AN: Another short world building chapter today, this one revolving around an episode of the old Schoolhouse Rock animated shorts. While most of the shorts focused on things like grammar and math, this chapter is based on the American History shorts that aired in '75-'76, leading up to the U.S Bicentennial. While laughably simplified and white-washed, the songs were undeniably catchy, and this episode is based on the idea of a pro-mutant social wave and how it might have shaped pop culture. The melody I used while writing this is the theme from the "I'm Just a Bill" short. Again, I'm not a songwriter, so sorry if the lyrics are a bit clunky.
Original Air Date: October 18th, 1975
Directed And Written By: Bob Dorough and Charles Xavier.
Music By: Bob Dorough
.....
NARRATOR: As your body grows bigger, your mind must flower! It's great to learn!
BOY: 'Cause knowledge is power!
CHOIR: It's School House Rocky, A Chip Off the Block! All You're Favorite Schoolhouse, Schoolhouse ROCK!!
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SCREEN: [A drawing of the inside of a diner, with a jukebox and a massive video screen at the front. The screen is showing the words Of Mutants and Men]
NARRATOR: Of Mutants And Men!
.....
SCREEN: [A simple cartoon of a man with blue skin and fin-like ears, sitting on a park bench and reading a newspaper. A boy with red hair walks up to him, holding a football under his arm]
BOY: "Hey Mister, how come you look like that? Are you a spaceman or something?"
MAN: "No, I'm a mutant, this is just what I look like."
SONG: I'm a mutant, a person just like you, and genetics is the reason I'm blue! Yes, I might look different, or scary, or strange, but I'm still just a regular person, I promise it's true!
BOY: "Genetics? What's that?"
MAN: "Genetics is the part of us that shapes us into the people we are. For example, you have red hair, because you have the genes for red hair, and I see you have a football with you. Do you like playing football?"
BOY: "Yeah, it's one of my favorite sports! I'm the best in my class!"
MAN: "Then chances are that you have some genes that helps with playing football, such as being good at running, or throwing. Like everyone else, you were born with certain parts that shaped you into the person you are today. A mutant is someone who is born with a special ability, they might be able to fly, or become invisible, or walk through walls (a cutaway shows a blonde girl flying, an asian boy turning invisible, and a black boy becoming intangible).And some, like me, are born looking different as well, but no matter what we look like, we're still people like you."
SONG: Yes, I'm a mutant, a person just like you, and it's really not so bad being blue, it can be tough sometimes, but what can you do? I wouldn't change being me for anything, because being blue is part of me too.
BOY: "But where do mutants come from? How come some people are mutants, and not others?"
MAN: "Again, that's genetics! Most people inherit their genes from their parents, if they are tall, odds are you will be too. If they both have blonde hair or dark skin, so will you. But a mutant is someone who is born with a brand new part that's all their own! You see, in scientific terms, a mutation is an organism who has adapted to better survive in it's environment, so a mutant might be stronger, or faster, or have better vision when they grow up."
SCREEN: [A cartoon shows a crude cartoon version of a DNA helix morph into a muscular figure, then a normal one that speeds away off screen, and finally, one with binoculars for eyes.]
BOY: "But if mutants have powers, and other people don't, doesn't that mean that mutants are better than them?"
MAN: "Not any more than having any other special skill does. Someone might be a great painter, or a great writer, or a great musician, but that doesn't make them better than anyone else. A mutant is simply someone who is special in more obvious ways than most, but we all have things we're good at, and we should take joy in our talents and abilities. It's up to everyone to make the world a better place in ways only they can."
SONG: Yes, we're mutants, but we're still people just like you, being different isn't bad, even if you're blue! We're all special in our own ways, we all have special things we can do, and that's the way things should be, don't you