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Is it okay for a mutant to use their powers in an exam or in sports?

posted 10 years ago by HarveyManfredSinJohn
6 replies | jump to latest

I've read a lot of people say that as long as a Mutant doesn't commit a crime there's nothing to worry about but cheating in an exam by reading other students' minds isn't against the law. So do people here think that's 'okay'? And even if it was against the law how could we possibly enforce it without knowing who had the mutant power to read minds? We wouldn't even be able to enforce pre-existing legislation against inside trading in which a Mutant used their powers to obtain confidential financial information. Unless we know someone is a Mutant how will we know whether they've got the ability to have committed a crime or not?

Would ordinary folk here be complacent about losing their jobs and their livelihoods to the next stage in evolution or would they actually have a problem with not being able to put food on their table? 

Sorry if it makes me a 'bigot' to raise these questions but surely it's not wrong to be concerned about being able to get ahead in life.

[–] Jimmy-128 10 years ago

Unless we know someone is a Mutant how will we know whether they've got the ability to have committed a crime or not?

We wouldn't, not unless we knew their powers existed. Mercedes Lackey's Ria Llewellyn, for example, is a telepath (she's not a mutant--she's actually not completely human) who has no problem reading others' minds. However, since she works in finance, she has to be careful that she's never alone with the person whose mind she's reading, because while the general public wouldn't believe that she's a mind-reader, they would believe that she committed insider trading.

My main problem with how mutants are treated in the Marvel Universe is that, to the ordinary person, the mutant part shouldn't make a difference. Look at Sue Storm and pre-telepathy Jean Grey. Take away Sue's invisibility, and there is no visible difference to their powers--they both move objects without having to handle them physically. Yet Jean is feared and hated for being a mutant, while Sue gets profiled on celebrity gossip shows.

Similarly, the Thing and Colossus both have super-strength and visibly non-human skin that protects them from harm. But unlike the Thing, Colossus can turn his on and off, which should make him more palatable to the average person. But no: full-time monster Ben Grimm gets high-security clearance consulting positions at top-secret government installations, while Peter Rasputin would be lucky to get a job as a janitor.

[–] bradford-1 10 years ago

In an early issue of "X-Men," a flashback on Hank McCoy shows him running track and beating everyone and also playing halfback on the football team; when he scores a TD, he hangs by his extra-large feet from the goalpost and swings. I THINK there's panel where other students are speculating on him.

May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You are raising ethical issues. Ideally they would strive to be ethical even if a technical legal issue is not involved.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4497) 5 years ago

Interesting

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Indeed.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7995) 5 years ago

Funny but this old topic reminds me that in X-Men Evolution a lot of Xavier's students would use their powers when playing sports together.