Getting a bit political in M&M: bad idea?

[CaptainKaulu]

So, I'm thinking ahead to when I focus on the United States in my work on re-booted VordWarp. And the overall theme of the USA in VordWarp is being paralyzed by political polarization. (A theme that, sadly, is on-track to becoming entirely true, compared to when I first wrote up the setting a few years ago.)

Therefore, I am considering making four USA super-"heroes" who clearly represent four political-demographic stereotypes of USA citizens. I would not be explicit about which stereotypes I personally favor or identify with; I would try to leave up to the individual playgroup which of the four to treat as allies or antagonists of the PCs.

The four demographics being (1) rural Bible-belt conservatives, (2) urban racial minority liberals, (3) wealthy big-business conservatives, and (4) educated young upper-middle-class liberals.

Can this be done without being offensive? Or at least, without being more offensive than a superheroes setting should innately be? Or is playing on these stereotypes just a plain bad idea?

EDIT: I should probably mention that these four figures would still be "led" by Moderate All-American national hero Kestrel, who herself struggles to please both sides of the spectrum but succeeds more often than not.

Also, if it matters, these will generally not be high-powered figures in light of VordWarp's overall power level. I was thinking PL 7, 8, 8, and 10 for the four, with Kestrel at PL9. Haven't decided yet which ones would be which Power Levels.

[Ares]

Superhero comics tend to reflect the era and times in which they're made, for good or ill. Sometimes this can lead to stories that perfectly encapsulate that era and make valid points about the issues of the day. Sometimes it can horribly date an otherwise timeless tale and/or come off as heavy handed in favor of one side over the other. It all depends on how its handled.

Echoes itself is politically neutral. Everyone is free to have and hold whatever political views they wish, and I welcome open and honest debates so long as people stick to relevant facts and do not demonize one another. Polite discourse and friendly disagreement are lost arts I'm hoping to bring back. While I have my own political opinions, my politics are not Echoes politics.

You don't truly have control over what people will and will not be offended by. Someone somewhere will find offense for reasons real or imagined. All you have control over is how respectfully and fairly you handle any given subject, and how informed you choose to be about that topic. If you have taken the time to research any given topic and are not intentionally setting out to be offensive or to demonize one side over the other, then you've really done all you can.

Injecting overt politics into any work of fiction is often a risky proposition, since as stated above, there are people who will find offense in anything. And if not handled correctly, the political message can come off as soapboxing, condescending, demonizing and polarizing. There's a very real risk of alienating at least half the audience right off the bat.

At the same time, there's just as much a risk of remaining politically neutral or trying to show both or all sides as having some validity, as some folks will accuse you of fence sitting, being wishy washy, not going far enough or not taking a stance.

That said, it is in fact possible to have politics exist in a story and simply be there, with the key point being that you are not intentionally pushing a political agenda, and merely showing that "these politics exist in this world and I am not taking any sides within this particular work of fiction". Having Republicans and Democrats in a story is not getting political. Promoting one sides politics by straw-maning or vilifying the other side is.

Ultimately, all I can say is this: If you think you can handle this in a way that doesn't demonize any faction, If you are using stereotypes without turning them into offensive caricatures, if you're more focused on showing that the political divide exists without blaming any one side for it existing, and that it's the divide itself (and the small, loud and disagreeable minorities within all sides trying to widen said divide) that is the problem, then I would say go for it. Just remember that all of the above factors apply, including the risks and burdens you're taking upon yourself to present this idea as well and fairly as you can.

[CaptainKaulu]

That was a very complete and tidy, and ultimately encouraging, response. Thanks!

[RainOnTheSun]

I'm all in favor of political messages in comic books, but in an RPG with your friends it has the possibility to derail the game if your players disagree on the issues more strongly than you expected. I don't know your playgroup, so all I can suggest is to make sure you do know them.

[FuzzyBoots]

One of the chief things you need to watch out for is when you've cast a particular group as the villains, particularly if you've done that entirely because of who they are. I had an uncomfortable game a few years ago where the big reveal wound up being that a set of bomb-setting anarchists were Occupy Wall Street leaders and the GM saw nothing wrong with that, feeling that it naturally followed from their organization's values.

[Neo-Paladin]

Yeah, strawmanning can be a big problem. If you can avoid it, great. Politics should be handled with care but I also believe that, if we set our settings in something approximating the real world,leaving them out completely would be cheating - then again, I also consider DC's insistence on creating fictional countries instead of depicting the reality their inventions are very obviously based on to be taking the easy route.
The political landscape in my Merged World setting looks very similar to ours, modified where necessary. Trump, for example, won not just by appealing to the working class-people who felt left behind by technological and social progress, but by taking a hard stance against monsters hiding amongst mankind - as usual, a bit heavy-handed, painting many with a very broad brush - but in that setting, the guy has a point.

[RainOnTheSun]

Donald Trump, pandering to xenophobia?!

This is my shocked face.

[CaptainKaulu]

Spent this week on a business trip with a colleague (previously only known through video chat meetings). We don't agree on much politically, but got along fine by agreeing that we would be reasonable, civil people and focus on our business relationship.

I think I'll base one of my partisan American super"heroes" on this colleague. With artistic license embellishments of course. Just need to figure out 19 more PP worth of superpowers they could have.