Why The X-Men Have Always Been About Black People

 What if the X-Men saga isn’t just about superheroes, but a powerful lens on race in America? In this discussion, two passionate fans peel back the layers of X-Men: First Class, uncovering striking parallels between the mutants’ fight for acceptance and the lived experiences of Black Americans. 

Transcript

Discovering X-Men's Racial Commentary

Speaker 1 0:00

This brother gave a very detailed breakdown after re-watching some of these X-Men movies . I'm telling y'all , man In , correlation to what's going on today in terms of racism and everything . Would you care to break this down , sir , for our general audience .

Speaker 3 0:12

I'm telling y'all man .

Speaker 1 0:13

What's that it actually had me . If I didn't waste my time with this movie this morning , I definitely would have went back and watched First Class again , man .

Speaker 2 0:20

Hilarious , but yeah , watch first class man , you got to listen to this .

Speaker 1 0:24

You're going to jump in this .

Speaker 3 0:25

Go ahead , I'm already on it , I'm already . I'm already there . I'm just glad you , finally , you finally hopped on board the train .

Speaker 1 0:34

So Dre for the general audience .

Speaker 2 0:35

No , no , no , it wasn't that deep . It was deep to me , but go ahead , but if you watch I mean all the X-Men movies now if you go back and watch more I was watching First Class man All this is about Black people , man . It's all about Black people . No-transcript know ?

Speaker 3 1:08

well , let me . Historically , that's the reason why they use that lady's jeans because black people are superhuman

Mystique and Self-Acceptance Allegory

Speaker 3 1:15

.

Speaker 2 1:15

So go ahead yeah , I mean when you break it , when you when you break down , when you break down the uh , the whole movie man and look at it , you'd be like man , like wow , beast was like a politician . You know what I mean . And you know you got Professor X and Magneto . That's like Malcolm and Martin man . You know they both got the same mindset .

Speaker 3 1:35

but Magneto One is revolutionary and one is Beast . Magneto One wants to integrate , the other one wants to separate .

Speaker 2 1:46

Yeah , yeah , yeah . It's mad deep man , when you go through the whole process and even when you even see , like , the whole situation with Magneto and what's the chick name ? Storm , Not Storm . The other one , Gene the villain , bro man . No , the blue , the chick that turned blue Myst one , the villain brought it .

Speaker 3 2:05

No , the blue , the chick that turned blue . Oh , mystique , mystique . The shapeshifter , yeah .

Speaker 2 2:12

Remember what's the whole thing about Mystique ? She don't like herself because of her blue skin . She had a blue skin and everything like that . She hates that dark , deep blue skin Right .

Speaker 3 2:24

Right right right , right right right .

Speaker 2 2:26

So the whole point , remember when she was laying in his bed and she had made herself into a beautiful white woman or whatever like that . And he was like I don't even want you like that , I want you like how

Beast, Politics, and Community Loyalty

Speaker 2 2:38

you are . So I think she changed it to another chick and he was like nah , I want you like how you are . And she turned back into her being blue and he was like nah , I want you like how you are . And she turned back into her being uh , blue and he was like yo , you're beautiful just the way you are , something like that . He just left in the bedroom . I was like , yo , this it's .

Speaker 2 2:53

The whole thing is hard , even if you're going to the joint where , as um , what's the chick ? Uh rogue , she couldn't touch her boyfriend , you know , I mean because he was , he was gonna her . So she wanted to change herself , she wanted to go get the vaccine you know what I mean to lose her power so she could be with him , or whatever the case may be . But the other white broad , she was able to . She saw them having a good time together . Whatever the case may be , I think it had , you know , like , had little undertones of black women and all kind of other stuff like that man . I was like yo . Man , when you watch that joint over again , you're going to be like yo . This joint is crazy man .

Speaker 3 3:28

I take it a little deeper with Mystique . Mystique , she has the ability to , so basically she can . It's her mindset . You know what I'm saying .

Speaker 2 3:38

She can be anything she want .

Speaker 3 3:39

Yeah , yeah , yeah , but she thinks that her natural self is not good enough .

Speaker 2 3:45

Right right , right , right right . I'm telling you , man , I was sitting there watching and the joint with Beast is a politician right and he's thinking he's a part of the government and all this other stuff like that . And when they came up with this so-called vaccine to cure the mutants or whatever like that , he walks up in the joint .

Speaker 1 4:07

He was like yo , I wasn't even in this meeting to even discuss it .

Speaker 2 4:12

You know what I mean . And there's a portion where they , when they put the vaccine together , he kind of left the government . He was like yo listen , I need to go be with my people .

Speaker 3 4:20

You know what I ?

Speaker 2 4:20

mean . You know what I mean . They all trying to piece it up . I'm telling you , man , so it kind of reminds you know what I'm saying . But you know , a lot of these movies is like that . They got undertones of stuff pertaining

Hidden Meanings in Popular Films

Speaker 2 4:31

to us . What's the name ?

Speaker 1 4:31

Planet of the Apes was like that , the original one you know what I mean yeah , the original , yeah , the original Planet of the Apes .

Speaker 2 4:39

So when you watch , when you