Is X-Men First Class Racist AND Stereotypical? [DARWINISM]
June 8, 2011 Posted in Entertainment, Movies, WTF
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Thanks to my buddy’s Optimum Rewards card, I was able see a late night screening of X-Men First Class last night. For those who are familiar with the film’s premise, you might be wondering how in the world it’s racist AND stereotypical? Sure, it addresses racism, but how can it be racist itself when it’s about a young boy who overcomes the friggin’ Holocaust to kick some ass and bend some metal? For those of you who’ve seen the film, you know EXACTLY which scene I’m talking about.
In it, Sebastian Shaw (played by Kevin Bacon) and his deadly lackey duo of Azazel and Riptide infiltrate the CIA’s secret research facility to convince the young mutants recruited by Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik (Magneto) to join them in their plans to destroy the human race. The recruits consist of Banshee, Havok, Angel, Mystique, Beast, and Darwin, the last character of whom is a black dude. The point of Sebastian’s rant was on par with Magneto’s diatribes in the previous films – that humans fear the unknown, they fear change, they will NEVER accept mutants, and they will seek to eradicate us. The scene is poignant for its contrast to the earlier exchange between he and a much younger Erik in Nazi Germany.
Anyway, at one point, the camera’s in fairly tight on Sebastian’s face as his speech grows more intense and he says something to the effect of, “We all know what it feels like to be enslaved”. Just as the ‘d’ in ‘enslaved’ slips from his mouth, the shot cuts to a close-up of Darwin for what could be the most awkward moment in movie history. Just about everyone in the theater gasped or was like, “what the f***!?” There were some chuckles, some indignant / huffy reactions. It took a good minute or so for everyone to really process and work through what the hell just went down. Then, just as everyone got settled back into the storyline, f***ing Darwin DIES thus perpetuating the insane movie stereotype that the black guy always dies first. Un…real.
Sure, we’re probably reading a little too much into it, but… man, for a movie about overcoming oppression, battling stereotypes, and educating others about the perils of discrimination, X-Men First Class sort of falls into the class it’s trying to enlighten. According to Wikipedia, Darwin (whose real name is Armando Munoz) is half-African, half-Latino, so should we be half-offended? Part of me understands what the director was going for (making the connection to real world segregation/oppression), but it just seems out of context and jarring. Like, why is HE singled out?
As for Darwin’s “death”, my gut told me and is still telling me that he will come back as a being of pure energy as he did in the comics (NERD ALERT), but jeez, at least knock off some other supporting character first. If only the director / producers could be there when everyone groaned after his demise; the tension was palpable.
What do you think? Let us know in our poll & comments section below.
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This guy knows what I’m talkin’ ’bout.
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I actually do agree with the writer. After Shaw says the word "enslaved", it instantly cuts to the African American gentleman. IMO it was a bit awkward and unnecessary.
I agree. I believe it was designed to generate responses like this blog. I guess it worked. America still flirts with the idea of racism. It just happens to build one group and tear down another. Go figure…Land of the Free, Home of the brave.
Comic version – Darwin is practically immortal, he adapts quickly to anything that threatens his person, thus he is near indestructible!! What were the writers trying to say by killing him? Geez, at least give him a heroic exit, not being blasted by something he could have easily deflect by evolving.
This confused me as well! Since he can adapt, I felt it odd that he was killed off so easily. It seemed inconsistent. Wouldn't his powers have neutralized that energy sphere or something? Why didn't his body adapt? It doesn't make sense.
As to the commentators and the OP asking whether this is racist, I find it odd. Racist, let's say I'm sure it wasn't the director's intentions. Someone pointed out that the country was going through tough times with segregation and stuff at the time, which is true. But so were women. So why not show Mystique or Angel? Especially Angel who was in a line of work that was dehumanizing; AS WELL AS BLACK. Though I guess they didn't show Angel because Zoe (the actress playing her) was so light skinned that many probably thought she was white. Either way, she is black where it's NOTICEABLE (in my opinion) AND is a woman, and yet they didn't cut to her face. It was just odd and very obvious and awkward. Especially since everyone Shaw was talking to was a mutant, they could ALL relate. And Darwin wasn't alive during SLAVERY, so he wouldn't know per se what that felt.
I think that's the folly in the thinking of white people when they hear blacks (in particular) talking about racism. They think we are talking about being enslaved and forced to do labor under harsh conditions with no pay, no rights, no citizenship, and basically being a piece of property, etc. But that's not the racism or "black struggle" that we talk about. I think that line of thinking, that "black people are mad about slavery" mentality is what made that scene so off. Because he wasn't talking about DISCRIMINATION and then cut a black man who would have seen that during the 60's when the bulk of the movie took place. Shaw was talking about SLAVERY and then cut to a black man who was never a slave. It's like if he were talking about rice paddies and then they cut to a guy of Asian decent who was born and raised in NYC and never saw a rice paddy in his life.
Long story short, I get what they were going for, but it was executed poorly with the words chosen, the time the story took place, and the isolation of the only apparent black person around.
Maybe that's why darwin was pissed off enough to fight back.
As an African American I noticed immediately the Darwin issue however I would like to hope we have progressed past the hurt of "the black guy being the first to die" issue in Hollywood. Darwin represented himself as a hero and I would like to think we can move past this issue and start addressing us as a people who gets killed also and not just the black guy who lives on. Stories have to be told without the being too sensitive about black stereotypes. At least Darwin wasnt a pimp or a drug dealer…..I can live with his demise much easier this way.
I often stray away from blogs about movie reviews, but google brought this website up at the top at the list which lead me to believe this was a credible site. Having said that, I find it unfortunate to say I have never read a more uneducated review post in my life. The writer clearly bases his thesis off two points; one being the slavery shot and the second being Darwin's "death". Let's break it down.
1. The slavery shot did catch a lot of us of guard, I'll admit, however it was justified. The time period was 1962 where black oppression still existed in the States. The same country that encouraged slavery by kidnapping thousands of black individuals to be used as"help" on the plantations. The pan to Darwin was more of a slap in the face to America to remind them of what happened and what even the more well off countries can be capable of. If this was a german based comic, I'm sure there would be more references to jewesh oppression. So sad that the writer missed the point.
2. Even though there was no evidence to show Darwin died (read the comics), but if he did die it was not an act of racism. Darwin was portrayed in a heroic light. A characteristic that none of the other mutant kids possessed at that point. That fact that people are singling out one characteristic (skin color) to identify him is just sad and alludes to an immature mindset that I thought we had overcome. Very sad indeed.
To the writer of this blog. I'm very disappointed that you can have such a narrow minded opinion, and even more disappointed that you find it worthy of publicizing it. Please think your future posts more clearly before deciding to waste the readers time. Thank you.
I didn't waste your time. I gave you an interesting question / topic to discuss. Seeing as you left a comment, I'd say it was well worth your time. If anything I'm being open minded in even broaching the subject, in taking one scene and dissecting it for others to interpret and make their own decision. Please think through your comment more clearly before hitting 'submit'. Thank YOU.
I admit, I was a bit taken back by the whole "enslaved, then panning to Darwin" thing, but when one would think about it, Shaw was talking about mutants as a whole. And Facepalm did bring up a good point that this movie did take place during 1962, who knows if Shaw was a bit of a racist or not. Shaw was a villain, and killed as a villain.
And as mentioned in previous posts, who can truly say that Darwin is dead? He adapted when Shaw put in the ball of energy, encasing himself. It's possible he became pure energy after exploding, possibly causing him to come back in the sequel.
The movie was great, I loved it. But there have been people who bashed the whole thing because of this one part (mainly), as well as whatever reason. This is just my opinion.
Oh boy Aaron. If you think about it, Shaw was talking about mutants (agreed). However, the next scene shows a black man on the screen. Why not one of the white guys or other?
Both points are valid. I don't think everyone took into account the time period. Plus, anything that's remotely considered racist, people freak out. They don't tend to think that maybe, just maybe, there's a message as to why a particular scene was shot in that way. And it's true, the fact that people are pointing out his skin color is sad. So, if it were a white guy, or asian, or native american….what, no one would care? It's signalling out blacks like this that makes racism still exist.
The use of the term 'they' is always interesting. Sounds to me like those that didn't think inside your box is the 'they' you are speaking about. Just like art…the audience can interpret what they want.
I also find it interesting that many of the comments I've read today are actually counter to the idea that X-Men would try to covertly incorporate racism in their movie.
This is comical…no pun intended. Have a good day. EWO
Seriously. A black guy dies in a movie and it turns into this? I also clearly remeber, he wasnt the first to die, there were a crap load of white guys Azazel killed, including a supportive role (the fat guy). but no one complains about that, i think everyone is just to quick to get on a high horse.
The 'black guy' was the first mutant to die. That's significant. The others (fillers) didn't have a significant role, nor does their death evoke emotions in any group of people based on their history.
Also…if you watch the scene again…look at how much screen time was given to his death. That's significant as well.
Then, just as everyone got settled back into the storyline, f***ing Darwin DIES thus perpetuating the insane movie stereotype that the black guy always dies first. Un…real.
Actually, it was the Jew who died first. I can understand how you missed it. After all, she was just a Jew.
I do believe that Darwin (the black guy) was the first mutant to die. Isn't this what the movie was about? I find it funny that when someone mentions 'the black guy dies first', people immediately begin to search for a way to disprove this fact. It's happened in so many movies. Hmmmm…all produced and directed by white folks. Black and White…Americas great divide.
Who's talking about mutants? The author was speaking of racial stereotyping wherein 'the black guy dies first'. I simply turned the argument back around. Edie Lensherr was a Jew, and yet her death apparently doesn't even get a footnote in this article. Why? Because being a Jewish mother unceremoniously murdered doesn't warrant the same level of outrage as a black man? She died, what? Seven minutes into the movie? Six? Darwin died over an hour in.
In terms of mutant deaths, sure. I'll give that one. Darwin was the first mutant to die. Of course, one could then point out that the only other mutant to die in the movie was Shaw, meaning that Darwin's death could be elevated to mythic status, in that his death was the precipitating event which banded together the proto-X-Men to form a cohesive unit with a Purpose. How about that. Racial oppression to mythic function in three easy steps.
You seem to forget what era the film is based in the 1960s, it makes total sence.
*sense
The only time I gasped while watching this movie was when Darwin imploded. I consoled myself by understanding that this is fantasy; therefore, I fully believe I'll see Darwin again. (I've not read the Marvels).
In regards to the comments about "enslaved", followed by scene cut to Darwin…
The whole movie is about being released from persecution, chains, condemnation. Every people has experienced those through the millenium; but, within our more immediate timeframe, some people are associated more tightly with those ugly abuses. Drawing upon that association can be a good thing. It keeps things immediate, like requiring a murderer to speak the name of the person they killed; rather than abstracting that murdered person. It cries "Remember!"
As an A