Peter Parker and the Importance of a Secret Identity
NOTE: As I've said, SM♥MJ is Mary-Jane-centric. That means we don't get any views into what Peter's thinking. Thus this is based on my perceptions of how stuff happens in the comic itself. It is also not based on other Spider-Man comics, on the grounds that I haven't read them. Also, there are some spoilers. That said.
In SM♥MJ 4 (which you should all go download), MJ's best friend Liz says "You know...dweebs like Parker don't do a thing for me, but still...he seems to be a pretty stand-up guy, don't you think? He's really...real. Like an actual person." Peter is not the most popular guy in the world. He's very far from the most popular guy in the world. He is dorky and awkward, and his numerous good points are, for the most part, completely overlooked.
In the other corner, we have Spider-Man. Spider-Man is, during SM♥MJ, not yet at the height of his fame or popularity, but he still gets a lot of cool points. He certainly gets more cool points than Peter. He does generally have a crowd following him when he fights crime, and when MJ is running around trying to ask him out in the first issue, another woman says to her, harshly, "Stow it, sweetie--I seen 'im first." It's also pretty obvious that dating Spider-Man would be much more socially acceptable for MJ than dating Peter would be, and given Spider-Man is a guy who wears spandex and shoots webs out of his hands, that's really saying something.
So I think it's pretty obvious that Peter could probably up his social standing if he were to reveal that he was Spider-Man. But he doesn't. Thus far in SM♥MJ, he's told one person about his secret identity, and that's Gwen Stacy. More importantly, it's a Gwen Stacy who showed herself to already be interested in Peter. Peter told Gwen because his constant leaving was hurting her, not because he wanted or needed to impress her, or for any other reason. Contrast this with MJ in issue 4, where Peter spent the entire issue trying to convince MJ to pick him over Spider-Man, building to him saying, outright, "Don't go out with him. Go out with me."
That's all canon. Here's how I see it. Peter could, really easily, use Spider-Man to get cool points. Especially with MJ. Spider-Man, however, is not Peter Parker, in a very real way. Spider-Man is definitely the better side; while the two of them share the same faults, most people don't get close enough to Spider-Man to see the bad parts and don't get close enough to Peter to see the good parts. While I think part of it is definitely the standard superhero "I must not let people know my secret identity in order to protect those I love!" (especially with Uncle Ben dying and all that), I think there is also a good deal of "I don't want people to like me because I'm Spider-Man, I want people to like me because I'm Peter Parker." He's not really interested in having people try to befriend Peter because they like Spider-Man.
So what does all this mean? Basically, I don't foresee Peter stopping caring about his secret identity any time soon. Because even though around camp he'll probably realize quickly he doesn't have that much need of protecting his name, he will still have an interest in people liking him for him. And having met quite a few people who know Spider-Man at camp, Peter's going to be especially interested in making a name for Peter.
Which means: If you talk to Spider-Man about his secret identity, he's not going to be at all receptive. If you talk to him about Peter, he won't know who you're talking about. If you talk to Peter about Spider-Man, he will act unconcerned; he'll know who Spider-Man is, but he doesn't really care about him. If you hint that you think Peter is Spider-Man, he'll say it's ridiculous. Depending on how you do any of these, it could make him suspicious to downright angry. And he will go hang out with people who don't know him. Take that. However, if you do make a good impression Spidey, Peter will probably try to find an excuse to seek you out and try to make friends regularly, and if you're friends with Peter you're more likely to get a Spidey rescue.
In SM♥MJ 4 (which you should all go download), MJ's best friend Liz says "You know...dweebs like Parker don't do a thing for me, but still...he seems to be a pretty stand-up guy, don't you think? He's really...real. Like an actual person." Peter is not the most popular guy in the world. He's very far from the most popular guy in the world. He is dorky and awkward, and his numerous good points are, for the most part, completely overlooked.
In the other corner, we have Spider-Man. Spider-Man is, during SM♥MJ, not yet at the height of his fame or popularity, but he still gets a lot of cool points. He certainly gets more cool points than Peter. He does generally have a crowd following him when he fights crime, and when MJ is running around trying to ask him out in the first issue, another woman says to her, harshly, "Stow it, sweetie--I seen 'im first." It's also pretty obvious that dating Spider-Man would be much more socially acceptable for MJ than dating Peter would be, and given Spider-Man is a guy who wears spandex and shoots webs out of his hands, that's really saying something.
So I think it's pretty obvious that Peter could probably up his social standing if he were to reveal that he was Spider-Man. But he doesn't. Thus far in SM♥MJ, he's told one person about his secret identity, and that's Gwen Stacy. More importantly, it's a Gwen Stacy who showed herself to already be interested in Peter. Peter told Gwen because his constant leaving was hurting her, not because he wanted or needed to impress her, or for any other reason. Contrast this with MJ in issue 4, where Peter spent the entire issue trying to convince MJ to pick him over Spider-Man, building to him saying, outright, "Don't go out with him. Go out with me."
That's all canon. Here's how I see it. Peter could, really easily, use Spider-Man to get cool points. Especially with MJ. Spider-Man, however, is not Peter Parker, in a very real way. Spider-Man is definitely the better side; while the two of them share the same faults, most people don't get close enough to Spider-Man to see the bad parts and don't get close enough to Peter to see the good parts. While I think part of it is definitely the standard superhero "I must not let people know my secret identity in order to protect those I love!" (especially with Uncle Ben dying and all that), I think there is also a good deal of "I don't want people to like me because I'm Spider-Man, I want people to like me because I'm Peter Parker." He's not really interested in having people try to befriend Peter because they like Spider-Man.
So what does all this mean? Basically, I don't foresee Peter stopping caring about his secret identity any time soon. Because even though around camp he'll probably realize quickly he doesn't have that much need of protecting his name, he will still have an interest in people liking him for him. And having met quite a few people who know Spider-Man at camp, Peter's going to be especially interested in making a name for Peter.
Which means: If you talk to Spider-Man about his secret identity, he's not going to be at all receptive. If you talk to him about Peter, he won't know who you're talking about. If you talk to Peter about Spider-Man, he will act unconcerned; he'll know who Spider-Man is, but he doesn't really care about him. If you hint that you think Peter is Spider-Man, he'll say it's ridiculous. Depending on how you do any of these, it could make him suspicious to downright angry. And he will go hang out with people who don't know him. Take that. However, if you do make a good impression Spidey, Peter will probably try to find an excuse to seek you out and try to make friends regularly, and if you're friends with Peter you're more likely to get a Spidey rescue.