The Hidden Knowledge #8

[Vidor]

Not sure why people are bothered when an MCer is a jerk--unless one is embarrassed about one's own kink and can't admit that one likes erotic mind control unless the MCer somehow stumbles into it.  Daffyd is a jerk from the very first time he used the book deliberately.  And he's used the book deliberately every single time except for the first one.

[GodWilling]

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[mm257]

Not sure why people are bothered when an MCer is a jerk--unless one is embarrassed about one's own kink and can't admit that one likes erotic mind control unless the MCer somehow stumbles into it.  Daffyd is a jerk from the very first time he used the book deliberately.  And he's used the book deliberately every single time except for the first one.

I'd also have to agree, what's the point of the person having the power over someone if they don't use it, or they have to have a moral crisis about using it.

[Haight]

I'd agree.  All this talk about whether it's moral or not seems strange.  Calling it 'evil' or not is kind of a moot point since it's not real. 

[jmundt29]

Granted, this is fiction and it's entertainment.  But, one of the problems the minority voice (including me) seems to have with the way a lot of these end up playing out is that the power tends to intensify the worst aspects of the person wielding it.  This ends up making a large majority of the guys and yeah, mostly it's guys into completely irredeemable assholes who I'd rather watch accidentally immolate themselves or get crushed by ACME safes.  Here's the thing--could you ever see The Joker as played by the late Heath Ledger as the hero of a three hour film?  If they actually made that movie, would you watch the whole thing?  Some of these characters, the main characters have to at least be likeable for me to invest in the entertainment, be it a piece on the MC Forum, a film, or a comic.

You don't have to be conflicted about using this sort of power to be likeable.  It's a relatively low threshold, and impressions vary from story to story and medium to medium.  For instance, as an MCT example--I find the devious dude from The Bet and the barista from Cafe Society much more watchable than the manager from the Employee Orientation series.  My favorite film so far of the MCT oeuvre is probably Yard Sale at Hell House and the male character there is no philosopher king or tortured mystic.

However, I genuinely dislike the male characters in Bed & Breakfast and The Truth About Hypnosis 4 (some of this is probably the actor in B&B), but I enjoy both But Wait and Cafe Society.

My favorite by far among the comics on this site is SJI.  And it's not Adrian's qualms about using MC power that make him more likeable or entertaining.  So far, he seems written to genuinely care about and be interested in the women in his orbit.  Bertram, Brian, et al don't give a rip about anything or anyone but themselves and I find that off-putting.

[GodWilling]

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[dzeiger]

I think that part of the issue is that even when the story isn't a blatant "Mary Sue" type story, there is a tendency for readers to relate to the protagonist. I know on the MCForum recently, there was a thread where someone said he didn't care much for stories with alien's doing the MCing because it's not something where he can put himself in the role of the MCer, for example.

So if you get nothing but an endless series of stories where the males become utterly amoral bastards as a result of their power, you start losing the wish-fulfillment part of the story--where you say "Boy, it would be cool to have magic/technology like that! I could...ummm...well, from these stories I would become a complete jerk who destroys the lives of anyone I care about, as well as several complete strangers who just happen to have been in my general vicinity."

[mns_95125]

In the fantasy, mind control reduces its victim(s) from people to property.  But inside that frame there's still a difference in terms of how valuable the controller seems to view his property.  Some value it highly, viewing their slaves as precious, unique; others view them as worthless, disposable, easily replaced.  The latter is much more dehumanizing.  In extreme cases it comes across as misogynistic nihilism, which is pretty unappetizing.

[snivgrits]

This remains my favorite comic, even with the absolute corruption of the lead character.  This book seems to have a mind of its own and enjoys destroying lives.  I love it when the lead cannot completely trust their own MC device.  I also like when there is competition between mind controllers.