Yes, it does look like a lot like Aunt Lois, but still.
But we aren’t related that way.
Well, because Aunt Lois is my mother’s–your grandmother’s–sister, and organgutans… how to put this… we’re related to every human being on earth.
Yes, even the homeless people.
Yes, even the–the accepted term is Asian, young lady.
But it’s been a long, long time since our families were… how to put this… I don’t even know my great-grandmother’s mother’s name. And to get back to when all the people lived in one place, you have to go back hundreds of thousands of grandmothers. And to go back to when all the apes and humans lived in one place…
Yes, people and apes do still live in the same places in Africa.
No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Where do you… does your father talk to you when you stay weekends at his house? Does he tell you that people are different because of the way they look?
Does he?
The people in Africa are not more closely related to apes than we are.
Yes, even if they do live in the same place. How to put this… there’s a thing called evolution. It means “change over time.”
Yes, I guess it would be like how your father and I used to love each other very much and now… well, it’s difficult.
So organisms as a species, they change over time. Through the process of mutation.
Well, radiation is one way things mutate.
And yes, the X-Men are another example of mutations.
I guess you could say that all people alive today are mutants.
What’s the… don’t… why are you crying?
It’s not a bad thing to be a mutant. I’m a mutant, too. We’re all mutants.
There aren’t any mutant hunters. That whole thing about mutants, it was… how to put it… things change. People and orangutans and all the other great apes…
I don’t know what makes them great. Their size, relative to other non-human primates, I would imagine.
Why? Did you father tell you he wrestled a gorilla and tore its arms off and shoved them up its… that’s not a word we use in this house, little miss.
Well, I think he was probably teasing you. Just playing pretend.
Let’s just say that… how to put it… your father can hold his own against a pregnant woman who’s a little tipsy, but against a gorilla, I don’t think he’d last a minute.
Because they’re very strong.
Yes, it’s probably okay to name the orangutans at the zoo the next time you go.
No, you can’t name them Aunt Lois.
For the same reason that it’s okay to name people’s dogs, but not homeless people.
Or babies.
Yes, even if they’re a different color than us.
