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Wadjet

What Could Be More Important Than Being Pretty?

Once upon a time, the Mutant X team had a purpose, [A misguided, unwise purpose, viewed in the long term interests of humanity, but that is not the topic here.] working to help other mutants. Most of Season 1 was based upon this premise, which should come as a surprise to anyone familiar only with Season 2 or 3. No longer actively involved in operating an underground, they lounge about their Zen hole in the ground until someone tells them what to do, in Season 3 taking instruction from a woman who offers no proofs of why she should be believed or followed.

In Season 1, they operated outside of the law, but supposedly to a noble purpose. Now, they do as they please outside of the law, with no justification in sight beyond that is what they choose to do.  The audience is supposed to meekly accept the ‘team’ plundering, killing, tormenting—just because they are who they are.

The message is heavy-handed and immoral: if you are decorative, and people enjoy just looking at you, then you are above the law and any act you commit is acceptable, however illegal that act would be if committed by a more ordinary citizen.

I lost interest in these characters as they crossed the line from (misguided) saviors to superpowered thugs in Season 3.  Some might find my beliefs quaint and old-fashioned, but I still believe all of us should be judged by one standard of character and law; a pretty face should not write special laws of its own.

During Season 1, when Victor Webster was at his most decorative, before doing whatever he did to coarsen his features and bulk himself up to the point where he does not do Season 1 style stunts any longer, Brennan never really hurt anyone.  Violence was handled fluffily;  victims of his violence walked away.  While he never repented or showed any remorse for his life of crime, we never saw him committing criminal acts in Season 1 or 2. 

The Season 3 opener revealed Brennan in multiple crimes, none of which were shown with any indication of disapproval. Brennan was short of cash? No problem.  Pick a stranger’s pocket.  Brennan dislike someone?  No problem. Brennan could kill them in cold blood, which he did, twice.

Many people had no problem with Brennan’s barbarity. Brennan could do as he pleased;  after all, he was Brennan and he was “hot”.  They had no difficulty continuing to view him as a hero instead of the out of control criminal he plainly was.

This attitude that great teeth and great hair make one above the law applies to the other characters as well, who have become increasing violent (and not with fluffy results) through Season 2 and into Season 3. Seeing Jesse revel while staring at the two grease spots who were human beings moments before, and then collecting a trophy from the kill was enough to permanently disgust me with the character, [Can anyone point me to an analogous scene in Season 1 with Mason Eckhart gloating and collecting a memento in such fashion?] but there is no shortage of fans who don’t care what Jesse does, since he’s so “hot”. Even more bizarrely, such fans of the character are frequently adults. 

During Season 1’s Interface, we were clearly shown a telecyber who required no physical connection to computers; in Season 3’s No Exit, we were shown a telecyber whose bad behavior was terminated by Shalimar disconnecting cables—but not before gloating and verbally tormenting him. This is not the conduct of a decent human being, but no one seems much disturbed;  Shalimar can do no wrong, can she?

There are people who confuse celebrity and the appearance of a face on television. The underlying assumption is that if a face appears on the screen it must belong to someone of importance. Some of the more extreme cases of this confusion are the women who correspond with convicted serial killers. By doing this, they become associated with ‘celebrity’ and in their minds gain importance for themselves.  Sometimes they marry these killers. Ted Bundy was married while imprisoned and sired a child during a less-than-supervised non-conjugal visit.  Typically, these women keep their distance, however;  if a man is paroled, the relationships fall apart because the women never really wanted a real person, they wanted the distance, the control, and the association with supposed celebrity.

Perhaps something similar is operating with the adoration of Brennan and Jesse.  They can kill in cold blood, they can gloat over grease spots, and never think twice about their actions. Nothing they do will ever be held against them by their admirers, although it would be interesting indeed if those characters were played by bald, buck-toothed, or chubby actors.  If the adoration was directed towards te actors, the worshipful attitude would just be silly, but since it is directed instead towards the characters, these amoral eternal pretty boys, it is disturbing.

All that really matters are their looks. Who they are is meaningless. What they do is of no consideration. Their character, their goals, the way they treat other people, all are of no importance. Can an outlook become more shallow or juvenile than this?

Dark Mirage

Photos:  Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted serial killers.

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