Kitty Pryde
-Kitty Pryde, at Larry Bodine's memorial assembley, New Mutants #45 :
"Some of you know me. Most don't. I'm here because I guess I knew Larry Bodine best. But that isn't saying much. I hardly knew him at all. If I had, maybe we wouldn't be at this memorial assembly. Who was he, then, that we gather to mourn him? Who am I? A four-eyed, flat-chested, brat, chick, brain, hebe, stuck-up Xavier's snob freak! Don't like the words? I could use nicer. I've heard worse. Who here hasn't? So often, so casually, that maybe we've forgotten the power they have to hurt. Nigger, spic, wop, slope, faggot, mutie--the list is so long. And so cruel. They're labels. Put downs. And they hurt. But usually we laugh it off or hit back--with words of our own, or fists--or we suffer in silence. No big deal--this is the rough edge of reality, right? Why make a fuss? Trouble was, when someone labeled Larry Bodine a 'mutie', they hit home--because he was. His power created beauty. That's it. He did with light and color what Mozart did with music. And he wanted nothing more than to be accepted by his peers. And possibly even liked--and isn't that what any of us really want? To have friends. People to care for us? Not to be alone? If we're lucky, we have someone to turn to. Larry didn't. He thought, if people knew the truth, they'd stop seeing him and see only the label, the brand, his personal 'Scarlet Letter'. So he hid the truth and lived in terror of being discovered. He even joined in when others put mutants down. What matter the cost to his soul if it made his life a little better. That's the tragedy, that's our shame. Think of what you say. Imagine it being said about you. It's easy to make fun, real easy to be cruel. Try sometime being on the receiving end. If we're to learn anything from Larry's death, it should be this...You want to know who I am? I'm Katherine Pryde. That's the only thing that matters. The rest are just labels."
Log in to comment