Your opinion on "I just want to be normal"

I guess that is one reason to be normal, nobody wants to feel inferior to anyone and super humans instill inferiority on the normal folk. It is not they rub in your face but those feelings still linger. You have awesome talent, you work hard to be where you are, you surpass almost everyone in everything but those very same people feel inferior, jealous and insecure. You had been working hard half your life only to find that someone else has found someone has surpassed you and can do it better, you are definitely not going to be pretty chill with that person. I am some of our genius tropers could vouch for that, what with being alienated and all.

I quote form the Kingpin:

The reaction to a character having "mutant" powers (and the appearance to go with them) always seems to be Torches and Pitchforks and/or Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?.

I grew up in the era when even appearing gay made you a target. That's why I will never comeout, I have family that I still love. However I've met IRL and online friends who wear their identity on their sleeves.

Badly written, most "mutant"/"superpowered" characters fail as an allegory for minorities because they have the "so beautiful it's a curse" flaw. Or as cracked.com put it: the analogy fails because Jews can't shoot lasers from their eyes.

I want to see (just like IRL) other characters reacting along generational lines to a superpowered/mutant character:

• old folks react just like you'd expect
• those in their 40's-50's are uncomfortable (it's fun to watch the mental gymnastics and my best friends are X)
• 20's-30's are okay with it but some only act like they are tolerant when they are really just hiding their bigotry
• teens and kids wonder what the big deal is

I've never told my family because most of they are very conservative. There are many in the Army that still aren't comfortable around gays and lesbians, and they are senior leaders. But when my last unit was briefed on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", all the young soldiers wanted to know why same sex couples couldn't get married or receive the same benefits. Many young privates and specialists outright said it was unfair.

edited 1st Sep '12 9:50:54 PM by TairaMai

I'm trying to play with this trope with the main character of my book. The key thing I'm trying to do with it is that the character lacks the context normal people have. She doesn't have a family or regular education. She's thankful for what she has, given the circumstances but at the same time she doesn't even know just how thankful she should be.

Instead of teenage angst, I'm trying to make it a genuine struggle about Humanity and a theme with weight.

Okay, fun fact, or actually not that fun, but this is a truth in real life. There are enough people who would want to be normal, even though their affliction seems more like something awesome to other people.

Here's the thing. There are many reasons people want to be "normal". Aside from the whole alienation thing, which really shouldn't be taken lightly because that's the main reason people in real life want to be "normal", it's also a matter of not being able to control it, or always having to keep it under control. Even something as simple as teleportation started as something uncontrolable.

A big example would be Superman. What we don't realize is that he has to keep his own powers in check in order to not kill. Even something as simple as opening a door is challenging to him, because he has to do it without breaking the door out.

Perhaps a less good example would be the second Spider-Man movie, where Peter Parker temporarily gives up on being Spider-Man, all because his life turned for the worse once he became Spider-Man, at least in his opinion. It might be that this was also in the main comics by the way, but I'm not that patience.

Now there are heroes who have no qualms with being different, because it gives them that extra bit of confidence. However, these instances aren't really common.

You can turn this concept around, though. I once had this concept of a world where the supernatural, aliens, superheroes, all was normal. At one point though there was one character who fantasized about how it would be if those things weren't normal, how would his life be if there were no super powers?

Good Point, Normal is more or less subjective or relative to the person so what is 'normal' ione place may not 'normal' in another.

100% agree. In the RP I was a part of, I had a Rei Ayanami Expy who desperately wanted to be normal. Normal as in "I want to feel emotions without ripping people to shreds" and "I want to stop involuntary shape shifting". She wanted to be able to relate to the other kids (granted the RP took place at a mutant super hero school but still).

This was before I read about Premethean: the Created.

Normal can be looking normal, or most likely being normal: Buffy pining for not being a slayer, Ariel wanted to be "where the people are", or my character who wanted to fall in love and make friends (without turning into a cyber-dog).

When done badly it's an informed flaw. Done good it adds depths and make the character relate-able. Many celebs try to go to the corner store for ___ only to have the photogs take pictures of them and post them on blogs. Think about how you've had off days where you'd rather die then see a pic of you on facebook. Now imagine that pic being seen 'round the world and people commenting on it. Yeah, you'd long for "normality" too.

tl;dr - If a character says I Just Want to Be Normal something about her/him should justify it. It Sucks to Be the Chosen One}, I Just Want to Have Friends, The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life or any other trope that makes the character curse superpowers/good looks or whatever sets them apart. For parents who want their kids to be normal see Give Him ANormal Life.

edited 2nd Sep '12 6:22:30 PM by TairaMai

Fascinating topic, i knew i would like this forums. For a story i'm working on the Protagonist has this point of view though never says those exact words, the first 12 chapters where i tell his story before i throw him into a team the reason WHY is a point i want to flow out of the narrative without those exact worlds being spoken. To put it in perspective lets look at his life pre and post becoming the protagonist

A happy teenage guy, a gamer, his father is a bigger kid then him who spoils him rotten with games and anything else to keep a smile on his face, as far as he knows his father is just a goof off instead of working 2 jobs to keep his son happy.

Then a magical girl collapses on his front door persued by a monster he had been trained on a esoteric martial art by his father, it is the one serious thing his father has ever pressed on him so he uses these skills to defend the girl who in turn to save both their lives transfers her powers to him, turning him into a magical girl from there the Team Pet does anything to make her act like a proper girl up to and including Body Jacking, mind rape, and threats. He is uprooted from his life, because the monster might want to stop the guy who saved the magical girl put in witness protection wit ha new id, moved to a new town and forced to learn to fight with the other magical girls while being a mind puppet of the Team Pet who criticizes everything in her life being not girly.

so yeah she is a powerful magical girl with healing powers and awesome martial arts powers but she just wants to be a he who is normal

edited 2nd Sep '12 9:09:04 PM by NekoLLX