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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2020 6:40:14 GMT -5
Someone put a very thought-provoking post on Facebook recently about the X-Men, specifically the Professor X/Magneto rivalry. While I didn’t have such thoughts of my own, what the guy did post gave me food for thought.
The guy believes that the Professor X/Magneto war permeates the entire X-Men mythos. He talked about how Professor X and Magneto were originally bitter enemies, but then revealed to have been friends.
The Facebook poster went on to ask why Magneto, who had experienced the worst kind of prejudice during WWII, would then be so prejudiced towards humanity. My view on that is that those who experience the worst kind of prejudice (the kind that gets folk killed) would probably be the kind who would not be prejudiced towards others. My alternative to that, though, is that Magneto became bitter because of his experiences.
The post ended with the guy asking why Professor X had had teenagers battling Magneto without ever telling them why - and without telling the X-Men about his past with Magneto.
I think the guy’s point is that the X-Men Universe is all about Professor X/Magneto.
I haven’t had enough time to think about his thoughts, but he has given me something to think about. And he has made some good points.
Incidentally, the post is at the Back Issue Magazine Facebook group (a private group). I haven’t posted a link because a) I don’t think the link would show to anyone who isn’t a FB member, and b) I have zero idea how to link to an actual post from FB. For me, FB isn’t the most user-friendly site for sharing stuff (I still don’t know how to share videos that have a FB URL).
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 19, 2020 7:06:25 GMT -5
I think Magneto experiencing prejudice in WW2 was Chris Claremont's retcon. Magneto originally had Nazi overtones himself. link
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Post by brutalis on Sept 19, 2020 13:16:17 GMT -5
Just a sign of how times change. Jack/Stan had Magneto lead a group of mostly adult evil mutants as a foil/counterpoint to the young teen mutants Xavier trained. Simple good versus evil. Then as time goes by the emphasis changes in complexity. Of course Xavier/Magneto have to be connected because it adds more depth and meaning turning the mutant struggle from societal to personal.
You can bet Kirby saw Magneto as another evil tyrannical Hitler type. It's what the King fought against in the war and grew up confronting. Rather ironic that now Magneto has a Jewish heritage and yet was seen and acting as bad as the Nazi regime (if not worse) against humanity and mutants in his original appearances. Again a sign of how times have changed.
No longer is it as simple as good vs evil, now the characters and reasonings behind their actions come to the forefront. It is no longer about the concept of right over wrong but why is the bad guy doing bad and is it so wrong? As comics changed from kid driven fantasy to adult rationality, all of the writers chose to keep laying on more complex layers of characterization.
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Post by beccabear67 on Sept 19, 2020 13:59:55 GMT -5
I feel Magneto only 'works' as the most powerful leader of mutants who want to punish/conquer humans as well as those who want their own place away from humans, which I guess is kind of like their Israel. I don't really think any other motivations would last with the character, that he would always have to end up back at that role.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2020 14:12:35 GMT -5
Just a sign of how times change. Jack/Stan had Magneto lead a group of mostly adult evil mutants as a foil/counterpoint to the young teen mutants Xavier trained. Simple good versus evil. Then as time goes by the emphasis changes in complexity. Of course Xavier/Magneto have to be connected because it adds more depth and meaning turning the mutant struggle from societal to personal. You can bet Kirby saw Magneto as another evil tyrannical Hitler type. It's what the King fought against in the war and grew up confronting. Rather ironic that now Magneto has a Jewish heritage and yet was seen and acting as bad as the Nazi regime (if not worse) against humanity and mutants in his original appearances. Again a sign of how times have changed. No longer is it as simple as good vs evil, now the characters and reasonings behind their actions come to the forefront. It is no longer about the concept of right over wrong but why is the bad guy doing bad and is it so wrong? As comics changed from kid driven fantasy to adult rationality, all of the writers chose to keep laying on more complex layers of characterization. Isn’t Blofeld now Bond’s adopted brother? Or something like that? Either I dreamt that or it was in the last film (which I can’t remember much about). And, of course, quite a few Spidey films have featured a personal connection between the web-slinger and the villain. I’m not saying the movies did that as an original idea - some aspects may have come from the comics - but it’s there. It seems that some things can’t ever be simple. I wonder, if they do a Masters of the Universe film, will Skeletor be He-Man’s brother? Or cousin? Or a good soul who had his skin burnt off? Personally, if they went down that route, it would not appeal to me; I just prefer Skeletor being pure, unadulterated evil as he was in the 1980s cartoon. Sometimes, less is more.
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