The big reason for my harsh criticism on this piece is because of how originally excited I was from the tease and feeling the beads of stress on how I was going to squeeze the finances to get the Sideshow X-Men line. Then they release this portrait to my utter horror.
Manstique. Not in my collection. But maybe in yours. Some of you may be open to the new realities of society where the social norms of what looks like a man or a woman are blurred, and that's ok. Maybe this is in your private collection away from the judging eyes of friends, family, or society where someone might ask you why you have a statue of a blue man wearing a dress? And that's ok. But that does not require the rest of us to conform.
If you read other fan base forums you will see the battle of opinions raging on which at the heart feels like the social justice war. Star Wars is one such example.
I raise this question of art direction with Sideshow because I'm sure someone there had to think this portrait could have male overtones but perhaps they could not speak up at the threat of not being PC or other social work environment pressures? Based on rumor, how was a long hair portrait in the works but did not pass concept? It was in the tease.
Happy for those of you that like this piece. But also happy that for the moment I can say, as colorfully as the rainbow warrior and offensively as I do, that I do not. Happy collecting!
