salarta

slacksimoff:

salarta:

I’ve always been of the impression that Magneto isn’t as fatherly to his son because he sees a lot of himself in Pietro, and what he sees there brings up a lot of things about himself he doesn’t want to face.

But as far as his daughters go, I agree and think you’re right. My own pet theory with Lorna is that Lorna is Magneto’s “baby.” He doesn’t want her to get hurt, so he’s been trying to keep his distance and only brings her into his life if 1) he thinks she’ll be safer around him, 2) he’s having a fit of mania where his goals override his fatherly instincts, or 3) she’ll die if he doesn’t get involved.

I think Magneto doesn’t feel the need to be as cautious with Wanda because she’s the “big sister,” and on top of age, he knows she can handle herself and wields enough power to be a threat to the Phoenix Force. He doesn’t need to worry about his enemies trying to kill Wanda to get to him like he currently does with Lorna.

In Lorna’s case, this is more a consequence of Marvel not allowing her to show what she’s capable of since Marvel severely undervalues her and her potential, but it works out for the current situation. Pietro’s the son that reminds him too much of himself. Wanda’s the daughter he can trust to take care of herself. And Lorna’s his little angel he doesn’t want to see get hurt.

Pietro is not really like Magneto, though. Sure, they’re very similar-looking, and they share many traits—the arrogance, the emotionality, the verbal bombast. But Pietro isn’t ambitious, he isn’t particularly charismatic, he isn’t political. He has no cunning or planning. Pietro’s mistakes, though they have the largest possible repurcussions, are essentially small, within-family actions. Magneto deliberately affects things worldwide. Pietro’s power is individual-level, personal; Magneto wields power over nations. Magneto is big, Pietro is small.

And that’s, in my opinion, why Magneto disrespects Pietro. He sees Pietro as weak, impulsive, unable to do more than take defensive action. He has contempt for Pietro, maybe based on disgust that Pietro can’t do what Magneto can do (things Magneto thinks are existentially necessary), maybe based on fear that Pietro won’t survive. Maybe because Magneto is abusive and the only one he can safely abuse, the one he can justify abusing, the one who can’t effectively retaliate, is Pietro.

I was pretty broad in my description for what Magneto sees in Pietro because I didn’t want to spend a lot more time writing beyond my usual long pieces. It wound up reading like I think Pietro is nearly the exact same as Magneto.

I agree with most of your first paragraph, but not much of your second paragraph. When I say Pietro reminds Magneto a lot of himself, I mean the traits you cite. Both men are very arrogant, bombastic, but whereas Magneto can sometimes be a monster and incredibly driven with a hard line, Pietro’s found a way to channel it into definitively good actions, good deeds, or at least things that have good intent that doesn’t involve killing or maiming anyone unless as a last resort. When people get hurt, it’s accidental like with the Terrigen Mists, not a “sad but necessary casualty in an ideological war.” Pietro is very much the good man Magneto wishes he could be, but feels he can’t both because of his past and his idea of what role he needs to take in the world.

I don’t think Magneto sees Pietro as weak. If he’s stuck in a fit of mania, obsessed to the point of insanity, then yes, I could see Magneto thinking of Pietro that way. But when he’s not insane, when he’s being the Magneto we’ve seen in Bunn’s solo book, I think Magneto doesn’t see weakness, but strength. Pietro has the strength to be the good man Magneto can’t be. And perhaps, on some level, Magneto may be afraid that getting too close to Pietro might push his son off the path he’s on.

I completely disagree on the implication that Magneto is abusive as a general rule, especially toward his family. He CAN be abusive and a monster, under certain conditions: if he’s insane or getting there, if he’s outraged by a crime the person committed against mutants, sometimes even if an entity (e.g. S.H.I.E.L.D.) gets in his way and show no concern or sympathy for what happens to mutants in need. But he is NOT an abusive person as a general rule.

I don’t know if you’re reading the Magneto solo by Cullen Bunn, but if not, I highly suggest it. It’s really good writing, and it gives a sense of Magneto, I think unapologetically. There’s admission he can be a monster, as well as an inspiration, that he’s a deeply flawed man that’s done a lot of horrible things for what he sees as a just cause.

More importantly, Magneto #10 during Axis involves Magneto retreating into his mind to escape psychic attacks. Among the memories he used, one he deliberately chose for its pleasant associations was when he revealed he’s Wanda and Pietro’s father, while happily holding baby Luna. That moment ends with him being verbally abusive toward Wanda – before he realizes that’s not what happened, and the enemy doing the psychic attacks on him altered the memory to make his role in it more like the way he is when he’s insane with righteous fury.

Magneto doesn’t hate or abuse any of his kids except when he’s mentally unstable. He might express disappointment if they oppose him, but deep down he still loves them. That includes Pietro.