But I still don't understand. Having just read the comic it seems patently obvious to me that Morrison is having a really good time "using his salacious proposal".
Let's take a closer look....
The Kids:
THE THING.
Johnny Storm hit the nail on the head when he described Morrison's Thing as "Some Gigantic, angry baby with a terminal skin disease". He's the original self involved, narcissistic child - incapable of realizing that he's onto a good thing. Daddy Reed looks after him, providing him with lots of nice adventures; he's a superhero and he's got a gorgeous girlfriend..... and all he can do is moan and bitch about how he "useta be a human being.... just wanna be treated normal...", blah, blah, etc. And somehow we know that, as soon as Doom grants him his wish, something very bad has happened.... Ben Grimm doesn't want to be "human", his complaints and protestations to the contrary have simply become part of his routine - his habit - something that defines him. No, it becomes clear before Doom crushes his little model Thing that his reasons for "helping" Ben are less than altruistic.
THE HUMAN TORCH
Johnny Storm plays the role of the fiery, petulant, aggressive teenager - striking James Dean poses, running a comb through his hair and, out of boredom, and in an attempt to get her attention, boiling Sue's puppet-fish. His resentment/jealousy towards Reed is barely checked: he cruelly asks Sue what it's like "being married to the Einstien of the 21st century?", deliberately preying on her insecurities, trying to provoke her into expressing some kind of disatisfaction with their relationship. Later he sarcastically refers to "Mr. Fantastic" spending more time with "Doctor Doom robots than he does with my sister."
The Torch as child of Reed and Sue metaphor is maintained, not simply through vague freudian allusions to his attraction for his sister/mother, but, also, by the classic teenage line: "Sorry I got born."
Well, I bet Mummy feels really guilty now....
Like most teenagers, Johnny has a great deal of difficulty holding his tongue. He's started to develop an adult's abiltity to analyse a given situation/individual, but none of the tact, empathy, or consideration for others that come with full maturity. He makes painfully cutting comments to both Sue and Ben, which, whilst true, are, in this context, both cruel and unnecessary.
And of course he's got a date.... the hotheaded, goodlooking, eternal teenager should never be without a date.
The Torch and the Thing bicker like siblings: the torch childishly bitching about the way "everyone makes out to Reed that I'm the one who needles you..."; and Ben, unable to rely on the words Johhny uses as weapons, resorts to the threat of physical violence:
"I should break your neck!"
The Parents:
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN.
Sue, like her namesake, has long since learnt to dissapear into the background when the boys are having one of their tiffs. Before everything kicks off she expresses concern towards Ben, telling him she's "sorry", and, like any concerned Mother, asking him if something's wrong. But as soon as she sees a fight brewing she shrinks away with an exasperated "Ohh", leaving the boys to it. Afterwards she gives one of her friends a call to ask for advise about handling her difficult child, and to express her unhappiness with regards to Reed's workaholism. Sadly, Sue's codename damns her to an empty marriage: she is, literally, The Invisible Woman. Her concerns, her feelings, her unhappiness are lost on her two self involved brats, and on her husband who spends most of his time away from "home", "awol in the depths of his mighty intellect."
She spends her lonely, wasted hours doting on the mindless puppet-fish cooked up by Alicia, in order to give herself something to do - something to care for.
No wonder her thoughts sometimes stray far from home, to Atlantis.........
MR. FANTASTIC
The archetypal absentee Father. Hard at work, he forgets that his family might need him, or that they might resent him. There's something so emotionless, and inhuman about that sign outside his "superstudy": "DEEP IN THOUGHT. KEEP OUT." Nasty. All cerebrum and no heart..... And this is what Doom plays on: The Father's apparent lack of human feeling - his dedication to work, to rationality, above the day to day concerns of his families wellbeing. He plays on the divisions between Father and child, his "betrayal" of his family, and his apparent inability to properly engage with his children. This is all textbook stuff.
So, Mr. Boom, are you beginning to see what I mean. Morrison's doing exactly what he said he would........
[ 31-07-2001: Message edited by: Jamieon ] |
