Oh What A Tangle Web We Weave When First We Practice To Decieve
So, there's some kerfluffle in the interblogs about a recent storyline in Spider-Man's book. For the record, I don't read Spider-Man after One More Day/Brand New Day, but I've kept my ear to the ground and have a working knowledge of the situation.
These are the facts:
Peter Parker is no longer married to Mary-Jane Watson. They "sold their marriage" to the evil cosmic being Mephisto (the Marvel Universe's version of Satan Incarnate, and there's no exaggerating there, he's pretty much the Devil, Old Nick, Mr. Scratch, Lucifer, the whole shebang.) to restore Aunt May to life, which sorta kinda rebooted Spider-Man continuity so that a) Pete's single b) was living in Aunt May's basement at the beginning of the "Brand New Day" c)his identity is a secret again after the events of Civil War (exactly how, they've not said, only that MJ knows, and Pete knows MJ knows. No one else does, except the Avengers team Pete's operating with, and maybe the Fantastic Four, I forget), d) long dead friend Harry Osborn is alive again, somehow, and . . . a number of minor things that may or may not have cropped up because of these differences and others, but aren't worth getting into here.
Pete moves out of Aunt May's basement because he just now realized that a single 30-something living with basically his mother isn't so good (and because his mom is shacking up with J. Jonah Jameson's biological father, and doesn't want to get in their way--or walk in on them in the middle of making out . . . again). He ends up roommates with a "hot-tempered latina" named Michele Gonzales, who is, if I'm remembering correctly, a lawyer of some kind. She accompanies him to a wedding reception, where they both get ridiculously drunk. And wake up in bed together the next day, with Pete having no memory of how it happened. This part is important. So, Pete, mistakenly thinking he wound up in bed with MJ, gets a surprise when it turns out to be Michele, and she angrily kicks him out of bed.
The Chameleon, a long time Spidey foe (longest, in fact, I believe he was actually the first villain Spider-Man faced) kidnaps Peter and assumes his identity, because he works as the mayor's photographer, or has access to the mayor's office due to his photography credentials (it's not important). While acting as Peter, he returns to Michele's and Peter's apartment, where Michele is waiting, and broaches the subject of Pete moving out because of what happened after the wedding. So Chameleon sweet-talks her, seduces her, and drags her out of frame, leaving a cutesily written giggle punctuated with hearts (presumably from Michele, but Chameleon is almost canonically bisexual, so maybe it was a bit of frat-boy humor aimed at the feygelah? Who can tell, these days, what the boneheaded creators intended?) This--the Chameleon's actions with Michele, not who giggle-hearted--is the crux of the matter. Later, the creators stated that they never had sex, and if true, considering that the Spider-Man title is weekly, they wouldn't have had time to change it due to fan reaction (it's possible, if it were a monthly, they may not have had time to change it, either, I don't know what the lead time in comics is these days).
However, there's more. Pete, being Spider-Man, escapes from Chameleon's death-trap (that's right, Chameleon kidnaps him and assumes his identity and tries to kill him, but that's neither here nor there), stops the Chameleon--who escapes custody--and tries to get back into his own life. The next time he sees Michele, she's wearing Pete's ESU shirt and a pair of his boxer shorts. Which means that whatever happened, Michele considers their relationship to be on the "wearing the boyfriend's clothes" level. Perhaps she has no concept of personal property. Perhaps she just moves through relationship levels quickly. Sorry, those last two sentences are supposition, not facts.
Finally, Pete and Michele now consider themselves to be in a relationship. Dating. Boyfriend-girlfriend. Pete hasn't told Michele he was impersonated by Chameleon . . . and probably won't because he fears his secret identity leaking out.
Okay, those are the facts as they appear in the story. There are other facts, from the writer, Fred Van Lente. He claims that what the Chameleon did wasn't rape, because there was no force involved, only deception. It does vary from state to state a little, but the dictionary (not a legal dictionary, just a regular Merriam's & Websters) does include deception as one of the factors that can change sex to rape. Also, logically, the argument fails. Date-rapists rarely use force, just drugs. I suppose an argument could be made that getting someone to consume drugs unaware or against their will or choice would be "force," but usually all they do is trick their victims, and not cleverly. Fred Van Lente, and editor Steve Wacker (who did phenomenal work on most of the DC title 52) however kept sticking their foots in their mouths in an effort to present the story and the after effects in the best possible light, betraying 1)ignorance (in the matter of what is and isn't rape), 2)tact and good taste (they're depicting most of Peter Parker's non Spider-Man activities for humorous purposes, 'cause drunken amnesia sex and getting a girlfriend because the guy pretending to be you is smoother with the ladies than you? Hilarious. To someone. Somewhere. I guess) and 3)understanding of what exactly those who are decrying the events are objecting to (it's not necessarily whether there was rape or not--there's no denying there was something hinky--it's that they were perfectly happy making it look like Chameleon tricked Michele into having sex, and he certainly tricked her into some under the table "adult fun." The facts are, they were perfectly happy to use visuals that implied that someone, operating under false pretenses, had sex with someone else (I said "implied." As stated, there will be a scene making it clear that Chameleon-as-Peter and Michele didn't have sex. But the implication is staggeringly obvious: Cham starts kissing Michele's mouth and neck and pulls her under the table, out of view, and one of them heart-giggles. We've all seen things like this happen in movies, television shows, other comics, plays, even books. It's short-hand for "and then they had sex" without showing it explicitly. Of course, this allows for the possibility that "they" didn't "had sex," like here. It's possible that someone in Marvel had the same reaction to the events depicted as so many of the fans, only too late to change the art before it was printed, and got everyone to agree, going forward, that they just made out in an attempt to backpedal. It's possible that sex was never the intention, despite the visual, and because of the serial nature of comic books, the fans had to jump to conclusions based on incomplete information.
Whatever it is, it is CLEAR that the brains in charge of Spider-Man have some serious issues with sex and gender relations, if they think no one would go "That looks like an 'and then they had sex' scene, but Michele's doing it with Cham because she thinks he's Peter, eww, no, wrong" to some degree, and that they think any. Part. Of. This. Situation. Should. Be. Played. For. Humor.
Sure, Peter has bad luck. It's usually because he misses opportunities due to his dual identity, or has terrible time management skills (even after so many years experience). It comes down to the people in charge of this guy's story thinking frat-boy hijinks and terrible (horrible, fucked up) gender relations are funny. When . . . if you laugh, you're laughing at terrible, horrible, fucked up things. Which isn't necessarily bad, but when they don't grok why it's terrible, horrible, or fucked up, you need to walk away. Fast.
And I can't help thinking this whole situation could have been avoided if Pete and Mary Jane were still married.
ETA: Okay, so Pete does tell Michele that she was making out with the Chameleon . . . but she doesn't buy it, thinking it's a lame story to break up with her. Which she does. So . . . there's that. I guess. Never mind that he didn't tell her because she deserved to know, he did it to get her off his back. Which is kind of selfish on his part. But that's kinda par for the course with how Pete's been acting since One More Day/Brand New Day and this new stupid continuity. Peter's been a selfish, self-absorbed brat since his marriage has been erased from existence. Selfishness and self-absorbedness can be endearing (and accurate) for a kid. For a grown up, especially one who has had as his motto "With great power comes great responsibility"? While it is certainly accurate now, not so much endearing. More aggravating.
Thus, I am officially out of Spider-Man, even keeping myself current on what's occurring, until this One More Day/Brand New Day bullshit is retcon'd forever.
These are the facts:
Peter Parker is no longer married to Mary-Jane Watson. They "sold their marriage" to the evil cosmic being Mephisto (the Marvel Universe's version of Satan Incarnate, and there's no exaggerating there, he's pretty much the Devil, Old Nick, Mr. Scratch, Lucifer, the whole shebang.) to restore Aunt May to life, which sorta kinda rebooted Spider-Man continuity so that a) Pete's single b) was living in Aunt May's basement at the beginning of the "Brand New Day" c)his identity is a secret again after the events of Civil War (exactly how, they've not said, only that MJ knows, and Pete knows MJ knows. No one else does, except the Avengers team Pete's operating with, and maybe the Fantastic Four, I forget), d) long dead friend Harry Osborn is alive again, somehow, and . . . a number of minor things that may or may not have cropped up because of these differences and others, but aren't worth getting into here.
Pete moves out of Aunt May's basement because he just now realized that a single 30-something living with basically his mother isn't so good (and because his mom is shacking up with J. Jonah Jameson's biological father, and doesn't want to get in their way--or walk in on them in the middle of making out . . . again). He ends up roommates with a "hot-tempered latina" named Michele Gonzales, who is, if I'm remembering correctly, a lawyer of some kind. She accompanies him to a wedding reception, where they both get ridiculously drunk. And wake up in bed together the next day, with Pete having no memory of how it happened. This part is important. So, Pete, mistakenly thinking he wound up in bed with MJ, gets a surprise when it turns out to be Michele, and she angrily kicks him out of bed.
The Chameleon, a long time Spidey foe (longest, in fact, I believe he was actually the first villain Spider-Man faced) kidnaps Peter and assumes his identity, because he works as the mayor's photographer, or has access to the mayor's office due to his photography credentials (it's not important). While acting as Peter, he returns to Michele's and Peter's apartment, where Michele is waiting, and broaches the subject of Pete moving out because of what happened after the wedding. So Chameleon sweet-talks her, seduces her, and drags her out of frame, leaving a cutesily written giggle punctuated with hearts (presumably from Michele, but Chameleon is almost canonically bisexual, so maybe it was a bit of frat-boy humor aimed at the feygelah? Who can tell, these days, what the boneheaded creators intended?) This--the Chameleon's actions with Michele, not who giggle-hearted--is the crux of the matter. Later, the creators stated that they never had sex, and if true, considering that the Spider-Man title is weekly, they wouldn't have had time to change it due to fan reaction (it's possible, if it were a monthly, they may not have had time to change it, either, I don't know what the lead time in comics is these days).
However, there's more. Pete, being Spider-Man, escapes from Chameleon's death-trap (that's right, Chameleon kidnaps him and assumes his identity and tries to kill him, but that's neither here nor there), stops the Chameleon--who escapes custody--and tries to get back into his own life. The next time he sees Michele, she's wearing Pete's ESU shirt and a pair of his boxer shorts. Which means that whatever happened, Michele considers their relationship to be on the "wearing the boyfriend's clothes" level. Perhaps she has no concept of personal property. Perhaps she just moves through relationship levels quickly. Sorry, those last two sentences are supposition, not facts.
Finally, Pete and Michele now consider themselves to be in a relationship. Dating. Boyfriend-girlfriend. Pete hasn't told Michele he was impersonated by Chameleon . . . and probably won't because he fears his secret identity leaking out.
Okay, those are the facts as they appear in the story. There are other facts, from the writer, Fred Van Lente. He claims that what the Chameleon did wasn't rape, because there was no force involved, only deception. It does vary from state to state a little, but the dictionary (not a legal dictionary, just a regular Merriam's & Websters) does include deception as one of the factors that can change sex to rape. Also, logically, the argument fails. Date-rapists rarely use force, just drugs. I suppose an argument could be made that getting someone to consume drugs unaware or against their will or choice would be "force," but usually all they do is trick their victims, and not cleverly. Fred Van Lente, and editor Steve Wacker (who did phenomenal work on most of the DC title 52) however kept sticking their foots in their mouths in an effort to present the story and the after effects in the best possible light, betraying 1)ignorance (in the matter of what is and isn't rape), 2)tact and good taste (they're depicting most of Peter Parker's non Spider-Man activities for humorous purposes, 'cause drunken amnesia sex and getting a girlfriend because the guy pretending to be you is smoother with the ladies than you? Hilarious. To someone. Somewhere. I guess) and 3)understanding of what exactly those who are decrying the events are objecting to (it's not necessarily whether there was rape or not--there's no denying there was something hinky--it's that they were perfectly happy making it look like Chameleon tricked Michele into having sex, and he certainly tricked her into some under the table "adult fun." The facts are, they were perfectly happy to use visuals that implied that someone, operating under false pretenses, had sex with someone else (I said "implied." As stated, there will be a scene making it clear that Chameleon-as-Peter and Michele didn't have sex. But the implication is staggeringly obvious: Cham starts kissing Michele's mouth and neck and pulls her under the table, out of view, and one of them heart-giggles. We've all seen things like this happen in movies, television shows, other comics, plays, even books. It's short-hand for "and then they had sex" without showing it explicitly. Of course, this allows for the possibility that "they" didn't "had sex," like here. It's possible that someone in Marvel had the same reaction to the events depicted as so many of the fans, only too late to change the art before it was printed, and got everyone to agree, going forward, that they just made out in an attempt to backpedal. It's possible that sex was never the intention, despite the visual, and because of the serial nature of comic books, the fans had to jump to conclusions based on incomplete information.
Whatever it is, it is CLEAR that the brains in charge of Spider-Man have some serious issues with sex and gender relations, if they think no one would go "That looks like an 'and then they had sex' scene, but Michele's doing it with Cham because she thinks he's Peter, eww, no, wrong" to some degree, and that they think any. Part. Of. This. Situation. Should. Be. Played. For. Humor.
Sure, Peter has bad luck. It's usually because he misses opportunities due to his dual identity, or has terrible time management skills (even after so many years experience). It comes down to the people in charge of this guy's story thinking frat-boy hijinks and terrible (horrible, fucked up) gender relations are funny. When . . . if you laugh, you're laughing at terrible, horrible, fucked up things. Which isn't necessarily bad, but when they don't grok why it's terrible, horrible, or fucked up, you need to walk away. Fast.
And I can't help thinking this whole situation could have been avoided if Pete and Mary Jane were still married.
ETA: Okay, so Pete does tell Michele that she was making out with the Chameleon . . . but she doesn't buy it, thinking it's a lame story to break up with her. Which she does. So . . . there's that. I guess. Never mind that he didn't tell her because she deserved to know, he did it to get her off his back. Which is kind of selfish on his part. But that's kinda par for the course with how Pete's been acting since One More Day/Brand New Day and this new stupid continuity. Peter's been a selfish, self-absorbed brat since his marriage has been erased from existence. Selfishness and self-absorbedness can be endearing (and accurate) for a kid. For a grown up, especially one who has had as his motto "With great power comes great responsibility"? While it is certainly accurate now, not so much endearing. More aggravating.
Thus, I am officially out of Spider-Man, even keeping myself current on what's occurring, until this One More Day/Brand New Day bullshit is retcon'd forever.