X-Aminations
Introduction: Last Christmas, I had an opportunity to watch X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 to 1997, Saturday mornings on Fox. What was meant as a nostalgia kick for a few episodes has become a review project for me. Yāsee, since I started rewatching the show, I thought it would be a fun exercise to post an observation or two of each episode on Facebook. As the series went on, I found myself getting more and more engrossed in the show, the memories of childhood excitement flashing back. But the comments went from one sentence to a paragraph, a paragraph to three, and sometimes even 2-part posts. The truth to myself was that I enjoyed dissecting the series, which I never would have imagined when I started Episode 1.Ā When the show first debuted in 1992,Ā I was obsessed and made it a ritual to prep myself and a good hearty breakfast to enjoy the show. Though I bought a couple comics before the show, this series fully brought me into the world of Marvel, using allowance money to scoop up comics and absorbing as much as I could. This, in itself, gave way to regular reading habits with other books, such as Archie comics, a few DC comics, and the works of Jules Verne.Ā As a kid, I understood the basic premise of the show: a group of mutants banding together to fight for a world that hates and fears them. They had bright spandex and flight and superpowered battles in faraway locations like the Savage Land, the Moon, London, and even Detroit. And, growing up as the only one or one-of-two Asians in class, the built-in themes of race, discrimination, marginalization, and community spoke loudly to me, increasing my identity investment in the series. Indeed, it was perhaps the only Saturday morning cartoon at the time that spent the majority of its episodes dealing with those topics.Ā High school came and went, where, like any other teenager, trying to understand the self and the identities that come with it was a constant struggle and journey. After school groups, more reading, more engagement helped me gain a better sense of of myself. College further cemented this progress thanks to the humanities and my focus on English literature. From there, I embarked on a career in non-profits, and I got involved in various causes. Iām a firm believer that a proper democracy needs social and civic engagement.Ā As an adult who had found some spare time, the nostalgia bug hit. An adult will obviously read material differently than a 9 year old. Watching the show would be a hoot, but I thought it would be fun to provide some humorous, snarky observations on Facebook, enabled by 20+ years of experience. But as the episodes went on, I began to realize that the episodes definitely touched on more complex themes that flew over my kiddie-head, that almost all of those themes are continue to be relevant in todayās world, that sometimes the writing is now problematic (but wasnāt considered so at the time). Essentially, the show is full of moments that seemed normal as a kid, but would make me as a 21st century adult say,Ā āHOLY SHIT.ā Before I knew it, I was already a couple seasons in, and my friendsā responses were highly supportive.Ā The purpose of this blog is, first and foremost, humor. But humor is also a way to interpret the world, and given the political bent of the show, tying those issues to humor is remarkably fun. Not all the reviews will be political, because the many of the episodes are not. Indeed, when I first started writing, I had no idea that Iād be making such commentary regularly, because I wasnāt expecting to see another side of the show. Thus, I make no claims that the writers intended to make some of the choices they do; itās a Saturday morning cartoon designed to sell toys and comics, after all, and oftentimes writers invoke tropes unintentionally because tropes come from our experiences and understanding. And what we know now is different than what we knew back then, so I donāt necessarily blame the writers (except in worst case scenarios). Ā Almost all of the political/social justice observations I make here are somewhat facetious and exaggerated for the sake of humor, but in many ways the show still works as a fantasy-based analogy for the struggles that various movements face today, twenty years after the show. I also donāt want to try and necessarily force politics from otherwise non-political episodes; that is, I donāt want the humor to seem forced -- unless I want to! Sometimes the most political things stem from lack of awareness. To make those connections, sometimes I will stretch as much as Mr. Fantastic -- part of the challenge will be to make those stretches as logical (or absurd!) as possible. Itās also a fun exercise for me to use coded language (i.e.Ā āminoritiesā in place ofĀ āmutantsā) whenever possible to further drive the analogies home. To that end, Iām glad that youāre reading. In an effort to standardize the original Facebook comments, save them for posterity, and gain a better format (Facebook posts by themselves are not ideal), I made this tumblr. For the next few days, Iāll be reposting comments onto Tumblr before beginning Season 4, which begins with a two-part episode in an alternate timeline of a Dystopian Present, where Professor X was killed before he could form the X-Men, thus plunging the world into a red-sky race war. If that doesnāt sound too outlandish for you, then I welcome you to join me for the ride.Ā
