Q: Saw X-Men: The Last Stand, last night. WOW!!! Excellent. You were
great!. Sad to see Magneto lose his power.
A: I'm glad you had a good time with the 3rd X-Men movie
-- but didn't you notice that Brett Ratner's last scene for Magneto hinted
that his powers might be possibly restored in a 4th?
[Webmaster's Note:
Click here
for more information about a possible 4th X-Men movie.]
MEANINGS
Q: My family and I saw the latest X Men last night and I need you to
settle a disagreement I had with my son. Setting aside the obvious connection to your
character's Shoah experience in the camps I saw a lot of references to
homophobia in this latest episode. The clues I picked up on are 1: there's
a plan to change people who are happy the way they are. 2: what is normal
is considered to be abnormal but fixable. 3: the archangel flying over San
Francisco, and then with his father, made me think of Angels in America
and finally the lovely way you enunciated 'homo sapiens.'
A: I'd missed the possible reference to Tony Kushner's inspired
analysis of modern attitudes in Angels in America but your other
two points are spot on. The stories in comics and films alike are
all about society's inhumanity to minorities of race, sexuality and other
"mutancy".
POWER
From: Jason Mathews
Q: I grew up reading Tolkien and Chris Claremont's X-Men and I felt
compelled to stop by here and commend you on jobs well done. Being a
gay man myself in my early 30s, I'm all too aware of some of your
motivations for portraying such a powerful (both physically and
emotionally) character taken from the pages of a "simple" comic book. I
must also say that I was very pleased to see Magneto portrayed more like
himself from a physical standpoint. I'd always felt that the first two
stories didn't give the audience a sense of how powerful Magneto really
was.
A: In previous E-posts I've discussed
Magneto's superhuman appearance in the comics which we exchanged for a
more naturalistic look in the movies. When I saw The Last Stand I
was as astonished as the rest of the audience by Magneto's strength.
No, I hadn't actually detached the Golden Gate Bridge from its moorings
but by golly the Master of Magnetism certainly did!
GOOD GUYS/BAD GUYS
From: Eleanor and Sean
Q: We just watched and enjoyed X-Men: The Last Stand. We couldn't help
but notice, however, a 'problem' with the mutants-as-LGBT-community
metaphor. Would you agree that the message is somewhat undermined by the
fact that the mutants who are most proudly 'out' and dismissive of the
'cure' are considered the bad guys? Are the X-Men the good guys because
they are willing to stay in the closet?
A: The argument is not between the openness and the closet, but
rather between lobbying and direct action, the familiar argument among
civil rights activists. I would have preferred, though, if Magneto's
supporters hadn't all looked such ruffians. The mohican hairstyles,
the tattoos, and punky clothes seemed more to do with radical fashion than
disaffected mutancy.
YOUNG MAGNETO
From: J. Johnson
Q: I really think you should push hard to play the younger Magneto.
Even if the movie was awful (though, as Magneto has always been the best
part of the X films, I can't imagine that being possible), it would be one
of the most ground breaking films of our time.
A: Indeed: and just think the money Hollywood could save on
botox.
SPEECH
From: Zack
Q: Ian, I am a 17yr gay male in a small town in the state of Ohio.
Seeing you in the first X-men, it really gave me an awesome feeling that
you were open about it. Seeing as most Hollywood actors today are not, I
wanted to thank you for giving me the hope that I can have a future in the
film world, and still be myself. Also during the forest scene in X-men 3 I
had a feeling that you where truly speaking from your heart when you said
"They wish to cure us, but I say to you, we are the cure".
A: You are right: it took no effort of imagination to speak those
stirring words from the heart. Not basing my life or career in
Hollywood has made it easier for me as an outsider not to succumb to any
pressures to lie about my sexuality. Anyway, isn't acting about
telling the truth about human nature, even within a fantastical tale of
mutants and superhuman faculties?
MAGNETO & XAVIER
From: Louise Sutherland
Q: I have been a huge fan of the multifaceted relationship between
Magneto and Xavier in the 15 years that I have been reading the comics and
was pleased that they continued this theme in the films. In the third film
however I felt that when Xavier is killed, Magneto is not given a moment
to truly react, he's shocked which is obvious and he "tells Pyro off"
later but that's it. Could they not have had him magnetically throwing
Pyro across the room or something in anger?
A: You have a point. Further, I didn't totally buy Magneto's
half-indifference to the transformation of his beloved Mystique when she
saves him in the prison truck. He was, however, in the middle of
trying to save his kind from the cruelty of "the cure" and there was major
work to be done outside and beyond. Mourning for her, and for
Charles, would come later in private tranquillity perhaps.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Q: At the end of "The Last Stand", Magneto says "What have I done?"
Given his past history, it seems wrong for the character to suddenly
regret defending himself and those like him from persecution. If he refers
to unleashing Jean's powers on the world, this still seems out of
character.
A: That's just how it was imagined by the script and therefore by
the actor, probably because Jean has fulfilled all Xavier's worst
fears, which Magneto didn't credit. Maybe he feels that he has
helped to unleash the force which killed his best friend and partner with
whom, in the comics, he founded the school for young mutants.
THE SPEECH
From: Jonathan
Q: When I first heard Magneto's speech about the cure in the forest, I
had the impression that the man who was talking was Martin Luther King.
You voice had the same intonation, and power! Was it deliberate? That was
extremely powerful.
A: I'm glad you felt the power of Magneto's eloquence. In
the previous two films I had bemoaned the lack of speeches that could
convey the depth of his anguish and so I relished the oratory in the
third. Perhaps the writers, Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, consciously
referred to Dr King, whose open-air speaking inspired a generation of
civil rights activists. If so, they didn't mention it to me.
COMPLIMENTICS
From: Gloria
Q: You are magnific! I'm so proud about you!
A: Being magnific is just terrifical! Thankee kindly.
