Ok...before I get banned six ways to Sunday...I love the X-men series. It's an awesome series that's done a lot of great storytelling, specifically, metaphorical stories about race, religion, sexuality, and gender minorities...so, when I say X-men First Class is so Gay...I do not mean that as an inherently bad thing...it was just an interesting twist I wasn't expecting to see, especially not in the film's versions of Charles Xavier/Professor X and Erik Lensherr/Max Eisenhardt/Magneto.
Let me start by saying this is a wonderful film...if you haven't seen it, stop reading...I've seen it twice now, not just to confirm what I saw, because it's that excellent. Not really sure I'm the biggest fan of all of Mystique's story line or the ending, but the bulk of the film is amazing, Matthew Vaughn and Bryan Singer did a wonderful job together.
Anyway, that said...what follows will have spoilers from absolutely every X-men media...ever...so, if you don't want to be ruined at all, stop reading, go watch the animated series (multiples), read all the comics (there's a bunch...), and watch all five movies. Moving on.
Starting back in the very first issue of X-Men (1963), Charles and Erik are described as former friends who parted ways due to ideological differences concerning the future of mutant kind...this has been the constant struggle between the two throughout the entire mega-series. Charles wants to avoid conflict, Erik wants true peace. Charles thinks humans and mutants can co-exist, Erik vehemently disagrees. The film illustrates this dynamic wonderfully, showing that they respect each other a great deal, but that on some level, they will NEVER see eye to eye.
Throughout the multiple series though, and in the movie, they have common enemies and can actually work together more often than not. It's even proven that the two are more powerful together than separate with the invention of the character Onslaught, a merging of both of their psyches and powers...tried to take over the world...required most of the Marvel Universe to take him down. You may know him better as the final boss of the original Marvel vs. Capcom.
There also seems to be a silent understanding between the two of them, highly illustrated by the second film, X-2. If one is in trouble, and it's not the cause of the other, the other will come rushing to his aid. Sure, Erik had a ulterior motives in X-2, but it's not uncommon for them to do this throughout the series.
Looking at the series in general for a moment though, the series has always been a platform for civil rights discussion, be it gender, race, religion, sexuality, whatever. As such, there has always been a notion that each inexorably is tangled in with the plot of the stories.
Sexuality has been a big one...however, for the most part, it's focused on Mystique, a bisexual immortal nearly as old as Wolverine (who's cameo was meh...nice, but not necessary). Mystique in the film series has been the straightest (and sluttiest) character in the cast...in both portrayals. In X-men, well, she's silent. In X-2...she's all hung up on Wolverine because he stabbed her. In *cringes* The Last Stand, she wants Magneto. Finally, in First Class, she wants...in order, Charles, Beast, and Magneto. Even when one of her actual lovers is standing not feet from her, she's entirely oblivious to Azazel's presence (here's a question...wouldn't Red and Blue make Purple? Guess Blue is the dominant trait), unless he's killing her friends.
So, no sexuality metaphors at all in the film...bit of a downer given that the metaphors are why I like the series so much...but it was Fox making them, so I'm glad we got race and gender at least.
Throughout the multiple series though, and in the movie, they have common enemies and can actually work together more often than not. It's even proven that the two are more powerful together than separate with the invention of the character Onslaught, a merging of both of their psyches and powers...tried to take over the world...required most of the Marvel Universe to take him down. You may know him better as the final boss of the original Marvel vs. Capcom.
There also seems to be a silent understanding between the two of them, highly illustrated by the second film, X-2. If one is in trouble, and it's not the cause of the other, the other will come rushing to his aid. Sure, Erik had a ulterior motives in X-2, but it's not uncommon for them to do this throughout the series.
Looking at the series in general for a moment though, the series has always been a platform for civil rights discussion, be it gender, race, religion, sexuality, whatever. As such, there has always been a notion that each inexorably is tangled in with the plot of the stories.
Sexuality has been a big one...however, for the most part, it's focused on Mystique, a bisexual immortal nearly as old as Wolverine (who's cameo was meh...nice, but not necessary). Mystique in the film series has been the straightest (and sluttiest) character in the cast...in both portrayals. In X-men, well, she's silent. In X-2...she's all hung up on Wolverine because he stabbed her. In *cringes* The Last Stand, she wants Magneto. Finally, in First Class, she wants...in order, Charles, Beast, and Magneto. Even when one of her actual lovers is standing not feet from her, she's entirely oblivious to Azazel's presence (here's a question...wouldn't Red and Blue make Purple? Guess Blue is the dominant trait), unless he's killing her friends.
So, no sexuality metaphors at all in the film...bit of a downer given that the metaphors are why I like the series so much...but it was Fox making them, so I'm glad we got race and gender at least.
So, I'm kind of at a loss for where some of Erik's dialogue comes from. On the one hand, he could very well be talking about his best friend...his only friend in fact, but it seems deeper than that in a lot of ways. To Erik, Charles is the first person to make him feel anything besides hatred in a very, VERY long time, and the two of them are equals in a lot of ways, and stronger together...while not the sexuality metaphors, these are relationship metaphors that have been used a great deal over the last twenty years, specifically building into lesbian or gay relationships.
Whether this was intentional or not, eh, I don't know...I won't really say either way (don't want to get dubbed a slash-loving fangirl for obvious reasons), but if it wasn't...I think something was way more off than how they ended things than I previously believed. Love Square all in a tizzy (Erik, Charles, Moira, Mystique) over Charles getting shot, who's to blame, who's going where, Erik's words to Charles...it's all very...well, as I said in the title, so very gay.
I don't have the background in the related studies to say all of this though...so I took a friend the second time. She has degrees in Film Theory and Gender Studies, as well as a minor in LGBT Studies. She agrees with me in a big way...so...yeah. What are your thoughts? Were we reading too much into that relationship? Not enough? Let me know in the comments.
-Sara
Whether this was intentional or not, eh, I don't know...I won't really say either way (don't want to get dubbed a slash-loving fangirl for obvious reasons), but if it wasn't...I think something was way more off than how they ended things than I previously believed. Love Square all in a tizzy (Erik, Charles, Moira, Mystique) over Charles getting shot, who's to blame, who's going where, Erik's words to Charles...it's all very...well, as I said in the title, so very gay.
I don't have the background in the related studies to say all of this though...so I took a friend the second time. She has degrees in Film Theory and Gender Studies, as well as a minor in LGBT Studies. She agrees with me in a big way...so...yeah. What are your thoughts? Were we reading too much into that relationship? Not enough? Let me know in the comments.
-Sara
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