The Four Color Media Monitor

Surprise, surprise: Games Radar/Newsarama is going out of their minds over Kitty Pryde's newly established status as bisexual, telling us it all "matters", and that it's "canon":

When fans list their favorite X-Men, Kitty Pryde is a frequent character that shows up. But why do people love her so much? She's never been a focused star of the X-Men film franchise, she isn't an Avenger, and she's never had her own solo ongoing series.

For the very reasons Kitty Pryde hasn't found mainstream success (whatever that means) is why so many comic book readers connect to her – she's relatable. Once the youngest mutant on the X-Men team, Kitty's journey is the rare occurrence in comic books where readers saw a character grow up. But what may be the most relatable aspect of her character is her continuous search for self.

You know why she may not have been put to much use in mainstream? The sad answer is because of her Jewish/Israeli ancestry. Something which curiously doesn't come up in this puff piece. Has it ever occurred that, despite seeming recognition of such a status in public, the entertainment industry doesn't have the courage to give a character a boost based on that? Well unfortunately, it's entirely possible this is why, and the site writer's refusal to bring it up decidedly proves it. Just look at the following:

Kitty Pryde's struggle with identity has been a core theme of her character, from her questionable fashion choices to the difficulty of her picking a simple codename, but also on a subtextual level – her sexuality. Kitty's character was first introduced in the '80s, during the height of the AIDS epidemic. There was a lack of LGBTQA+ representation in all media (not just comics), with superhero comic books relying on subtextual storytelling for any type of representation.

And, oh boy, was Kitty the queen of subtextual storytelling: flirtatious conversations with her female friends, hugs with Rachel Summers that lasted a bit too long, and tickle fights with Illyana Rasputin. Some may even go as far to say it was queerbaiting – giving just enough to make queer fans 'happy' without actually having to deliver on any real representation.

In a 2016 interview with Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Claremont even mentions that Kitty's true love was always intended to be Rachel Summers, and this isn't the only place he's been vocal about her bisexuality – leaving more subtextual moments in both the X-Men: The End and Mekanix limited series.

I'm honestly disappointed Claremont's made himself into such a tool for these clowns, but then, as he was reaching the end of his original run for nearly 15 years on X-Men and its spinoffs, his storytelling became more hit-or-miss, and when he came back to write it at the time the 2000 movie was debuting, it didn't feel like his book anymore, and the X-treme X-Men spinoff he wrote circa 2001-05 was hardly a masterpiece. His recent succumbing to political correctness is typical of some scribes in this modern era, who don't have what it takes to leave these ideologies at the door. And it only gets worse with this:

Kitty's return in Marauders #12 highlights some of her most important relationships and *cough* her potential love interests. From riding horses into the sunset with Emma Frost, Illyana lunging to embrace Kitty as a song about a secret love affair plays as ambiance, and, of course, some classic longing looks between Rachel and Kitty, all of the subtext becomes text and leads to the issue's monumental moment: she kisses a girl.

Even if Emma left the employ of the Hellfire Club and reformed a decade after her debut, winning Kitty's newfound trust as a result after they originally got off on the wrong foot in 1980, this is mighty ludicrous and atrociously oozy. Besides, isn't Emma much older than her? This treacle runs the risk of making it sound like there was a lesbian affair between an older woman and an underaged teen girl. And the truly disgusting thing is that the people writing these puff pieces are surely the same ones who'd tear down on older stories involving older men/younger women affairs, like Ben Grimm's young aunt Petunia marrying his older uncle in Fantastic Four, Donna Troy's love and marriage to college professor Terry Long in New Teen Titans, and even James MacDonald Hudson's marriage to the younger Heather MacNeil in Alpha Flight, whom he first met when she was a month before turning 18, and their affair only really began after she did. It's hypocrisy at its most offensive, coming from "moralists" who lost their moral compass for the sake of PC. Some of what appeared in older X-Men tales may have been subtextual, but that doesn't immediately prove it was intended to imply what these SJWs want it to.

A beat that happens because Kitty on countless occasions in the past five-plus years had to ask herself 'who am I?' and she was tired of running away from the answer. Why was her romantic timing with Star-Lord never right? Why did she leave Colossus at the altar? Why is she an X-Men on a pirate ship with finger tattoos working for the 'enemy'? Kitty was trying to find her authentic self, and her near-death experience helped her achieve it. Her moments with all those Peters were valid (that's the definition of bisexuality), but she needed to figure herself out before she could accept love from a man or a woman.

Following Marauders #12, the character, the title, and the entire X-Men line were whisked off to a two-month-long crossover event titled 'X of Swords,' leaving little chance for Kitty Pryde's 'coming out' moment to sink in, but readers are looking for follow-up later this year.

With so few bisexual characters in superhero comic books (and even fewer bisexual coming out stories), it makes it that much more important for Kitty Pryde's bisexuality to continue to be visible.

But not her Israeli ancestry, right? One of the people in the comments section summed it up with the following:

this article is well-written one-sided. Not a SINGLE mention of her religion, her being Jewish. Newsarama just deicded to NOT mention it at all as if it never existed. And trying to say there are FEW bisexual comic characters? REALLY? In X-books alone you have 12 (Elizabeth Braddock, Anole, Karma, Shatterstar, Rictor, Prodigy, Daken, Mysqiue, Destiny, Benjamin Deeds, Yukio, Stacy X), marvel has 40 characters at least and that's just in the 616 universe.

I got no problem with bisexual characters like Betsy, Anole, Karma, etc. but when you erase a persons beliefs to meet a quota? that's just wrong.

I ask you how many JEWISH characters are there represented in the X-books? Kitty & Magneto. How many of them practice Judaism? Just Kitty. So tell me what would happen if you took a bixesual character and changed them to be straight with a jewish faith? A angry-written article is what we would get. Thanks newsarama.

I fully agree here that the chances Newsarama and others of their ilk would appreciate emphasis on a Jewish background is very slim, and if they didn't do so before, there's no chance they will now. If a writer auditioned a story emphasizing Kitty's Jewish background and whether she's an observant Judaist of any sect, it's almost a foregone conclusion it would be watered down horribly by editorial, or rejected altogether, in contrast to this oh-so important moment in modern history, based on bisexuality.

Labels: marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, women of marvel, X-Men