I think the biggest difference between being gay and being black (as far as what mutancy is a metaphor for) is that most parents aren't surprised and disappointed to find out their kid is black.
Who was the real power? The Captain? or Tenille?
Xander ,'Showtime'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Laga - Jul 03, 2007 8:40:18 pm PDT #9853 of 10001
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
§ ita § - Jul 03, 2007 9:53:22 pm PDT #9854 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The correlation to race is explicitly stated by writers, as is the Malcolm/Martin Luther thing. And since the positions of methods (by any means neccessary, etc) were designed to (and to me succeed in doing so) map to the civil liberties movements, I don't put homosexuality first.
Laga - Jul 03, 2007 9:59:08 pm PDT #9855 of 10001
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
I defintely see the MLK/Malcolm X thing. I think the movie can be both. To me the scene with Angel and the shears is all about trying to keep your parents from knowing the truth about you. Trying to cut away that part of you that doesn't fit in with society.
Sean K - Jul 03, 2007 10:30:15 pm PDT #9856 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
I have just printed out tickets for tomorrow for Ratatouille at the El Cap.
I love the digital age.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 04, 2007 1:21:44 am PDT #9857 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Well, I didn't mean that it wasn't used as a metaphor for anything else. But Bobby's conversation with his parents in X2, for example, strikes me as far more a gay metaphor than a racial one. And though it's more subtle, likewise Rogue's discovery of her power as a sexually awakening teen, the resultant shame and issues about romantic interaction, and the trope of fleeing home to build a new family among friends.
Tom Scola - Jul 04, 2007 1:55:29 am PDT #9858 of 10001
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500
Other SF movies:
Play It Again, Sam. One of the few Woody Allen films of the period shot outside of the NYC area, because the NY film crew was on strike.
Fred Pete - Jul 04, 2007 4:14:32 am PDT #9859 of 10001
Ann, that's a ferret.
I'd say a movie (or any artwork) is a "blank" movie if it speaks to the experience of "blanks" as "blanks." X-Men (and the Marvel Universe generally) definitely speaks to the gay experience, and I'll defer to ita as to the black experience.
In a broader context, I'd say there are similarities between the two, but I wouldn't want to stretch the analogy too far. Both groups have been/are treated by society as "other" and "lesser," with that status reinforced by laws. On the other hand, there was never any debate as to whether people "choose" to be black, as opposed to the debate over gay.
Beverly - Jul 04, 2007 6:21:57 am PDT #9860 of 10001
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
Bullitt as the gold-standard car chase through San Francisco hills.
Saw Die Hard 4 yesterday. It was fun, about what I'd expected, and I liked it much more than DH2, not as much as the original. Justin Long did a good job sustaining his character (or he was reeeeally well cast). But I may have been thrilled most that Cliff Curtis has a really good role in it, and does a credible US accent. I hope he gets lots more work from this.
DavidS - Jul 04, 2007 6:46:28 am PDT #9861 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
HBO has a 15 minute First Look at OOTP which you can see here.
Lots of clips interspersed with interviews.
§ ita § - Jul 04, 2007 7:01:03 am PDT #9862 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
there was never any debate as to whether people "choose" to be black, as opposed to the debate over gay.
You'd be surprised. Certainly nothing on the scale of homosexuality, but there are huge racial identity kerfuffles.
No need to defer to my interpretation. Chris Claremont (wrote a bunch fo the comics) has said much the same.
I'm not trying to take away the gay interpretation--just that I don't think it's a gay movie any more than it'd be a black movie if you changed nothing but the race of the director.