Meta: Magneto isn't the good guy! Surprise?
So, I was really excited to see X-Men: Days of Future Past because I was going to finally be able to go back online and maybe read everything pocky_slash has written and IDK, maybe some fic, but then I realized that I have a MILLION THINGS I WANT TO SAY and I want to get at least some of them straight in my head (and recorded on LJ) before I start reading what OTHER PEOPLE have to say.
BUT THERE IS SO MUCH TO SAY. SO MUCH.
Naturally, I’ll start with the hardest bit! I don’t think I’ll ever be more than a quiet lurker in this fandom community, partly because I’m baffled when I see the fandom either attempt to justify Erik’s actions or treat them like valid choices.
ERIK IS WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Don’t misunderstand - this isn’t to say that humans won’t hate mutants (this is the Marvel universe after all) or kill mutants (the Marvel universe is nominally grounded in reality) or even systemically round them up and kill them (OH YEAH.) Erik has reasons to be paranoid. His paranoia simply can’t justify his actions.
The world has always been more complicated than the worst of us. And Erik wasn’t the only Jews to hunt down Nazis after the Holocaust. Most people can agree that is was a problematic repsonse post-war, although more understandable in light of how the rest of the world certainly wasn’t stepping up the the plate.
But Erik started going farther than that almost immediately. Instead of seeking some sort of justice, his entire mission is about killing a single man. He just also has no problems killing Nazis in the process. Once that mission is completed, he basically dedicates himself to the eradication of humanity, straight up. He’s a terrorist, a mutant-supremacist, a pretty awful person who frankly has far to go if he were to every change his mind and seek redemption.
Erik SHOULD be in jail. He SHOULD be off the streets. He SHOULD be getting massive amounts of therapy and possibly a diagnosis as a psychopath. (His face while killing people is terrifying.) .) Erik, frankly, is the ACTUAL manifestation of the irrational paranoia of humans who worry they are going to be replaced by mutants. ERIK WANTS TO DO THAT ASAP.
Now, fandom can do what it wants, certainly. And Charles’s defining trait is apparently hope, so in-fic he can be an irrational ididot about this. (But do note that Charles punches Erik in the face for killing the president, and only agrees to break him out to save Raven. In X2 Charles LEAVES ERIK IN JAIL.) What drives me nuts is the way the fandom can’t seem to self-examine on this one. I see tumblr posts and fic that are all “let’s discuss if Erik was right!” where I think the real question is “Why do we feel the need to make Erik into a good guy?” Erik has done everything to make HIMSELF into the bad guy of this story.
Yes, he’s played by staggeringly good actors and given a tragic backstory and if we had no sympathy for him whatsoever, the films wouldn’t be nearly as good. But HE IS A BAD GUY. He’s the Voldemort of the mutant cause. I just want to take this gif from Mean Girls and sub it with YOU ARE A BAD PERSON. And then flash to Erik’s face.
That could probably be articulated better, but I wanted to get it off the table before I embark on Charles and Raven. COMPLICATED FAMILIES. ANGST. HAIR! MOVIE I AM SO PLEASED YOU DID NOT DISSAPOINT.
(This entry is also posted on Dreamwidth.org. Feel free to comment on either site. Although my dreamwidth background has space! Spaaaace!)
BUT THERE IS SO MUCH TO SAY. SO MUCH.
Naturally, I’ll start with the hardest bit! I don’t think I’ll ever be more than a quiet lurker in this fandom community, partly because I’m baffled when I see the fandom either attempt to justify Erik’s actions or treat them like valid choices.
ERIK IS WRONG. WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Don’t misunderstand - this isn’t to say that humans won’t hate mutants (this is the Marvel universe after all) or kill mutants (the Marvel universe is nominally grounded in reality) or even systemically round them up and kill them (OH YEAH.) Erik has reasons to be paranoid. His paranoia simply can’t justify his actions.
The world has always been more complicated than the worst of us. And Erik wasn’t the only Jews to hunt down Nazis after the Holocaust. Most people can agree that is was a problematic repsonse post-war, although more understandable in light of how the rest of the world certainly wasn’t stepping up the the plate.
But Erik started going farther than that almost immediately. Instead of seeking some sort of justice, his entire mission is about killing a single man. He just also has no problems killing Nazis in the process. Once that mission is completed, he basically dedicates himself to the eradication of humanity, straight up. He’s a terrorist, a mutant-supremacist, a pretty awful person who frankly has far to go if he were to every change his mind and seek redemption.
Erik SHOULD be in jail. He SHOULD be off the streets. He SHOULD be getting massive amounts of therapy and possibly a diagnosis as a psychopath. (His face while killing people is terrifying.) .) Erik, frankly, is the ACTUAL manifestation of the irrational paranoia of humans who worry they are going to be replaced by mutants. ERIK WANTS TO DO THAT ASAP.
Now, fandom can do what it wants, certainly. And Charles’s defining trait is apparently hope, so in-fic he can be an irrational ididot about this. (But do note that Charles punches Erik in the face for killing the president, and only agrees to break him out to save Raven. In X2 Charles LEAVES ERIK IN JAIL.) What drives me nuts is the way the fandom can’t seem to self-examine on this one. I see tumblr posts and fic that are all “let’s discuss if Erik was right!” where I think the real question is “Why do we feel the need to make Erik into a good guy?” Erik has done everything to make HIMSELF into the bad guy of this story.
Yes, he’s played by staggeringly good actors and given a tragic backstory and if we had no sympathy for him whatsoever, the films wouldn’t be nearly as good. But HE IS A BAD GUY. He’s the Voldemort of the mutant cause. I just want to take this gif from Mean Girls and sub it with YOU ARE A BAD PERSON. And then flash to Erik’s face.
That could probably be articulated better, but I wanted to get it off the table before I embark on Charles and Raven. COMPLICATED FAMILIES. ANGST. HAIR! MOVIE I AM SO PLEASED YOU DID NOT DISSAPOINT.
(This entry is also posted on Dreamwidth.org. Feel free to comment on either site. Although my dreamwidth background has space! Spaaaace!)