Vidiot dimension (media-ruled dimension)

THE VIDIOT DIMENSION

Type: Extradimensional realm

Environment: Earth-like

Usual means of access: Dimensional portals

Dominant Life Form: Vidiots

Significant Inhabitants: M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction), M.C.s (Manufacture of Consent) (Moopert Rurdock, others), Mediamogul, MultiTransNational Mega-Corporations, Rent-a-President, Situation Ethics

First Appearance: New Mutants I Summer Special#1 (Summer, 1990)

History: (New Mutants I Summer Special#1) - The Vidiot dimension was apparently created by its emperor, the Mediamogul. Eventually, oligopoly Megalump Monopolies fought each other in a massive media war, causing polluting static within their advertising fallout and dimensional disruption when the Monopolies lost proper spin control or used incorrect sound bites. The Vidiot dimension's Third World was also constantly under fallout from M.A.D., a two-headed being who had been fighting with itself for decades and whose weapons harmed the Third World. When a Vidiot journalist began investigating the pollution of the dimensional countryside by the MultiTransNational Mega-Corporations, he was exiled from his home dimension and wound up in Earth space.

(New Mutants I Summer Special#1) - When the New Mutants' resident Technarch member Warlock picked up the Vidiot's communication signal and recognized it as hailing from an adjacent dimension, he stretched into space and retrieved the Vidiot journalist, who briefly had time to explain himself to Warlock, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Boom-Boom before a dimensional portal opened to retrieve the Vidiot. Unfortunately, the portal proved unable to fully open but Boom-Boom hurled a time-bomb that forced it open, pulling both the Vidiot and the New Mutants through the portal. Traveling through the dimensional barriers, the Vidiot soon showed the New Mutants the Vidiot as they came upon it, showing them the Vidiots' Global Village before they fell through the dimension's media fallout. As they fell to a landing, the journalist explained how the MultiTransNational Mega-Corporations were polluting his dimension. Warlock transformed into a net to allow the New Mutants and the Vidiot a safe landing before the Vidiot welcomed the New Mutants to the city of Megalopolis, a free country where every resident was free to be selfish. When Wolfsbane remarked how the residents all looked zoned-out, the Vidiot journalist explained that the gluttony of owning too much and the oversaturation of media had made the residents depressed. Before anything more could be said, an attractive advertising Vidiot arrived atop a limousine and suggested that the New Mutants all buy her products. She then grabbed Wolfsbane, applied mounds of makeup and showed Wolfsbane a mirror that reflected an attractive image to Wolfsbane. Affected by the advertising siren,Wolfsbane blindly followed the siren as she drove away, separating her from the other New Mutants. When her teammates tried to follow, they were met by a large television and were unable to stop in time to prevent themselves from passing through its screen. Deposited at the edge of the media spell that the journalist had earlier been investigating, the New Mutants found their forms altered but the Vidiot journalist "changed the channel," restoring their bodies to normal. Announcing that he had to prevent the cover up of the pollution, the journalist soon sensed the arrival of a dangerous M.C. and ordered the New Mutants to hide. As they watched from afar, the M.C. known as media kingpin Moopert Rurdock walked by, talking on a cellphone about how to continue covering up the media pollution by manufacturing a villain to blame. Suggesting that the other M.C.s stage an alternate event to divert public attention away from the pollution, Rurdock summoned the Vidiot dimension's Rent-a-President to have him kiss a baby, cut a ribbon, throw a football, feed the homeless and give a medal, all simultaneously to divert public attention. Rurdock then had his Vidiot servants alter Rent-a-President's appearance and place him behind an American flag backdrop to film Rent-a-President's speech. Despite Rent-a-President mistakenly kissing the football and throwing the baby, Rurdock was pleased and figured no one would notice Rent-a-President's goofs. Having witnessed Rurdock's manipulations, the New Mutants became determined to stop him and reveal his manipulations to the Vidiot public. When Sunspot admitted that the Vidiot dimension was like Earth, where people didn't question the press because it was free, Boom-Boom suggested they attack the media at its source and the Vidiot journalist explained that they would have to attack Megalopolis itself, which was on the other side of the wasteland they had been deposited in. Traveling across the wasteland's muddy brown road, the New Mutants and the journalist soon found themselves in the Vidiot dimension's Third World, where the Vidiot residents were being bombed but acted like they didn't notice, as they were used to it as a way of life. When the New Mutants asked who was firing on the Third World residents, the journalists revealed a two headed being called M.A.D., whose incessant fighting amongst its two heads had caught the Third World in its fallout. Having a closer look at M.A.D. thanks to Warlock's hot air balloon transformation, the New Mutants were informed that M.A.D. had been fighting with itself for decades and decided to shut M.A.D. up. During the New Mutants' attack, M.A.D. continued fighting with itself and ended up knocking itself unconscious, allowing the New Mutants to continue their trek back to Megalopolis. Upon arrival in Megalopolis, the New Mutants determined that the only way the dimension's media machine would report the Vidiot journalist's findings to the public would be to turn the news into a public spectacle. When Sunspot suggested an airstrike, the Vidiot known as Situation Ethics appeared and began spouting varying sorts of conflicting ethical solutions to the New Mutants' situation, preventing the New Mutants from interrupting. Deciding to attack regardless, the New Mutants escaped Situation Ethics and flew off to begin an airstrike on the capital of Megalopolis despite Situation Ethics' reminder of the attack's conflicting ramifications. As the New Mutants flew away in Warlock, who had transformed into a plane, M.A.D. regained consciousness and fell through a crack in the rock keeping it above the Third World. Confronted with the Third World for the first time, M.A.D. was ridiculed by the Third World's Vidiot residents and, without fear to empower it, M.A.D. shrunk in size and the Vidiot children chased after it, looking at M.A.D. as if it were a new toy. The New Mutants eventually made their way to the Megalopolis power center and began storming it as Wolfsbane, who had been given a seemingly perfect life with a Vidiot disguised as a human being, witnessed the attack on television. Recognizing her teammates, Wolfsbane discarded the makeover she had been given, transformed into her wolf state and rushed off to assist the other New Mutants. Swarms of Megalopolis soldiers fought against the New Mutants, with Sunspot reminding Situation Ethics that while peaceful resistance is all well and good, sometimes a fight was necessary. As the fight continued, Wolfsbane reunited with her friends, aiding them against the soldiers while a Vidiot child noticed a pair of shoes behind a nearby curtain. Pulling the curtain, the child found the fat Vidiot emperor called Mediamogul manipulating events and Wolfsbane discovered Mediamogul as well when she noticed the child. When the fight raged out of control, Wolfsbane pulled the plug on the Vidiot Emperor's machines, causing the Megalopolis soldiers to disappear, having only been holograms the entire time. Exposing the Mediamogul to his subjects, the New Mutants destroyed his crown and removed his suspenders, causing his pants to fall down. As the Mediamogul was ridiculed by his subjects, everything in the Vidiot dimension began to disintegrate without the Mediamogul's constant manipulations. Pulled back through the dimensional portal as the Vidiot dimension was apparently destroyed, the New Mutants erupted from their television back on Earth and decided to throw all of their televisions away.

Comments: Created by Ann Nocenti and Bret Blevins.

In case it wasn't obvious, the Vidiot dimension was a dimension ruled by and physically affected by television.

Several residents of the Vidiot dimension were based on real-life people. For example, Moopert Rurdock was obviously based on Fox News mogul Rupert Murdock and Rent-a-President was based on former U.S. President George H.W. Bush.

At various points in the dimension's only story, the term "Vidiot" was used to describe both the journalist and the dimension's residents as a whole.

A few points remain unclear within the New Mutants Summer Special story. One, according to the story's end, the Mediamogul had apparently created the entire Vidiot dimension using machines that he could manipulate, yet he himself appeared to be a Vidiot. So which came first, the dimension or the Mediamogul? If he was a Vidiot, how could he create himself? Secondly, throughout the story, a group of children appeared in a stream outside the New Mutants' headquarters and staged a peaceful protest to get the polluted stream cleaned. It seemed to be hinted at that the children were actually Vidiots themselves and throughout most of the story, they appeared in black and white and when they succeeded in getting the stream cleaned, they appeared in color. As such, I read the story thinking they might have been Vidiots that had escaped their dimension when the New Mutants entered it and then remained on Earth when the dimension was destroyed, perhaps even appearing in color with the destruction of their dimension. Then again, there was a scene in which reporters reported on the children's protest and the reporters appeared in black and white too. It was hard to tell if they actually were in black and white or if it was just a coloring error...Either way, those still children are presumably still on Earth-616 somewhere...

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Vidiot dimension has no known connection to

The Mediaverse dimension, part of the Encroachiverse, populated by cyclopeans with brain camcorders, life is endless loop of talk shows @ Sensational She-Hulk I#17
Vidiots of Earth-8410 (2020), video game addicts, minds hooked directly to machines @ Machine Man II#2
or any other "Vidiot" dimensions

M.A.D has no known connections to

any other "M.A.D." characters

The Mediamogul has no known connections to

Mojo, ruler of the Mojoverse via entertainment & ratings @ Longshot I#3
or any other "Mediamogul" characters

Rent-a-President has no known connections to

George H.W. Bush, former US President of who Rent-a-President shares a likeness
or any other "President" characters

Moopert Rurdock has no known connections to

Rupert Murdoch, Fox news magnate of whom Moopert Rurdock's name is based on
or any other "Moopert" or "Rurdock" characters

Situation Ethics has no known connections to

any other "Situation" or "Ethics" characters

M.A.D.

M.A.D., or Mutual Assured Destruction, was a two-headed being that constantly fought amongst itself. The weapons it used against itself rained down death and destruction upon the Vidiot dimension's Third World, which was located below a rocky platform that M.A.D. stood atop. After decades of destruction, the Third World grew accustomed to M.A.D.'s destruction until the New Mutants came upon M.A.D. and attacked it. During the fight, M.A.D. knocked itself out and when it came to, its rocky platform split in two, causing it to fall into the Third World. Seeing how little there was to fear from M.A.D., the Third World residents ridiculed M.A.D., causing it to lose power from their fear and it shrank until it was no bigger than a toy. The Third World's Vidiot children then chased it away.

M.A.D. had two heads (and torsos, sets of arms, etc.) with two very distinctive personalities. It was also equipped with all sorts of weaponry, ranging from guns to missiles. The more fear it absorbed, the larger it became.