The Big Picture: Magneto Was Right

[Boba Frag]

I think Magneto would make an incredibly good offer if he asked me if I ever wanted to find the people who bullied me and fuck their shit royally up....

I'd probably cool down after the spate of house burnings (considering my personality, my powers would either be flame based or something equally conducive to wrecking things) and ask Professor Charles Xavier if he could reform me...

Plus Wolverine teaches 'art' at the Academy, right?

Brilliant video, Bob.
One of your very finest.

 

[Boba Frag]

In Australia, it's called Tall Poppy syndrome. Cutting down those who are rising above you simply because that's what they're doing.

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"These oaks are just too greedy,;
We will make them give us light."

Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw.

- From "Trees," by Rush.

Wow neat piece of text. Thanks for sharing.

*listening now*

Hahaha!!
Rush are awesome.... (no, I'm not going to address other prog rock bands )

Crazy feckers...

 

[cricket chirps]

Hey, can someone maybe quote this comment with a link to find that picture Bob used of X-men: Evolution? i loved that show and the picture he used had the whole team there...im a little lazy and assuming the pic wont be easy to find soooooo, big thank you to anyone who would do that

 

[carpathic]

I think that power wouldn't change my understanding of morality. I would still be on the side of good. If only to mollify my own feelings of superiority. I will work "with" these humans because I am better even than my fellow mutants.

 

[Nathan Sanchez]

Yeah, I'd be first in line to sign up for Magneto's army.

 

[Dice Warwick]

What's also weird here is that geeks, stereotypically having been bullied by athletic types, are obsessed with comic books.

It's weird because comic books generally feature a strong and athletic hero beating up a geeky evil-genius type of enemy...

I thought of that two, Like in "Dr. Horrible sing along blog" The way the hero "Captain Hammer," fights the villein "Dr. Horrible" much in the same way a bully picks on a geek. Dr. Horrible's resolve to be evil only grows as he is mistreated by the hero. But even in the end he can't bring himself to kill, yet the hero is!?

Simply the geek wants to be like the star athlete, you know, having the admirers, the respect, and getting the girl, so they imagine themselves as something even better then that.

Me on the other hand would be an oddball super hero, but that's probably because my problems are different from a geeks.

 

[mananomas131]

I know why I was picked on in high school. I was new, quiet, and an unknown. I had no respect for arbitrary social order and liked people on a person to person basis, never really belonging to any clique. I was an outlier. And I was smart.
I was teased and bullied for talking clearly and with better diction than my peers, for answering questions easily in class, and because I was a short, easy target (you know, until I shot up to 6'3". suddenly people stop picking on you when your reach is longer than theirs).

I don't know whether I was pushed around because I was different or because I was scary, but it would not have taken much to put me on magneto's side, and I may or may not have pulled some nasty comebacks, fights, and pranks back then to get respected. Being valedictorian was icing on my delicious superiority cake.

Next step is defeating the economy and furthering my education further despite its malefic influence on my life. More college classes away!

 

[karloss01]

I'm surprise psylocke wasn't circled at 3:58 with "Dat Ass" written on.

 

[ExtMagicMan]

umm...question. Would the whole "lets take over the world, I'm on the magneto side" kinda make you the bully then? Wouldn't it mean that your argument applies to them then? Not that I disagree with you because you do have a point, but one always has to take the high road it seems as bullies always take the low one.

 

[Red Scharlach]

there is no reason to act out, if you KNOW your better or KNOW your more powerful, it doesn't mean you HAVE to prove your dominance. If bullies attacked me right now, yes i would defend myself, but i wouldn't go and search them out in a year, if i did, it was because they were hurting someone else or something, not because they did something to me a year or two ago.

The point is that there is no real moral difference between defending your place in a needless hierarchy today or a year from today, if you are aware of what is going on. Getting your head ducked in the toilet every day isn't going to hurt you physically, so why bother being upset about it? Victims of bullies are made to feel like trash, a feeling that doesn't necessarily go away for a long time. Vindication a year (or several) later could actually lead to getting over the trauma. However, for some reason the victims are obliged to forgive the wrongs done to them while the bullies go unpunished. I agree this isn't clear cut, especially considering most bullies undoubtedly grow up and stop behaving like idiots once their hormones level out. But it is horribly unjust to tell all victims that what was done to them was of no consequence and they should seek peace by some other means than that which is natural.

 

[fundayz]

Don't kid your self, if you were bullied the most likely reason you were is because you were different in one way or another.

Bullies might come in shapes and sizes, but their personalities are alike, as well as the people that support or encourage them. People might not want to do it themselves, but they'll certainly laugh(and thus encourage) when someone makes fun of the kid that has a bad sense of humor, or is awkward, or is impressively bad at sports, or just has interests the majority find odd(like comic books or collectible cards).

That is why people don't get made fun of for playing video games anymore. At one point it was an odd activity, only obsessed over by geeks who did not fit anywhere else. Now, however, video games are mainstream and you will see most "jocks" playing CoD or even WoW(i know a couple).

That is also why hobbies like comic books or collectible cars will get you bullied now a days, when a couple of decades ago they were all the rage. They are not the norm anymore.

 

[Ahiru77]

Bob, I'm sure you're superior than the people who bullied you.

But I think the reason kids or people bully others is because either they try to fit in with the rest or it's because THEY feel that much more superior than you.

Don't grow bitter because of this, cause that's when the bullies win. Keep your head up, your heart open and best of luck with ya!

 

[nevwyn]

I'd be on the side with dental and vision, I mean they both have to pay me minimum wage so the one with a better benefits package is the one I'll side with.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I've never preached tolerance in my life. Stupidity, especially the public and arrogant kind, is a fucking blight upon the earth, and all intelligent men must fight it tooth and nail whenever they encounter it.

And yet another reason why you are the first in more than a year whose friend request i accepted so far

 

[Marik Bentusi]

That sounds incredibly arrogant in my ears. I'm sure bullies picked on me because I was an easy target compared to others and they had no use for me either (except for that one guy that stopped bullying me once I freely offered to make parts of his homework for him - no reason, no exchange, just an offer).

 

[dracit]

Man Bob. I like your style I really do, but I just can't agree with the point you're making. Yes I do agree that the idea of nerds being picked on because their superior is foolish, but I just can't get behind the whole revenge thing.

I love being a nerd but I also love being a good guy. I was very heavily bullied as a child but I still would never lift a finger to harm a single one of my tormentors. Maybe I'm a goodie two shoes, and maybe I'm alone on this but I would be on Professor X's side because the alternative makes me no better then the ones who were cruel to me.

In my mind the moment I strike back, I become a bully myself, the same type of person my younger self would have despised.

Then again that's simply my opinion.

 

[sixsevans]

SADISM?
Why is it not obvious that bullies are simply indulging in sadism?

Bob, even you reveal your inner sadistic tendencies when you discuss your lust for revenge.
Actually, you reveal your inner sadistic tendencies in a whole lot of your reviews.

Once you accept that people have a closetted lust for enjoying the pain of others, human behaviour becomes so much easier to understand.

All human behavior can be distilled down to avoidance and attraction. That part is simple.
The complex part of human nature is recognizing what induces different people with differing amounts of attraction or revulsion for a universe of stimuli.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking attraction is the opposite of avoidance.
Attraction and avoidance can co-exist, or be absent, for the same stimulus.
To use the unimaginative cliché: "Moth to flame."

Multiple stimuli from the real universe can also cause a weird and complex mixture of attraction and avoidance.

Maybe, admitting to (and accepting) our inner-demons is difficult.
But I find it hard to believe someone who reviews and recommends horror movies can somehow not be aware of (or even deny) the sadistic feelings that lurk within us.


I suppose it's much more satisfying, and unimaginative, to indulge in prideful speculation of our own "specialness."

 

[DracheX]

Of course id be on the side that fought back instead of trying to help and work with my tormentors

 

[Blind Sight]

Ah, the classic 'nerds are special and superior, thus they were bullied' logic. Note how it's mostly only nerds who actually argue for this point. Could it, I don't know, possibly be due to both lacking physical prowess and the superiority complex that seems to have developed in the geek culture? As you yourself said Bob, as soon as you actually became a physical threat, the bullies halted physical harassment. Of course, verbal abuse could be continued largely because you were lower on the social ladder, and thus they had the support of an audience. The case of Bill Gates more has to do with our distrust of companies and people who made money via them. Jordan's revenue is seen as humble and noble because it doesn't have the stigma that business or capitalism has attached to it.

Moviebob has mentioned in a previous article that he doesn't do much research for his work. And then he begins a rant about how intellectualism is negated in society? That, my friends, is severely intellectually lacking.

I often enjoy your work Bob, but sometimes you look at the surface of a problem and refuse to actually go any deeper.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I think I'd be on the X-Men's side. (No lame outfit please.)

Because if somebody doesn't try to be the better man/woman, who will?