In what way do the movies promote homosexuality?
A simple search with google will bring up numerous web sites that have come to the same conclusion. (first 3 links)
-**
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men**
Another metaphor that has been applied by some to the X-Men is that of LGBT. Comparisons have been made by some between the mutants’ situation, including concealment of their powers and the age they realize these powers, and homosexuality.[16] Several scenes in the X-Men films, which included openly gay actor Ian McKellen and two of which were directed by openly gay director Bryan Singer, have been said to illustrate this theme. In the comics series, gay and bisexual characters include Anole, Destiny, Karma, Mystique, Northstar, Graymalkin, Rictor, Shatterstar and the Ultimate version of Colossus. Transgender issues also come up with shapechangers like Mystique who can change gender at will.
boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001285.cfm
Case in point: Homosexuals have embraced X-Men as a metaphor for their experience, seeing themselves as persecuted victims of a society driven by no more than fear, ignorance or bigotry. And it’s fair to say they’ve had some encouragement from a number of people involved in the comics and movies — especially the latter.
Though all the characters are straight, the last two movies have featured thinly masked “coming out” scenes where young people have to tell their parents they’re mutants, and the parents respond with shock and sometimes-strong resistance. Bryan Singer (director of the first two movies) is openly gay, and actor Ian McKellen (who plays Magneto) outspokenly so: Neither has made any secret that they intended to deliver gay messages.
Things come to a head in the third and latest movie, though Singer is no longer in the director’s chair. A major plot point is that a formula is invented that can cure people of mutancy. The very idea that the condition needs to be cured is outrageous to most (though not all) of the characters, heroes and villains alike. The parallel to ex-gay ministries is all too obvious, and the likes of McKellen have been explicit about the connection. “[The producers] will tell you one of the demographics that X-Men appeals to is young gays… There are enough people in this world who think that the answer to the ‘problem’ of being gay is to be ‘cured’ of your abnormality.”
today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12956661/ns/today-entertainment/t/x-men-come-out/****
“Have you tried not being a mutant?” asks the mother of Iceman, one of the misfit kids in Bryan Singer’s “X2,” the 2003 sequel to his 2000 “X-Men.” Iceman may attend Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters, but he’s more than gifted and not exactly a youngster.
Indeed, his mutant nature, which includes the ability to freeze ponds with his fingers, only becomes stronger as he ages. A minor character in the original “X-Men,” Iceman comes into his own in “X2,” revealing his true nature to his baffled parents, who react as if he’s just announced he’s gay. His mother worries that it’s all her fault, while his brother is so revolted that he calls the police.
Brett Ratner’s addition to the franchise, “X-Men: The Last Stand,” includes a character new to the “X-Men” films, Angel, whose disapproving father finds him trying to hack off a pair of wings attached to his back. As a child, Angel is deeply ashamed of his ethereal nature. As an adult, he finds that he can literally fly away from parental rejection.
“The Last Stand” begins with a flashback to the childhood of another mutant, Jean Grey, whose parents were ashamed and afraid of her telekinetic abilities. As an adult, she vigorously defends the kids’ right to be different.
Jean, Iceman and presumably Angel are heterosexual, as are the other mutants in the “X-Men” pictures. But they behave a lot like runaway gay kids, forming their own families of gifted outlaws as they escape birth parents who feel nothing but embarrassment for having brought them into the world.
In “The Last Stand,” which the producers emphasize is not the last installment in the series (after all, the first two collected $700 million worldwide), Iceman is completely “out” as a mutant. He uses his frosty charms to woo Rogue, who matches his ability to chill out.
Their chief opponent in the first “X-Men” is a self-proclaimed “God-fearing” senator, whose intolerant anti-mutant speeches sound a lot like current anti-gay and anti-immigrant rhetoric. “People like you are the reason I was afraid to go to school as a child,” says a mutant who kidnaps him.
Do the movies actually portray Americans as predominantly intolerant? Or is this simply the villain’s perception?
I would say it portrays most Americans as intolerant and “scared” of mutants.
Hmmm…that isn’t a comparison which every would have occurred to me, but then I am used to generals being portrayed as bloodthirsty and a bit stupid. Its been a common sub-plot or image since the Vietnam War era.
The fact that they are always trying to murder mutants in these movies is interesting.
Withdrawal of the Jupiter missiles in Turkey was one of the key points discussed with the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm
Thanks. I was not aware of this.
(And I don’t often find myself siding with atheists/agnostics in debates.)