X-Men Film Analysis

990 Words4 Pages
X-Men: First Class is an allegory for bigotry as a whole and mostly, underscores racisms and gay rights through the mutants’ experience of discrimination and inner struggle with self–acceptance– reflecting the oppression experienced by racial minority groups and the queer community in society today. “They (humans) will fear us and that fear will turn to hatred.” (Singer et al. & Vaughn, 2011) Because of the astounding powers mutants possessed and much is unknown about them, humans feared them, similar to the how the White society feared the unknown (the blacks)– the fear of being economically disadvantaged – which led to the enslavement of blacks. (Adams, 2013) This essay aims to evaluate how discrimination is portrayed in the movie through…show more content…
and Malcolm X in the film by drawing comparisons with their beliefs and background. (Alcott, 2013). The movie was set in 1960s, a decade where discrimination against the blacks were rife and leaders of the oppressed– Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X– fought hard for freedom in vastly different ways. Martin Luther King Jr. aspired for peace, acceptance and integration through nonviolent resistance, in hopes of improving relations between blacks and whites. According to King Jr. (1957), “non–violent resistance does not seek to humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding”, which could be seen in Charles’ actions. “Erik, you said yourself, we’re the better man, this is the time to prove it” was what Charles said to convince Erik to not kill humans. (Singer et al. & Vaughn, 2011) Even when the mutants were betrayed and their lives were in jeopardy, Charles still shared Dr King’s philosophy– to “not retaliate with hate and bitterness” and for mutants to be accepted into society without being deemed as a threat to humanity. Unlike Charles, Erik is not an integrationist and believed in violent resistance due to a turbulent childhood– sharing similarities with Malcolm X. Being a victim of discrimination in a society at a period when Malcolm was subjected to white supremacist group’s violence and structural violence that caused the metal breakdown of his mother, it was impossible for him to recognize that meaningful change could happen through nonviolent resistance and integration. (Cone, 1993) And Erik too, was a victim of discrimination in the Holocaust. Because he was a Jew in the concentration camp, he was separated from his mother, which unleashed his powers and eventually led to the death of his mother. These events shaped him to be a man who resorted to violence to attain freedom for mutants
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