Are the X-Men a Poor Allegory for the Mistreatment of Minorities?

[Winter]

As you all know I'm a trans woman and a lesbian and right now it's a very dangerous time to be either in the States, especially with many insisting that the pain being inflicted on us is for our own good. However, there are many minority groups that have had it far worse then the trans community and many of them are getting it just as bad if not worse then the minority group I'm in.

One of the major themes of the X-men is to explore and examine bigotry in a way unique to the superhero genre. What if people were born with superpowers and what if they were mistreated for being who they are.

Over the years the X-men have worked to represent different minority groups, the black community for a good chunk of the 90's and the LGBTQ+ in more recent years. In fact the character Iceman was retconned to be gay a while ago which was largely well recieved by fans (I loved the interview where Stan Lee learned about this and he had the most casual "Huh I didn't know that, cool." We miss you Stan).

But personally I honestly think the X-Men don't really work as an solid allegory for any minority group.

Not to say I disapprove of the idea here but there's always been one tiny problem. Being trans, gay, bi, non-binary, black, Asian or Indian does not give you super powers. At least as far as I know and my life is still ongoing so that could change.

But there is a significant difference between realizing you don't identify as the gender you were born as and having heat vision, healing powers or being control over the weather.

I think when X-Men try to be a one too one allegory for real world minority groups it comes off as rather clumsy to me. Best example I can think of is in X2: X-Men United with the whole "Have you tried not being a mutant" scene. I get it Bryan Singer is gay and was including his own experience with coming out and how it felt but personally I think that whole scene was rather cringe inducing and was hoping for something to go wrong just to get me out of it faster.

It just didn't feel real, this didn't sound like a conversation that would occur if someone in this world learned that their child was a mutant.

This is something that I felt was better handled in X-Men 3: The Last Stand with the conversation of the cure. This is something that can turn off a mutants power and there are mutants who don't want to have their powers because their powers makes their lives a living hell.

I actually agree with the idea that Rogue would get rid of her powers if given the chance because there is no real upside to her powers. She can never touch anyone, can't hold their hands, can't kiss them, doing so will lead to their being seriously injured or outright dying.

But the flip side of the coin is the cure being force upon mutants and humans weaponizing it. Some mutants would want to get rid of their powers but others would want to hold onto them and they should be allowed to choose.

This is a problem that can only be applied to mutants because there is no drug that can just make people white, heterosexual and cisgender. But the real world parallels are easy enough to make. The cure could be viewed as an allegory for people who wish to transition. Mutants who do not wish to have their powers can easily be compared to some suffering gender dysphoria and it can also be viewed in a similar vain to conversion therapy with people attempting to force it onto members of the LGBTQ+ to force us to act "Normal".

It's not a perfect one to one and that's what I like about the idea and really a better way of approaching this subject then just awkwardly make a round peg fit into a square hole.

To go back to Iceman coming out as gay this again is an interesting idea and what made it work was how it was approached. Long story short Bobby from the past met the present day self and was confused why he hasn't come out of the closet. If things have improved, if mutants are being better treated then doesn't it follow that he can be open about his sexuality?

It's a great bit that was, again, largely well recieved by fans that used Bobby being a mutant and being a closet gay to great effect.

In a more recent issue of the Amazing Spider-Men a young woman, who's gay, tries to talk to a girl she likes but when she realizes that she doesn't know who she is, the gay girl in question turns into water and falls apart.

The next issue is Peter, Miles and everyone else trying to figure out what she is, if she's a mutant or a magic user since she keeps switching between elements. It's a fun idea with characters being more concern with her powers then her sexuality and helping her come to terms with being a super powered being.

To close this out, I remember JMS talking about how regular bigotry would like racism, sexism, homophobia and so on was pretty much gone in the world of Babylon 5 because most humans would have shifted their bigotry over to the literal aliens. I can't help but agree but I don't it would ever truly go away, it was just not be as prominent. And Babylon 5 did a great job at using hatred against aliens as an allegory for bigotry in our world.

Thoughts?

[McAvoy]

Well it is a Superhero allegory for minorities made 60 years ago. It's not perfect and certainly they were not thinking about today.

Comics change as much as they can to reflect the current world but in the end, many of them cannot change the basics of the comics since it was made. Maybe X-men doesn't truly reflect today's struggles of minorities and maybe it was a light hearted attempt when they were first introduced.

I mean, it's struggling now with using Magento as a survivor of the Holocaust. We are talking about a man that should be in his 90's now.

[Winter]

Well it is a Superhero allegory for minorities made 60 years ago. It's not perfect and certainly they were not thinking about today.

Comics change as much as they can to reflect the current world but in the end, many of them cannot change the basics of the comics since it was made. Maybe X-men doesn't truly reflect today's struggles of minorities and maybe it was a light hearted attempt when they were first introduced.

I mean, it's struggling now with using Magento as a survivor of the Holocaust. We are talking about a man that should be in his 90's now.

Yeah that is a bit weird, with Batman or Superman's origin it's easy to place them at any time or any place. With Batman he's a kid who saw his parents gunned down in front of him, Superman is an alien who arrived on Earth after his world was destroyed. Even Wonder Woman works because she's immortal who can be around during any time and any place.

Magneto being a child who was a holocaust victim sets him in a certain time and a certain place and therefore is kinda hard to switch him around because the nature of his origin is such a big part of his character. Him being a holocaust survivor is vital to understanding him but after a certain point that's not going to work because WWII was, as you pointed out, close to 100 years ago.

I actually did like that X-Men: Evolution addressed this by revealing that Magneto had used certain tech to keep him alive all this time but that will only get you so far.

[McAvoy]

Well it is a Superhero allegory for minorities made 60 years ago. It's not perfect and certainly they were not thinking about today.

Comics change as much as they can to reflect the current world but in the end, many of them cannot change the basics of the comics since it was made. Maybe X-men doesn't truly reflect today's struggles of minorities and maybe it was a light hearted attempt when they were first introduced.

I mean, it's struggling now with using Magento as a survivor of the Holocaust. We are talking about a man that should be in his 90's now.

Yeah that is a bit weird, with Batman or Superman's origin it's easy to place them at any time or any place. With Batman he's a kid who saw his parents gunned down in front of him, Superman is an alien who arrived on Earth after his world was destroyed. Even Wonder Woman works because she's immortal who can be around during any time and any place.

Magneto being a child who was a holocaust victim sets him in a certain time and a certain place and therefore is kinda hard to switch him around because the nature of his origin is such a big part of his character. Him being a holocaust survivor is vital to understanding him but after a certain point that's not going to work because WWII was, as you pointed out, close to 100 years ago.

I actually did like that X-Men: Evolution addressed this by revealing that Magneto had used certain tech to keep him alive all this time but that will only get you so far.

Yeah. Soon or later they will have to redo Magneto in someway. 20 years down the road it just really stretches it. Problem with putting a definite date/event on a character that is really hard to find a comparison to.

I mean maybe some Nazi experiment that out him into hibernation and woke up in let's say the 90's to find Professor Xavier? Maybe that would work? I don't know.

[Winter]

Well it is a Superhero allegory for minorities made 60 years ago. It's not perfect and certainly they were not thinking about today.

Comics change as much as they can to reflect the current world but in the end, many of them cannot change the basics of the comics since it was made. Maybe X-men doesn't truly reflect today's struggles of minorities and maybe it was a light hearted attempt when they were first introduced.

I mean, it's struggling now with using Magento as a survivor of the Holocaust. We are talking about a man that should be in his 90's now.

Yeah that is a bit weird, with Batman or Superman's origin it's easy to place them at any time or any place. With Batman he's a kid who saw his parents gunned down in front of him, Superman is an alien who arrived on Earth after his world was destroyed. Even Wonder Woman works because she's immortal who can be around during any time and any place.

Magneto being a child who was a holocaust victim sets him in a certain time and a certain place and therefore is kinda hard to switch him around because the nature of his origin is such a big part of his character. Him being a holocaust survivor is vital to understanding him but after a certain point that's not going to work because WWII was, as you pointed out, close to 100 years ago.

I actually did like that X-Men: Evolution addressed this by revealing that Magneto had used certain tech to keep him alive all this time but that will only get you so far.

Yeah. Soon or later they will have to redo Magneto in someway. 20 years down the road it just really stretches it. Problem with putting a definite date/event on a character that is really hard to find a comparison to.

I mean maybe some Nazi experiment that out him into hibernation and woke up in let's say the 90's to find Professor Xavier? Maybe that would work? I don't know.

Mmm, not sure about that. What I meant by the holocaust being such a important moment in Magneto's life is because it's such a horrific real world event. I honestly think one of the most iconic moments in the films is the opening of the first film and how First Class expanded on that.

The idea that he was in hibernation I think would be a mistake. It would honestly be better to just redo his origin while maintaining the needless cruelty and horror. And sadly there are many ways to continue that.

We have no shortage of such examples of cruelty towards other people and especially towards the Jewish community.

I think instead of making him a holocaust survivor he's origin should be changed to someone who was attacked and he witnessed his mother's death. He was a poor kid who lived with his mom and then a bunch of monsters came to his home and attacked him and his mom for being a Jew.

It's horrifying and something that can happen at any time in any place. The real point of all this is to show us why Eric hates regular humans as he saw us at our worst, killing for something so stupid and evil that it all but destroyed the idea that that any human was good.

After that the rest is easy to work with, he was tortured by a mad scientist, got free, hunted him down, met Charles along the way, became friends, killed the SOB who killed his mother (who should be a human with no powers) and he and Charles had a falling out and then he became a super villain.

[stryke]

I think they used to be, but now aren't so much.

Up to I'd say from inception in the 60s to the end of the 90's they were a solid way of helping to impart lessons of empathy in regard to those different than you. Especially to young white guys who sometimes need those lessons wrapped up into a more palatable package for it be able to sink in. Sure, I'll agree that some stuff like God Loves, Man Kills perhaps hasn't aged so good in regard to the parallels, and I say that as someone who remembers when that was seen as the Marvel equivalent of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns.

I think it was the first movie though where you started to see the tipping point by digging into the metaphor more, making it fully mainstream by being such a success, and that was combined with a growing discussion about the actual issues. More and more you have to reckon with that mutants really can be incredibly dangerous in a way that actual minorities aren't, and increasingly the metaphor is starting to fall flat on it's face and risk harming more than it's helping.

Thing is I don't think it's failed entirely. It can still be used well I think like in some of X-Men '97 but it definitely needs to be handled with a lot more care and thought than how it used to be.

[Nobody700]

We tend to forget that the X-Men are a combat group while most mutants are people who have six fingers, are green, or larger eyes. Marvel does show them off, but the films and shows tend to focus on the mutants who are uber cool and can blow up cities. They should be the rare exception, where most mutants are just people with slight modifications or very low abilities.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Not to say I disapprove of the idea here but there's always been one tiny problem. Being trans, gay, bi, non-binary, black, Asian or Indian does not give you super powers. At least as far as I know and my life is still ongoing so that could change.

But there is a significant difference between realizing you don't identify as the gender you were born as and having heat vision, healing powers or being control over the weather.

Yes but this is the case for most every superhero that is written as it relates or represents anybody.

Allegory wise, abilities aren't supposed to represent how you deal with life day by day but what you're able to persevere through over some specific relatable but relative circumstance. Like, people that can't see develop more adept senses in other areas of which people that can see usually take for granted and don't emphasize as much. The allegory for abilities isn't supposed to represent not being able to see but all the other ways in which this individual now has an advantage over others (which typically is not very apparent).

[Madner Kami]

Mmm, not sure about that. What I meant by the holocaust being such a important moment in Magneto's life is because it's such a horrific real world event. I honestly think one of the most iconic moments in the films is the opening of the first film and how First Class expanded on that.

The idea that he was in hibernation I think would be a mistake. It would honestly be better to just redo his origin while maintaining the needless cruelty and horror. And sadly there are many ways to continue that.

We have no shortage of such examples of cruelty towards other people and especially towards the Jewish community.

I think instead of making him a holocaust survivor he's origin should be changed to someone who was attacked and he witnessed his mother's death. He was a poor kid who lived with his mom and then a bunch of monsters came to his home and attacked him and his mom for being a Jew.

It's horrifying and something that can happen at any time in any place. The real point of all this is to show us why Eric hates regular humans as he saw us at our worst, killing for something so stupid and evil that it all but destroyed the idea that that any human was good.

After that the rest is easy to work with, he was tortured by a mad scientist, got free, hunted him down, met Charles along the way, became friends, killed the SOB who killed his mother (who should be a human with no powers) and he and Charles had a falling out and then he became a super villain.

As said elsewhere, these media need to stop treading the same trodden paths. If you wanna take a character that has a rather horrific background, then there are plenty more recent happenings. Vietnam. Khmer Rouge. Rwandan Genocide. Heck, you could definitly score with the more progressive american crowd by just getting someone from Gaza (for good reason). Or have you seen how the PoWs Russia returns are looking like?

Just modernize already. Batman Beyond worked pretty well. Why not expand on it?

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

This is something that I felt was better handled in X-Men 3: The Last Stand with the conversation of the cure. This is something that can turn off a mutants power and there are mutants who don't want to have their powers because their powers makes their lives a living hell.

I actually agree with the idea that Rogue would get rid of her powers if given the chance because there is no real upside to her powers. She can never touch anyone, can't hold their hands, can't kiss them, doing so will lead to their being seriously injured or outright dying.

But the flip side of the coin is the cure being force upon mutants and humans weaponizing it. Some mutants would want to get rid of their powers but others would want to hold onto them and they should be allowed to choose.

This is a problem that can only be applied to mutants because there is no drug that can just make people white, heterosexual and cisgender. But the real world parallels are easy enough to make. The cure could be viewed as an allegory for people who wish to transition. Mutants who do not wish to have their powers can easily be compared to some suffering gender dysphoria and it can also be viewed in a similar vain to conversion therapy with people attempting to force it onto members of the LGBTQ+ to force us to act "Normal".

It's not a perfect one to one and that's what I like about the idea and really a better way of approaching this subject then just awkwardly make a round peg fit into a square hole.

So this here actually seems largely the idea of X-Men as a suitable media for disenfranchised subcultures.

The chief concern of your post seems to be that it's not specific enough for any one demographic, but that tends to be part of the structure of it as an allegory. It's one framework of protagonists that acts fluidly between different representations to link otherwise and specifically distinctive subsets of populations.