Terrorists and Teachers

[sistermagpie]

Sorry, more X-Men thoughts. People keep having cool things to say about the movie, I can't help it! This is partly related to an exchange in my last entry about how we get more of a sense in the movie why people go with Magneto than we do why people stay with Charles, and also related to some comments I've read where people just don't get why

Comments

[fanaddict]

Have you ever watched Star Trek DS9? My shiny new thought about X-Men is that Magneto is Section 31 to the X-Men's Federation.

I think Charles started to see the point of pragmatism when the humans sent missiles at them, but he still is a visionary because he hopes for a better future. So he teaches the X-Men his ideals for the future, while trying to protect them by hiding them. Meanwhile, Erik doesn't see a better future per se, because he rarely moves out of survival mode. He makes future plans, etc but they're all about making sure mutants survive and become stronger. He doesn't think about positives futures beyond survival. These 2 viewpoints don't have to be opposites but could work together. For example, if
Prof X knew something needed to be done but it would hurt the ideals of his X-men to do it, Magneto would be willing to take that step. Meanwhile, Magneto battles on knowing that should he ever win the war to secure mutants safety, they would then require Prof X's vision to give them a future. In this scenario, Charles provides Erik's hope for the future, while Erik acts as a sword&shield to get them there. They complement each other. Or could, depending on how things fall out primarily in Charles' mind - I think Erik knew Charles for who he was and could readily come together with him again. For all his telepathy, I don't think Charles believed Erik would kill humans so willingly (he even used the just following orders excuse, how better to illustrate how little he understands what he knows of Erik). So, it depends on what Charles took away from the beach as to whether he now understands Erik's fears more. Taking Moira's memory protected her, but also the mutants, so he must have learned discretion at least...

By the way, I don't know too much of the current XMen comics canon, but my impression of Prof X from my childhood is of someone who believed wholeheartedly in his ideals, while at the same time being a bit havey cavey/not letting everyone in on his secret plans at times. I could see him doing some questionable things pretty easily, but hiding it from people whose ideals might be hurt if they knew sometimes those ideals have to bend to survive.

[sistermagpie]

I haven't seen DS9 in so long--unfortunately I totally don't remember what that is! But I totallly agree with everything you're saying here--I think that's definitely the way it seems to work. It's not that the two are always battling each other to a stalemate and that's how they balance each other, it's more like they do both think they're mostly working towards similar goals and feel the need for each other even if they don't always put it in those terms.

I don't know XMen comics that well but from what I've read that sounds exactly like what CX is like. That there's definitely times where he'll keep secrets or do wildly questionable things in secret.

[fanaddict]

I loved DS9 for its moral ambiguity and long story arcs. Anyway, the idea for Section 31 was that the Federation is an idealistic government system (that's mostly an oxymoron in RL, sadly) and thus the people in charge would never dream of doing anything shady - right makes might in their mind, and everyone will see their way eventually. Section 31 is the blackest of black ops, more covert than any other program - if you know about it you're either in it or about to die/get mindwiped. The idea is that some Statfleet/military types believe in the Federation's ideals, but not in everyone else's willingness to play by the rules to gradually let those ideals become the norm among Federation enemies. So Section 31 was unofficially created to do the dirty work that kept the Federation and the Federation's ideals when the enemy played dirty.

It's not that the two are always battling each other to a stalemate and that's how they balance each other, it's more like they do both think they're mostly working towards similar goals and feel the need for each other even if they don't always put it in those terms.

Exactly! Even after 50 years, Prof X and Magneto refer to each other as friend, and will drop everything if the other is in danger. If they were truly on opposite sides, I don't think they could justify that level of emotional investment.

Prof X plays people like chess pieces at times. If you want a straightforward hero type, that's Scott Summers/Cyclops. I've... always preferred less straightforward heroes.

By the way, hope it's ok that I friended you.

[sistermagpie]

Oh wow, that's really perfect. I have no problem at all imagining Xavier liking having a group like that. I just read a recap of the movie that pointed out how their philosophies aren't really *that* different, since Xavier will be ruthless when it comes to protecting mutants. It's more like he'd rather do it without bloodshed. Definitely a good analogy, and they totally do seem to value each other almost above everyone else. They wouldn't be able to do that if they really saw each other as against them.

And no problem with the friending--welcome!