InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I will...NEVER be a memory!"

Doop (xdoop) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-24 11:31:00

Entry tags:

char: crossbones/brock rumlow, char: iron man/tony stark, char: maria hill, char: professor x/charles xavier, char: spider-man/peter parker, char: vision/jonas, creator: brian michael bendis, creator: ed brubaker, creator: mike deodato, creator: steve epting, publisher: marvel comics, title: captain america, title: new avengers

Mind rape?

While they didn't create the term, TV Tropes defines "Mind Rape" as when "a character is attacked by a villain in the most painful non-physical way possible. Their mind and soul are assaulted with painful, horrifying visions and memories, and broken until they're powerless and numb, but not dead, although afterwards they may wish they were. Nothing sexual occurs, but everything else is there to resemble a rape - violation, helplessness, and the poisoning of what could otherwise be a source of joy."

However I've seen a lot of people throw the term around whenever a character gets their mind read without their permission, as if it's just as bad (or almost as bad) as the act of sexual assault itself.

One such example occurred in New Avengers #19, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato.

SHIELD has asked the New Avengers for help dealing with the Collective, which is later revealed to be the unified energy signatures of all the mutants depowered after "M-Day." Spider-Man and the Young Avengers' Vision are on the Helicarrier when SHIELD discovers that the energy readings match those of a large number of the depowered mutants. When Spider-Man discovers the connection to the House of M, Iron Man tells him to take the Vision and get off the ship.

Later...

Another example of when the term "mind rape" was used was in reference to this scene from Captain America #28, by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.

So, do you think any of these examples are comparable to actually raping someone?

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

ex_menagerie993
2009-07-25 05:58 pm UTC (link)

Okay, a few things. Rape can also mean "an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse" (ie: rape of the countryside)".

The second thing, and the problem with telepathy at large in fiction, is that how it actually feels is unknown to us. We have no idea how that would effect anyone psychologically or physiologically because telepathy doesn't exist. There's no way to gauge this, or the damage it could do.

However, if you know someone is in your mind, or has been in your mind, against your will, and you can do nothing to prevent them from not only looking at your deepest darkest bits but also not being able to stop them from putting whatever they might like to in your head? Yes, I could see the term as entirely appropriate and potentially even more traumatic than sexual rape. It'd leave a victim with not only the fear of another predatory telepath doing it to them again, but also they'd have to wonder exactly how much of their memory, habit, and personality are actually theirs and how much may have been put in by the violator telepath.

Spidey in the first scene had no idea that a telepath had been in there. What else did they do while they were in there? Change his favorite ice cream flavor? Make him suddenly forget the unfortunate Amazing Bag-Man incident? Made him forget a highschool crush, or how he beat Hydro-Man the past 23 times, or the smell of baking bread? How about make him salivate every time he hears the word "dendrochronologist" and strip whenever he hears the word "defenestrate". I mean that telepath could literally have done anything to him and he would have been entirely helpless to prevent it, and what more, he may never even know it happened. I could see that as much much more terrifying. I think that's a violation of the very core of one's being.

Mind you, mainstream comics are piss poor at addressing how characters deal with this sort of thing psychologically, so it's almost a moot point. Personally, I tend to use the phrase for the more extreme examples of this. ("You'll vomit uncontrollably for 48 hours when you hear the word parsley" etc).

(Reply to this)

(Read comments) -