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In Jennifer's Own Words: |
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"My kid brother David grew up on a steady diet of comic books. I swear he has a couple thousand and he's only fifteen! (That paper route he's had
since he was eight has paid for this addiction.) Ever since the Powered appeared, he's been in Heaven. It's as if all his favorites have finally jumped off the paper and come to life. (Note
to self: maybe I should try to talk one or more of the heroes into a licensing agreement *grin*) David's encyclopedic knowledge of superheroics is making him something of a celebrity at school. I still
haven't decided if that's healthy, but he's having fun and making new friends."Mom is really freaked out by these people. She worries that power corrupts and fears that all of them will
turn into criminals and malcontents sooner than later. She's not rabid in her feelings by any means, but she would like to see some kind of legislation to restrict their activities and maybe register
them. (Of course, mom's also a closet supporter of the Christian Coalition, but we love her anyway.) I think her fears come from being a mom: she has three kids to worry about, and I don't help
any by rushing off to every accident scene. I think she worries that one day I'll rush to a scene and get hurt by a fireball, lightning bolt or just have my blood drained by a vampire or
something. I keep reminding her that I'm much more likely to be shot or stabbed than ever meet
a powered person. That doesn't really make her feel better, and she does have a point though – at least with a gun, I'll recognize the danger immediately. |
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"Dad and I agree that whatever caused this, it's good that we've got some good guys and not just a bunch of criminals. We also worry about power corrupting, but it
seems that like life in the comic books, the greater the adversary the stronger the hero to rise against him and keep the balance. We go back and forth about use of powers as a crime by itself, or just treating it
like a gun and increasing the nature of the crime. In most states it is mandatory to register ownership of a firearm, but we're not sure that powered people should have to register. There's a fine line there
between privacy and public safety. Not all gun owners are dangerous (although, Dad argues that those most likely to not
register their guns are most likely to be dangerous.) I do wish he'd stop teasing me about finding a "nice boy" to marry. I thought that was a mom's job? (I think she made it his job because I listen to him more.)
"We can all agree that voluntary
registration with government authorities would be OK. Especially if the government created programs to help these people learn to use their abilities properly and for law-abiding purposes. Maybe the police and military should start recruiting.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to Melissa about it yet to know what she thinks. She's off at Berkeley, though, so I expect she'll be open minded and in love with the whole thing. While I'd
describe most of the family as "moderate conservative", Mel is our token "moderate liberal". She just always had to be different. With her studying poli-sci, we have some really
interesting dinner conversations during the holidays." |
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