was trying to say, I apologize). They are what keep us with the right ideas in our heads. Don't harm. Don't tyrannize. Don't declare war on humanity. Fight for what you believe in, and fight for injustice. Not necessarily by fighting with your fists, claws, or wings. Instead, fight with your words and actions. The X-Men represent exaggerations of what we believe to be good morals. And they achieve this with impossible acts, perfect bodies, and bright colors. Also known as entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Jimmy's argument that good and evil define who we are as individuals and that life was meant to be struggle between the forces of good and evil. He proposes the idea that we are defined by the paths that we choose in life. In many ways this is absolutely true. We are all born with the option to do good or evil. Throughout life we struggle to make the right choices. In the end, however, we must look out for ourselves and fight for our own survival and who we are. This may push us to do evil. On the other hand, if we chose not sacrifice our good nature in order to survive, we would lose our nature. It is simply human nature to desire survival and success. Without desire, we would lose the essence of our being. The fulfillment of desire brings happiness, the loss of desire brings sadness, no desire is equal to emptiness. The character in people is not automatically granted, it is earned from the pursuit and experience of having to defend for yourself and living life. If we were all like Buddha and chose the follow “middle path”, void of the “soul” of human existence, we would be “simply human”. If we eliminated all evil from the world, not only would life be boring, which would make comic books such as X-Men unnecessary, but we would lose what defines good and evil. How can one measure good without evil to compare it to? There would be strength in one's character from having to fight for survival or true wisdom that comes from experience. We would all be “characterless”. Life would no longer be a struggle and therefore, it would not really be life at all. Perhaps this might create peace on earth, but eventually people would forget the value of life without evil. How would there be pleasure if there was no pain or suffering? And if there was no human nature, (if such a thing is possible), what value would there be in life? I think it is more reasonable to try and lessen the amount of evil in the world. That way we do not savor the good in the world. Human nature will most likely exist as long as we are humans, but to try and reduce the evil in the world might create a more peaceful world and maintain the character of humans.
ReplyDeleteThe most talked about topic of Blake's was the idea of good and evil, this idea is in most responses. Yet within those, there is another thread that runs though. The idea of oppression and freedom, everyone in life has the personal choice to be oppressed or free. The thoughts ideas that individuals have are in their minds. Though in X-Men, often they are might be captured by villains the hero’s often come across a time when they have to make important decisions about the future of humanity. As visible in most of the comics they save the humans time and time again from Magneto’s wishes to be rid of all humans. Professor X never stops trying to convince the humans and mutants that they could have a different future if they would help create it.
ReplyDeleteProfessor x and William Blake have ideas that they choose to tell others, in this way they are free. By not being afraid of their own thoughts they have power over the remainder of the population who follow the ideas of others without thinking about the consequences. William Blake had ideas of balance and all of the contraries of life. As Jimmy said: “ He believes our existence depends on having conflicting feelings, our urges and principles”.
I think it is important for not all people, in the X-men world, and our world to have the same idea about things. Yet the people in X-men who group together and rally to destroy all mutants are not following their hearts. Most likely those people are following because others are following. They are not taking the time to think about the mutants. They should use that passion that they have towards people who are a little different and put it to better use solving the hundreds of other problems that the world has going on.
Perhaps people are afraid of the new ideas that the X-Men have to change the world. Maybe they are afraid of change, or maybe it is like Courtney said: “Sometimes people may be inspired but lack the encouragement or confidence to be able to express themselves”. I think it is either that or they are not listening to what the world will actually become if the things they want actually happen.
Blake showed characters whose desires and dreams were oppressed, and he showed characters whom were free. In X-men there were a variety of people and backgrounds. Some were mutants who felt crushed by the DNA they were given and others felt freed by the choices they had. I believe anyone can choose the future they want and the ability to be free with the choices they make.
This is ANDREA, with my 2nd response:
ReplyDeleteIn response to Erika's blog, I really like how she stated: “The reason for this constant need to be accepted comes from the fear of being different. The X-Men challenge this fear, and prove that though you may be different, you are not alone.” I think this is true in a way that people are scared of things that are not exactly the same as them; we are scared of the unknown. What we know now, and what we are accustomed to, comes easy to us; there is no mystery, we know what to expect. But in order for one thing to seem one way or the other, an opposite is needed. Some people are terrified of the idea that there may actually be something other than us in this world, like aliens in outer space. William Blake stated in, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” that: “without contraries there is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence.” This is definitely true to this world.
After reading all of the responses, I noticed a common theme among most of them, and that is the theme of contraries: good and evil. In order for a good deed to actually seem good, you need it's opposite to be able to fully see otherwise, or else you wouldn't know any different. I agree with Blake that if everyone acted the same, no progress would be made in this world. Yes there would be no war or evil necessarily because everyone would agree on things and there would be no disputes, but we wouldn't be able to go any further, move ahead. Another quote of Erika's that I thoroughly enjoyed was: “differences among the members of the human race is what gives us strength as a whole.” We need differences in this world to be able to become stronger, learn from others mistakes, and help achieve new things because without it, nothing would change.
Many people have responded to the contraries that X-Men and Blake are about. Just because there is a battle between good and evil, there is a connection. There have always been contraries in life, before Blake and X-Men were even invented. I like the hypothetical story that Neon Pink (Molly?) put up about the man and woman in the burning house, “But without this man who wanted to do harm, the woman would never be considered a hero,” (Neon Pink). This is the great debate, would she be considered a hero without the man, I think not because the house would not be burned down. Also, the man would still be bad if the woman was not there because he still burned down a house. This idea firms up my belief that no one would know or even recognize such a world as one without any contraries (it would have made an interesting Star Trek episode though) because we have lived in one with them for so long that it is impossible to imagine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Holy about the idea that comic books have to be stylized to get the point across, “there is either an abundance of color and action or a complete lack of anything except gloomy colors and people struggling to survive” (Holly B). Using bold colors and exaggerated muscles is a way of telling a story all together without the words. Comic books and graphic novels are so intertwined with pictures and writing. Ever since grade school, the idea of reading picture books is so frowned upon that most adults think that it is childish to read books with pictures. That if you are given the illustrations rather than making the pictures with your mind, than it is inferior. It is sad to realize that many people do not read these amazing graphic novels, because in most ways the addition to pictures with the dialogue it brings a whole new entertainment. Also there are some very good stories that are not read because of this. Cartoons and Anime are very similar in this respect. When people get older they do not continue to watch Saturday morning cartoons and animated films. Some of the best shows that I have watched have been anime. For example the series “Cowboy Bebop” is one of the masterpieces that many Americans will never see because of the constant frown that people have on the graphic style of storytelling.
This is in response to what Ben had said in his blog:
ReplyDeleteI think what Ben said in his response was especially insightful. What I got from his response, or at least what his response evoked me to believe is that it’s possible that William Blake would have liked the idea of people wanting to alienate the X-Men. Though I don’t believe that Blake would have wanted this desire to be carried out, this insight did make sense to me after I had thought about it for a while.
When I first read the second prompt on the blog question, my first thought, and the one I ended up supporting in my blog was that William Blake undoubtedly would have disagreed with these feelings of wanting to cast aside the X-Men just because they were mutants, and I stand by that. But what I hadn’t thought of was that, while Blake may have strongly disagreed with these desires, he also might have strongly wanted them to exist.
Like I said in my first blog response, Blake believed that: “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence.” But could that apply to this particular signori? I believe it could. I think Blake would see the strong reality and truth in the fact that people wanted to get rid of the X-Men just because they are different, because he believed so firmly in the fact that we as human beings are always going to face contraries. Sure, it’s easy to say that without the mutants, both good and evil, the story of X-Men would have no contraries but the same can be said of those who want to live in a mutant-free world. They are the attraction and repulsion, the love and the hate. The two groups of the mutants and the people who hate and fear them are just as much balanced forces as the good and evil mutants are. What makes the X-Men heroes is that they are willing to use their powers to save the lives of the non-mutated even though, the non-mutated are the very people who hate them and wish them harm. If those people were not in the story, there would be no story.
So like I said, I think that Blake wouldn’t agree with the opinions of the people who hate the mutated, but I also believe that he would see them as a necessary part of human existence. Also, I think that if he knew these people personally, he would hate them for being so blind and uncaring, but if he were just to read about them in the X-Men comic books, he would compliment the writers for creating realistic proof of everything he himself portrayed in his writing and in his art.
-Erika
I agree with Molly's blog about the equal importance of both good and evil. How each is essential to compliment the other. However, I do not agree that this balance is “necessary to human existence”, as Blake once said. I understand why Blake found Hell more interesting than Heaven and how that connects to human existence: life would simply be pointless if problems or struggle did not exist. We all need something to work toward and to live for. That is what keeps us interested in life and keeps us motivated. The evil wards off the good and we have to fight for it that much more. However, I think this is just the life we have grown up with and adapted to. We have been taught that we need to work hard for what we want and that things do not come easy. We can not get anything we want just because we want it. Do you suppose if we were brought up being taught that life if simple and easy and we can have anything we want, that we would not adapt to that? We have inherited these ideas of how life is supposed to be but only by looking at the history of our ancestors.
ReplyDeleteSo yes I do believe that the balance of good and evil gives purpose to our lives but I do not believe this balance is a necessity in order to live. In this world, maybe, but if we had to carry on with only good we would still survive. Life may be boring and dull because there would be nothing to work towards but imagine if we were used to just having everything we wanted and ever want. We would learn to just live life without struggling for them and that would just be normal.
However, I do not think life could consist of just evil. I feel like everything would just deteriorate because nothing would be there to build it up. If evil was the only thing that perpetuated through the world, destruction would overcome mankind.
So I believe mankind could live with just good, that we could not live with just evil, and that we are very fortunate to have this balance of both. It is something so unappreciated because it is so overlooked by human beings. Who thinks about their problems as a good thing? Everyone is so focused on ridding them from their lives when they need to learn to accept that that is the fuel for of our lives because once on problem is resolved we are only ever itching for another. That is simply our human nature.
I really enjoyed Jimmy’s post about contraries being necessary, because I feel the same way. How can we live in a world of simply goodness? I don’t even think that good and evil are there for comparison as neonpink (Molly?) said. Although having those helps, gives us “benchmarks” as Kara said, I think they are there for more than simply comparing. If the doors of perception were truly cleansed comparison would not be …crucial. I really liked how Krystyna said, “whether the judgments are good or bad, they do not define the truth but rather a perspective”. And while there may be good and bad things, they are often judged relative to your own experiences. We all question what is Really good for us at some point in our lives, or how bad the “bad” things really are. And that, in a way, is like cleaning the doors of perception. Options are infinite, and although it is in our human nature to judge, we slowly learn that by eliminating judgment we can see things as they truly are.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, back to contraries. We are motivated by the idea that we can change the world, or our lives, or our selves, or maybe just a little thing, like the color of our fingernails. We are motivated by the idea that what is happening now is not acceptable, that we can do better. We could live in oblivion, could act as if nothing in the world is wrong and as if all’s well, but what will motivate you? The idea that we can change some aspect of existence, that perhaps we can eliminate evil, that moves us to doing things. It occupies our time. Perhaps the meaning of life is a never-ending quest to solve the problems of existence. Perhaps we are simply pawns in a game, where we think we are doing great things when in fact we are creating problems for our children, but perhaps that is the way it will always be. The idea of rest is nice, but it is in our human nature to become anxious, to desire change. It is the contraries that give us as humans meaning. Without them there would be no progression and I understand that so much better than before after analyzing as much as I have. We are here either to do good or do evil. But most of us are caught in between, doing both good and evil. There must be a balance between the two, but even if there weren’t, it’s us being put in crappy situations that inspire us.