Huge box office numbers are already in for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). The Marvel comic-book superheroes with young adult angst are given another big screen, CGI-loaded treatment in this latest outing. With all of the surface distractions, it’s easy to gloss over the political undertones of the film.
Debuting in the 1960s, when Stan Lee was at the helm of Marvel comics, the X-Men focused on the theme of teenage outsiders looking for a sense of identity. (An earlier version of this theme had been worked successfully in 1950s movies such as Rebel Without a Cause.) The X-Men’s superpowers did not so much elevate their status in society as alienate them from it. So, they were often wrapped up in their own personal dramas while fighting global menaces. It was a formula, but one that worked.
The X-Men have always been a Trojan horse kind of franchise. It’s surely been one of the comic book world’s most politically suggestive titles, both in the original comics and now on the big screen. In the latest screen version, they face a dilemma that brings their personal conflicts together with larger concerns.
In X-Men: The Last Stand, the so-called “mutants” are struggling to choose between assimilation and maintaining their unique identities. According to the storyline, the X-Men, and others like them, are trying to decide whether to join the mainstream of “normal” citizens by taking a drug that will erase their superpowers. Predictably, there is little agreement on the best course, and this conflict that fuels much of the storyline.
The film’s theme of conforming and not conforming reminds us of the current American political climate in a way. Americans value individuality, but it’s often hard for people to agree when they should give up some of their uniqueness for the sake of the larger society. In recent weeks, we find some of this dilemma in renewed calls to mandate English as the nation’s official language. It’s a complicated and hot button issue.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"In X-Men: The Last Stand, the so-called "mutants" are struggling to choose between assimilation and maintaining their unique identities. According to the storyline, the X-Men, and others like them, are trying to decide whether to join the mainstream of "normal" citizens..."
What an interesting take! Considering that a lot of the guys who drew comics originally were first generation Americans who were Jews, it strikes me as a theme they would understand very well.
2 - Jessa
I love your take on this issue. I was able to draw the conclusion of assimiliation from the film as well, but in relation to a different political situation. Thank you for the article.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
My kids went to see the movie a yesterday ago here in J-lem. I asked about if the charcters had argued over whether to give up their super-powers or not. Their conclusion was that they really did not wnat to give up their superpowers...
Of course, my kids weren't watching for themes, they were just there because they do not get to go to the movies very often.