X-Men is about civil rights. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get X-Men.
Black Panther is about civil rights. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get Black Panther.
Captain America literally fought Nazis. He is the embodiment of fighting the alt-right. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get Captain America.
The Empire in Star Wars is fascist. The Rebel alliance are Anti-Fascist. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get Star Wars.
The Punisher isnāt meant to be a role model for police or armed forces. So much so that the writers of The Punisher made him actively speak out against it in a comic. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get The Punisher.
Deadpool is queer. Heās pansexual. Fact. If you didnāt get that you didnāt get Deadpool.
Star Trek is about equality for all genders, races and sexualities. As early as the mid-60s it was taking a pro-choice stance and defending womenās right to choose. One of its clearest themes is accepting different cultures and appearances and working together for peace. (Itās also anti-capitalist and pro-vegan). If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get Star Trek.
Superman and Supergirl (and a whole host of other superheroes) are immigrants. The stance of those comics is pro-immigration and pro-equality and acceptance. If you didnāt get that, you didnāt get Superman or Supergirl.
Stan Lee said āRacism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.ā If youāre bigoted or racist, you didnāt get any of the characters Stan Lee created.
The stories we grew up with all taught us to value other people and cultures and to treasure the differences between us. Only villains were xenophobic, or sexist, or racist, or totalitarian. I canāt understand how anyone can have missed that.
If youāre upset that thereās a black Spider-Man, or a black Captain America, or a female Thor, or that Ms Marvel is Muslim, or that Captain Marvel was pro-feminism, or any of the other things right wing āfansā say is āstealing their childhoodā - you never got it in the first place. The things you claim are now āpandering to the leftiesā were never on your side to begin with.
If you consider yourself a fan of these things, but you still think the LGBTQ+ community is too āin your faceā, or have a problem with Black Lives Matter, or want to ātake the country back from immigrantsā, then youāre not really a fan at all.
Geek culture isnāt suddenly left wing⦠it always was. You just grew up to be intolerant. You became the villain in the stories you used to love.