VIDEO-X-Men: First Class

This flick is a prequel to the original X-Men series with notable cameos and comedic references to those movies. First Class tells the story of how the X-Men came to be, and why Magneto and Xavier split. On the surface, it is just a popcorn movie, but under the surface, it is a deeply philosophical film dealing with issues of individualism, pride, prejudice, and the rest. I will see if I can unpack some of that for you.

The X-Men are mutants. They are superheroes of a sort except that their weirdness and differences from the rest of society in addition to their awesome powers makes the wider society fear and revile them. It doesn't take much to see parallels between those mutants and things like the civil rights struggle of the 60's or gay rights today. What is interesting are the three principal characters that are the embodiment of three different strategies for dealing with it all.

The first character is Sebastian Shaw who is a powerful and very evil mutant who firmly believes that the end justifies the means. His aim is simply to rule the world with the mutants as the elite overlords. He is also the one who destroys Erik's innocence and kills his mother provoking the response that would culminate in the creation of Magneto. For Shaw, nature is red in tooth and claw, so he sees the superiority of himself and his fellow mutants over plain vanilla humanity. The fact that he worked with the Nazi state speaks volumes.

The second character is Erik who we know better as Magneto. His life is harsh and tragic as a child as he survives the brutal Holocaust. This experience is vital to the creation of his worldview. After the war, he becomes a virtual Nazi hunter, but his real prize is Sebastian Shaw. Magneto represents the Malcolm X of the mutants.

The third character is Charles Xavier who is the Martin Luther King of the X-Men. Unlike Magneto, Xavier has it cushy and easy in his early life. He can afford the virtues of magnanimity and appeasement with the non-mutant population. It doesn't change the fact that this population despises him and his kind. Xavier holds out the hope of changing that. For Magneto, that hope is a pipe dream.

The rest of the characters are the young mutants who must choose which path to go down. Both Magneto and Xavier go on to become leaders and instructors for this group of young mutants. But their differing philosophies leads to an inevitable split despite continuing respect. Their dispute is mirrored in our reality. Should we serve humanity? Should we shun humanity? Or, should we rule humanity since the others will try and rule us?

For myself, I found Magneto to be the most sympathetic of the characters in the movie. He is later portrayed as being the bad guy, but this is not entirely accurate. Magneto wants revenge on the humanity that hates him. We may disagree with his aims, but we are sympathetic to why he feels the way he does.

This is one of the best superhero movies you are going to watch. This franchise is deep and complex with a cast of characters and viewpoints that are dizzying. They also speak directly to social and political issues in our day. It also doesn't offer easy answers. I recommend that you watch this one.

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