Martin Luther King Jr & Malcolm X: Parallels in X-Men

    As we've already explored through the topics of McCarthyism and racial identity, the X-Men universe is filled with a surprisingly deep amount of political subtext. This being the case, the creators of the X-Men series have drawn inspiration from the stories and speeches of real men and women in American history to enrich their fictional one; essentially making X-Men an Orwellian commentary alongside classics such as Animal Farm and 1984. In the case of the films, this correlation between the worlds of reality and fantasy are represented in the characters of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr, who both represent major figures in Civil Rights and American history.

    Charles Xavier and Erik have a similar goal in mind—they want to live in world where mutants are free from oppression. Xavier believes that this goal is best achieved by earning the mutual respect of their misdirected human brothers, and occasionally, even protecting them from harm. While clearly not a pacifist, Xavier does believe in using the political system to achieve equality in society. Erik, however, believes that mutant oppression will result in a war between mutants and the rest of humanity. With his sense of rage and justice fueled by the slaughter of his Jewish family during the holocaust, Magneto represents a formidable adversary. “Where’s your mark?” A begrudged mutant demands during the events of X-Men 3. “I have been marked, my dear.” Erik remarks, pulling back his sleeve to show the serial numbers tattooed on his forearm by Nazis. “No needle shall ever touch my skin again.” (X3, 2006)

    Erik doesn’t stop at merely avenging the deaths and oppression of minorities, however. Magneto comes to believe that mutants are the next step in human evolution. As such, they are destined to inherit a post Homo-Sapiens earth. This idea drives him to destroy humanity in X2, but also plays into his mindset that humans are an inferior breed—the genetic equivalent to Neanderthals in human evolution. This use of science to justify racism is taken directly from the pages of history. Professor George M. Fredrickson notes in his book Racism; A Short History that naturalists in the eighteenth century propagated racist stereotypes in their books, asserting that human evolution made Africans stupid, deceitful, and lazy. Interestingly, Fredrickson writes that “Whatever their intentions...eighteenth-century ethnologists opened the way to a secular or scientific racism by considering human beings part of the animal kingdom rather than viewing them in biblical terms as children of God endowed with spiritual capacities denied to other creatures.” (Fredrickson, page 57) Categorizing humans alongside animals gave racists discriminatory ammunition to justify their views on minorities—the same ammunition that Erik Lensherr uses in the movies to rationalize his attempted genocides.

    Magneto’s view on Homo-Sapiens as sub-human are intended to be reflective of Malcolm X’s rhetoric during the Civil Rights movement. Biographer Marshall Frady wrote that Malcom X proclaimed his racist tormentors as “genetically beyond any moral appeal, really only a ‘bleached’ parody of a human being, an ‘ole pale sickly-looking thing,’ but a predator nonetheless that could be handled only with threat and force.” (Frady, page 129)

The rhetoric espoused by Malcolm X suggests that his viewpoints on race relations were mirror images of the same oppression leveled against his African-American brothers; a dim shadow of the hatred and discrimination used against him throughout his life. Reporters frequently painted Malcolm as an advocate for black violence, but frequently failed to relate the underlying justifications that backed his radical statements. As the frustrated civil rights advocate stated in his autobiography "I'm for violence exactly as you know the Irish, the Poles, or Jews would be if they were flagrantly discriminated against. I am just as they would be in that case, and they would be for violence--no matter what the consequences, no matter who was hurt by the violence." (Malcolm, pg. 422)

    Malcolm believed that his father and brother had died at the hands of white men; how could he love them? “We don’t want to have anything to do with any race of dogs. Two legged white dogs siccing four-legged dogs on your and my mother!” He exclaimed at one speech. (Frady, 128) Thus, Malcolm viewed the Civil Rights movement led by King with a sense of disdain, believing that an effort led on ideals of peace and love would eventually falter in the face of white racists. Erik Lensherr holds similar disdain for the movement led by Xavier, believing that the possibility of mutant and human co-existence is impossible. As Erik remarks while flying towards Ellis Island in the first movie;

    “Magnificent, isn’t it” [looks at the Statue of Liberty] “I first saw it in 1949. America was supposed to be the land of tolerance; of peace…(but) there is no land of tolerance. There is no peace. Not here, nor anywhere else. Women or children, whole families destroyed because they were born different than those in power.” 

    Despite their differences, Erik and Xavier demonstrate a mutual respect for each other throughout the X-Men movies, a trait shared by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Nonetheless, Erik believes that co-existence between species is an illusion and in the inevitability of a war between mutants and humanity. The violent assertion of mutants to rise to their place and stake their claim on earth is further reflected in his final line of dialogue in X-Men. “The war is still coming, Charles. And I intend to fight it, by any means necessary.” The line is a clear allusion to Malcolm X’s rhetoric. Standing before a gathered crowd shortly before his death in 1965, Malcolm stated;

    “We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”

    The creators of the X-Men film franchise have chosen to tie Malcolm X and Erik Lensherr together by using this shared piece of dialogue. Erik and Malcolm both believe in the ability of violence to achieve their racial goals, and both are the products of discrimination. As such, their very existence is a judgment against the societies to which they belong. As MLK stated, the racial malevolence of Malcolm's messages was "not so much an indictment against him as it is against a society whose ills in race relations are so deep rooted that it produces a Malcolm X."  (Frady, 129) 

    Just as Erik represents Malcolm X in the Marvel Universe, Charles Xavier represents a conglomeration of several different civil rights figures. As the head of a school for mutants, he represents a belief in the power of education to empower minorities, a belief shared by Booker T. Washington. And as a figure who firmly believes in the power of non-violence and civil disobedience to change society, he also represents Martin Luther King Jr. While no direct references to these analogies are drawn in the movies, similarities are too numerous to ignore.

    Booker T. Washington was the dominant figure in the black political community for twenty-five years, long before Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. would ever see the light of day.  Washington believed that education was critical to the empowerment of the black community. As head of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, one of the first black schools of its kind, Washington sought to teach his students the skills they would need to play a critical role in society. He believed that this path would allow his students to gain peaceful acceptance in the white dominated culture of his day. As the educator famously stated "We need not only the industrial school, but the college and professional school as well, for a people so largely segregated, as we (African-Americans) are, from the main body of our people must have its own professional leaders who shall be able to measure with others in all forms of intellectual life." (Harlan, pg. 175)

    At the end of X-Men: First Class, Charles Xavier establishes his school for gifted youngsters after successfully averting nuclear war. While the reasons behind this decision are notably absent from the movie, it only comes after Xavier witnesses the militaries of two nations gather together to destroy the "mutant threat' gathered on a Cuban beach. His decision to start a school exclusively for mutant children is an implied means to combat future discrimination against his kind and gain acceptance in his society--the same reasons Washington gave in the establishment of his schools. The school becomes a safe place for closet mutants and runaways, a place where they can learn to control their powers and grow as a person.

     Xavier's decision to found his school ultimately pays off: Jean Grey, one of his early graduates, advocates in front of Congress on behalf of mutants in the first X-Men movie. Hank McCoy becomes an advisor to the President. And by drawing on the gifts of previous graduates, Xavier is able to gather a team of mutants to carry out missions critical to maintaining peace in the world: his X-Men. More often than not, the X-Men are actually tasked with protecting society from Magneto's efforts to annihilate humanity. In other words, Xavier is protecting the very people who discriminate against him. Nonetheless, the threat of a future war between mutants and humanity constantly hangs over his head. "Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night?" Erik whispers to Xavier in the first movie. "The feeling that one day that they will pass that foolish law or one just like it, and come for you? And your children?"

"It does indeed."

"What do you do, when you wake up to that?"

"I feel a great swell of pity for the poor fool who comes to that school... looking for trouble."

    Xavier is locked in a constant struggle between restraining mutants from initiating war and advocating peacefully for their rights through the political system. Xavier’s protection of humanity mirrors MLK’s advocacy of peaceful protest in face of violent discrimination. For example, after a particularly nasty night in in Florida, King took it upon himself to calm a crowd of black activists who had been stuck between a troop of Florida policemen with German Shepherds and a violent crowd of Klu Klux Clan members. King calmed an angry mob of bruised and battered faces crying for justice with his rhetoric of peace. “…we will continue to present our bodies in peaceful witness for justice, we ain’t gonna let nobody turn us ‘round. And we will not turn to hate…we gonna love this hate filled city of St. Augustine right on into freedom and righteousness.” (Frady, 141) Shortly after he had calmed the protestors, a friend of MLK noted “What those white hot-rods back at the square don’t realize is that Martin Luther King is the best friend they ever had. Whole lot of rednecks walking the streets today wouldn’t be if weren’t for him.” (Frady, 142) Xavier finds himself in similar situations throughout the film series, from his attempts to dissuade Magneto to the harsh words he gives to Pyro and Iceman when they use their powers to demobilize antagonizing teenagers in the second movie.

    The relationship between Xavier and MLK hasn't gone unnoticed by the public. Screened.com commentator Andrew Godoski noted, for example, that "Charles Xavier has long sought mutant rights through more peaceful methods. He truly believes that humans and mutants can live and function together in society. His philosophy falls in line with the same kind of stance Martin Luther King, Jr. took during the civil rights movement that started during the 50s; that a peaceful co-existence where everyone is treated as an equal was possible." (Godinez, 2011)

    Like his real-life counterpart, Xavier is killed before he sees his dream of mutant-human coexistence fulfilled. As Storm notes at the professor's funeral during the events of the third film, “Charles Xavier was born into a world divided—a world he tried to heal. A mission he never saw accomplished. It seems to be the destiny of great men to see their goals unfulfilled. He may be gone, but his teachings live on through us, his students. Wherever we must go, we must carry on his vision. And that’s a vision of a world united.” After the assassination of MLK, cries for violence arose from the black community. And when given the news, a friend of MLK stood in front of crowd gathered for a rally and broke the news to a dismayed audience. Given without notes, Robert Kennedy had this to say. “…we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.” (American Rhetoric) Both of the speeches draw from the same theme—unity and compassion, the carrying on of the torch of the deceased.

It’s tempting to conclude that Xavier and Magneto are simply fictional representations of their real-life counterparts. As we’ve explored in this paper, the evidence certainly points in that direction. However, I believe the message conveyed in the X-Men movies is deeper than one of mere fictional allegory. The closing scene of the first X-Men movie hints at this reality. While playing chess in a holding facility, the two men exchange this exceptional piece of dialogue.

Magneto: You know this plastic prison of theirs won't hold me forever. The war is still coming, Charles. And I intend to fight it, by any means necessary.

 Xavier: And I will always be there, old friend.

    I will always be there, old friend. The statement hints at a reality that transcends either one of the characters. Like the Yin and Yang in Taoism, Xavier indicates that their responses to mutant oppression are tied together by fate. Taken in this light, Xavier and Magneto cease to represent men—and come to represent ideas: two minority voices that surface whenever bigotry and racial feuds demand their presence. Magneto represents the desire for revenge and supremacy on behalf of the oppressed; Xavier the desire for peaceful resolution backed with capable force. The plots of the X-Men series indicate that this cycle repeats itself as long as the conditions of minority oppression persist.  As Storm relates to a mourning crowd during Xavier’s funeral, “We live in an age of darkness, in a world full of hate, fear, and intolerance. But in every age, there are those who fight against it.” 

This idea that the rise of these two voices is inevitable elevates the X-Men series to a modern day mythos, representative of the struggles and voices in American history. In this light, the tales spun by Marvel may well go down in history with other myths like Hercules or Achilles: stories of incredible weight and magnificence that relate the values and conflicts faced by the societies who created them. This ability to share our heritage through mythical figures doesn’t appear to be the result of a mutation. Rather, it’s an inherent trait of our humanity.

Conclusion

For a series of movies starring characters from a comic book with roots in the sixties, the X-Men serve as surprisingly deep subject material for a politics in popular culture paper. What’s more remarkable is that the X-Men’s message of tolerance emerges from a medium that, according to Duke University political scientist David Paletz, has been accused of“…corrupting young minds, of propagating imperialist ideology, and much more.” (Paletz, 39) Yet, by posing as a series of comic books and action movies, the X-Men series holds the capacity to subtly change their audience’s perception of historical figures without them consciously realizing it, giving their creators a power that alludes to Xavier’s—mind control.

Bibliography

American Rhetoric. (n.d.). Robert F. Kennedy, Remarks at the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Retrieved April 4th, 2012, from Americanrhetoric.com: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkonmlkdeath.html

Godoski, Andrew. (March 2011) Professor X And Magneto: Allegories For Martin Luther King, Jr. And Malcolm X. Retrieved April 14th, 2012 from screened.com http://www.screened.com/news/professor-x-and-magneto-allegories-for-martin-luther-king-jr-and-malcolm-x/2316/

Hall, Kelley J.; Lucal, Betsy (January 1999). "Tapping into parallel universes: using superhero comic books in sociology courses". Teaching Sociology 27 (1): 60–66

Frady, M. (2002). Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Penguin Group.

Fredrickson, G. M. (2002). Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Haley, A., & X, M. (1965). The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books.

Harlan, L. R. (1983). Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee, 1901-1915. New York: Oxford University Press.

Malcolm X (1992). By Any Means Necessary: Malcolm X Speeches & Writings. New York: Pathfinder Press.

Paletz, L David (2002). The Media in American Politics: Contents and Consequences New York: Longman Publishers

Ratner, B. (Director). (2006). X-Men 3: The Last Stand [Motion Picture].

Singer, B. (Director). (2000). X-Men [Motion Picture].

Singer, B. (Director). (2003). X2 [Motion Picture].

Vaugh, M. (Director). (2011). X-Men First Class [Motion Picture].

The Political Themes in X-Men

     The reemergence of the superhero genre of movies has been led by Marvel and its legion of mutants known as the X-men. Years before Spider-man swung into theaters or Batman bat-swept his way into audiences’ hearts, America watched heroes like Wolverine, Storm, and Cyclops fight it out on top of the Statue of Liberty against villains with names like Toad, Beast, and Magneto. DC comics scrambled to follow suite, and Marvel partnered with studios to bring other heroes to the big screen.

     But the X-Men didn’t just lead the way for a new era in cinema, one filled every summer with new super-powered vigilantes. Like a hipster, the X-Men comics and cartoons told stories of racial suppression and division, before it was cool to talk about civil rights and gay marriage. The recent front page comic book marriage of Nighthawk and his boyfriend is only the most recent example. The storylines offered by the series have historically been as diverse as their cast: the X-Men feature and have featured heroes that are Black, Hispanic, Jewish, and Gay. Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men, is even bound to a wheelchair—representing a handicapped minority that is rarely portrayed in superhero movies. The X-Men led the entertainment industry in advocating racial and minority equality long before their movies hit the big screen. And those political themes carried into theatres.

     However, the movies delve into other topics along their exploration of civil rights. McCarthyism and the paranoia present during the second Red Scare are mirrored in the first movie. In this two part dialogue between myself & I, we’ll examine a unique take on this piece of American history first, before addressing the most interesting facet of the films; how the characters of Xavier and Magneto are commentaries on the rhetoric and actions of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X, respectively.

McCarthyism & The Red Scare

     McCarthy’s rise and fall left a scar in the memory of the American people. As a Senator, McCarthy proved to be one of our worst, his name synonymous with both the terms censure and McCarthyism. However, McCarthy did not rise to power in a political vacuum. Rather, this man was enabled by the fears and paranoia of the nation during his brief stint in office. Like a person who cuts their own arms, McCarthy was the self-inflicted wound of a nation caught in hysteria.

    1950’s America was caught in a second “red scare”, ushered in by communist infiltration. The Rosenbergs had successfully leaked details of the Manhattan project to the Soviets. Other spies bragged about their feats of espionage. The ashes of WWII had given rise to a new menace, one that didn’t paint Swastikas on the side of airplanes or patch symbols of oppression on shoulders. Communism’s insidiousness in the minds of Americans laid in its innocuousness.  Anybody could be a communist. As a PSA short filmed during the period grimly noted, “…there are…communists who don’t show their real faces. Who work more…silently.”  

     McCarthy was hardly keen enough to tap into this paranoia. Rather, he discovered it quite on accident. During a February 9th, 1950 speech to a woman’s republican club in West Virginia, Joe mentioned he had a list of over 200 communist sympathizers in the State Department. Joe was unprepared for the media attention the speech received, but the Junior Senator from Wisconsin quickly acted on it. Less than a month later the Tydings committee delved into McCarthy’s allegations against the State Department and found all 81 of his targets innocent of all charges. Despite the recklessness he had demonstrated during the hearings, McCarthy went on to manipulate and use communism as a smear and a means of political leverage during the next four years.

     The first X-men movie is driven by a plot clearly intended to evoke our nation’s memory of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. The setting of the first movie is clearly depicted in it's opening scenes: due to the hysteria caused by the rise of individuals with “unique abilities,” America is caught in panic. Playing on the fears of the populace, Senator Kelly proposes mandatory registration for those with mutant abilities. In a scene mirroring McCarthy’s speech in West Virginia, Senator Kelly stands up in a hearing and loudly proclaims, “I have here a list of identified mutants living right here in the United States…...and there are even rumors, Miss Grey, of mutants so powerful that they can enter our minds and control our thoughts, taking away our God-given free will. Now I think the American people deserve the right to decide if they want their children to be in school with mutants. To be taught by mutants! Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that mutants are very real, and that they are among us. We must know who they are, and above all, what they can do!” 

     Just as McCarthy was empowered by the paranoia of the American population, Kelly’s Mutant Registration Act is enabled by the fear and prejudice of the citizenry. To the dismay of Jean Grey and Charles Xavier, his rhetoric is met with applause in the Senate Chamber. And outside the Capitol, we witness firsthand the persecution that those with mutant abilities are faced with. A rally for Senator Kelly shows protestors holding up signs with labels like “send the mutants to the moon” and “protect the children.” Wolverine has a shotgun pointed at the back of his head once a bartender and brawler discover what he is. Mutants, like communists and ex-communists during the Red Scare, have become outcasts in society. Senator Kelly goes so far as to note that if were up to him he’d, “…lock them all away. It’s a war. It’s the reason people like me exist.”

     Senator Kelly’s short-lived campaign against the mutants eventually attracts the attention of Magneto, who uses a machine to turn the politician into physical representation of his career: a slimy, shape shifting mutant capable of slipping in between the bars that hold him prisoner in Magneto’s lair. The poetic justice dealt to Kelly reflects the real life fate of Senator McCarthy. The Junior Senator from Wisconsin’s campaign against communism won him short lived popularity, but he made enemies in the process that would destroy him and his reputation, turning the same smear tactics he used against others on him.

     For years, Senator McCarthy investigated government agencies and even Hollywood. In the process, he stepped on the toes of giants. He eventually decided to investigate the Army, but was met with stiff resistance. Individuals he called to testify before his Senate Subcommittee on Investigations used the Fifth Amendment to shield themselves from questioning. McCarthy’s ill-fated inquiry again yielded no closet communists, but angered veterans, the military, and most dangerously, the President of the United States. Previously unwilling to directly engage the Senator, Eisenhower decided he had had enough and conspired with the Army to smear McCarthy in front of the nation. Playing on the homophobic tendencies of the populace during this time, the Army accused McCarthy and his advisor of giving preferential treatment to David Schine. McCarthy countercharged, correctly, that the charge was made in bad faith as a response to his previous investigation of the Army. The hearings are documented in the 1964 movie Point of Order!

     For six weeks the hearings raged before the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations. Allegations on both sides were televised live “gavel-for-gavel” in front of 80 million Americans. In the end, McCarthy found himself facing the same smear tactic he had used against politicians and organizations he found distasteful for years. Senator Symington wanted McCarthy to sign a statement that he would investigate members of his own staff that had ties to former communist organizations. Recognizing the stigma that such an investigation would have on his staff, McCarthy refused. And like an animal that finds itself cornered, McCarthy lashed back with everything he had, claiming that Symington couldn’t fool the American people with an investigation made in such bad faith. Symington and other members of the hearing were unimpressed. As the Missouri Senator stated in the face of McCarthy’s rage near the end of the hearings, “"Senator, the American people have had a look at you now for six weeks; you're not fooling anyone, either." Shortly afterwards, Symington simply packed up and walked away from the Senate Chamber despite McCarthy’s vocal protests.

     Before the end of the year McCarthy found himself censured in the Senate. Three years later he died a bitter man, his reputation and career forever ruined. Officially, he died of acute hepatitis. However, it is widely believed that the Senator drank himself to death. Recognizing his ruined state after his forced mutation, the fictional Senator Kelly refuses to seek treatment at a hospital for fear of being treated like a mutant. Despite the best efforts of the X-Men and Xavier, Senator Kelly liquefies in front of Storm and drains onto the floor. Senator McCarthy died from drinking.

Senator Kelly turned into a drink.
In our next post, we'll explore how the figures of MLK and Malcom X are represented in the movies. Cya next week folks!