#mutantism

TRAGEDY:  LOSS DUE TO HUBRIS.

mainly achieved through foreshadowing, charles’ arc starts with him fairly privileged and well-off / well-adjusted compared to erik; he’s rich, he’s educated, he’s white, able-bodied, his mutation invisible and passing as heterosexual. by the end of the movie, both raven and erik have left him -- pushed away either very deliberately ( in the case of erik ) or accidentally through callousness over a longer period of time ( in the case of raven ). he constantly, due to his privilege which seems to override any sensitivity he could gain from being a telepath, hurts and upsets the people around him by speaking carelessly, which culminates in cuba, where his plea to erik resembles the nuremburg defense to a holocaust survivor, is the spark for the following actions.

01.   “a small slip-up is one thing; a big one does not bear thinking about.”  /  “they’re just following orders.” 02.   “you’re my oldest friend.”  raven: i’m your only friend.  “thanks for that.”  /  “go with him. it’s what you want.” 03.  “unfortunately, i do know you.”  /  “until recently, i never had to read your mind to know what you were thinking.” 04.  “peaceful cohabitation, if it ever existed, was short-lived.”  /  erik: we want the same thing.  “my friend, i’m sorry. we do not.” 05.  raven: would you date me?  “of course i would. any man would be lucky to have you; you’re stunning.”  /  “i thought you’d be in a good mood. hank tells me he’s found the answer to your ... cosmetic problem.” 06.  erik: that fear will turn to hatred.   “not if we stop a war. not if we can prevent shaw, not if we risk our lives doing so.”  /  “go ahead, charles. tell me i’m wrong.” 07.  “i can’t! i’m sorry, i can’t shoot anybody point blank, let alone my friend.”  erik: oh, come on! you know i can deflect it.  &  “as none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, i suggest we suit up.”  /  i am so sorry. 08.  erik: honestly, charles, i don’t know how you survived. living in such hardship.   raven: well, it was a hardship softened by me.  /  “go with him. it’s what you want.”  &  “i can’t feel my legs.”

FOCUS:  NEWFOUND DIRECTION.

in the beginning of the movie, erik is focused entirely on one thing -- finding schmidt. there’s a detachment from the concept of ‘self’; the reduction of himself into his mutation, his anger and the drive for vengeance. in the audience’s introduction to him -- the scene with the bank teller -- he isn’t named, only recognized when he uses his powers. when his name is asked for, there’s a lack of self when he responds, a non-commitment to any identifier that isn’t revolving around his vengeance on shaw. erik is very much a lone wolf, operating on his own, with a single agenda. there’s a shift over time, though -- as he finds out there are others like him, as he lives with them and interacts with them, he can’t help but care. the emotion driving his vengeance -- his love for his mother, his ability to love, deeply -- shifts him onto a new path.

01.  shaw: we have opened your gift with anger. anger and pain.  /  charles: there is so much more to you than you know. more than just pain and anger. 02.  na//zi: who are you?  “let’s just say, i’m frankenstein’s monster. and i’m looking for my creator.”  /  emma: erik, is it?  “i prefer mag//neto.” 03.  “i thought i was alone.”  /  “we’re brothers, you and i.” 04.  “what do you know about me?”  charles: everything.  “then you know to stay out of my head.” /  “you’ve known all along why i was here, but things have changed.” 05.   charles: i tell you, we can start something incredible, erik. we can help them.  “can we?”  /  “all of us together, protecting each other.” 06.  “i don’t need your help.”  /  “i want you by my side. all of us together, protecting each other.” 07.  “i need the situation, the anger.” /  charles: i believe that true focus lies between rage and serenity. 08.  “if you’re using half your concentration to look normal, then you’re only half paying attention to whatever else you’re doing.”  /  “the real enemy is out there! i feel their guns moving in the water, targeting us!” 

TRANSFORMATION:  DRASTIC SHIFT IN VALUES AND PERCEPTION.

she starts off, resentful that she has to hide herself, resentful that she looks so different and only wanting her appearance to be normalised. her self-esteem and self-perception is built off her feelings for charles, and his approval ( and normalisation ) of her person. his fear of discovery only makes her more resentful and ashamed of how she looks, only more keenly aware that she isn’t deemed normal or desirable by societal standards, and that her only option for companionship of any kind is charles. as she meets the first class, especially erik, this starts to change for her. not only does she begin to accept and normalise how she looks for herself but she starts to question both society and its’ values, for rejecting her based on her appearance, and charles, for being intolerant, eventually leading her to leave charles, completely.