Reblog of some X-Men meta I wrote on tumblr
I think one of the most interesting thing about the way Xavier and Magneto contrast is how you can root their difference of attitude from their background.
Like, Xavier comes from a very privileged background and is idealist and optimistic, and Erik is has lived through the Shoah and is cynical and pessimistic. But there’s much more to it than that.
Xavier lived in a dysfunctional family, in which he felt very out of place. He found respite in school - an institutional environment. He saw first hand in Cain how people can turn from victims into abusers because of that abuse. His concept of evil - and of how to fix it - is very personalised. It’s something individuals do, because they’re wrong headed. It’s also something that’s rooted in um-brindled force, and in lack of self-control; so Xavier tends to stress the importance of self-control a lot in the way he sets up the school, and he picked Scott - the one who absolutely needed to be in control of his power at all times - as leader.
Erik grew up in a very loving and functional family unit. He has a very solid sense of self and ego despite everything else he’s lived. The evil he’s suffered is institutionalised. It’s not something done by individuals, it’s done on large scale by society as a whole, fostered by indifference, and orchestrated by the use of excessive control. There’s no simple appeal or polite request that can stop it. Only violence was able to counter it. So he’s not interested in fixing it, only in uprooting it.
And also other stuff but they were part of discussions so I don't really feel like reposting them.
comments at the original post on Dreamwidth
Like, Xavier comes from a very privileged background and is idealist and optimistic, and Erik is has lived through the Shoah and is cynical and pessimistic. But there’s much more to it than that.
Xavier lived in a dysfunctional family, in which he felt very out of place. He found respite in school - an institutional environment. He saw first hand in Cain how people can turn from victims into abusers because of that abuse. His concept of evil - and of how to fix it - is very personalised. It’s something individuals do, because they’re wrong headed. It’s also something that’s rooted in um-brindled force, and in lack of self-control; so Xavier tends to stress the importance of self-control a lot in the way he sets up the school, and he picked Scott - the one who absolutely needed to be in control of his power at all times - as leader.
Erik grew up in a very loving and functional family unit. He has a very solid sense of self and ego despite everything else he’s lived. The evil he’s suffered is institutionalised. It’s not something done by individuals, it’s done on large scale by society as a whole, fostered by indifference, and orchestrated by the use of excessive control. There’s no simple appeal or polite request that can stop it. Only violence was able to counter it. So he’s not interested in fixing it, only in uprooting it.
And also other stuff but they were part of discussions so I don't really feel like reposting them.
comments at the original post on Dreamwidth