The X-Men Franchise - A Story about Tolerance

With the release of the latest installment in the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, hitting theaters this past weekend, I thought this would be a good time to look back at the franchise as a whole. After all, the X-Men franchise started our modern obsession with superhero films. And while the compelling stories and interesting characters definitely played a part in that, I think one of the biggest factors in the X-Men franchise's success is their timely message about tolerance. The installments that are among the franchise's best (2000's X-Men, its sequel X2: X-Men United, and 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past) deal with the simple question of how we should treat people who are different from us. Throughout these films, we see that the X-Men just want be treated like normal human beings, but the general population respond to them in fear because they are different.

At least, the films would like you to believe it's that simple. However, the films' villains raise valid points. The mutants have powers that turn them into potential threats for those who are not mutant. What they are proposing isn't discrimination, it's threat assessment. But the X-Men films would love to have you believe that it's discrimination for discrimination's sake. Characters argue about whether or not mutant children should be allowed to go to school with normal children. The films present this as the normal humans discriminating against mutants, when in reality we're seeing parents who are legitimately concerned about the safety of their non-mutant children.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, that's because the X-Men franchise have done more than pave the way for a successful superhero film industry. These films have also influenced our culture's thinking. They paved the way for homosexuality to become socially acceptable. And the transgender bathroom controversy playing out right now? We're having almost the exact same debate about that as the characters have in the X-Men films about whether or not mutants should get to go to the same schools as other mutants. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the X-Men films are pushing for these things to be made socially acceptable. What I am saying, is that because of the way these films present the debate over the mutants' place in the world, the culture has learned that it is wrong to discriminate between people because they are different. This has caused our culture to come to believe that homosexuals and transgender people should not be treated any differently from anyone else.

If this all seems like crazy talk to you, go back and watch the first X-Men movie again. This time, don't just sit back and passively observe what is going on. Instead, actively think about what is being said when the issue of mutant rights comes up. Think through the arguments. Are they that much different from what we're seeing in our society today? Sometimes, I have to make a distinction between what is going on in front of me and the homosexual debate because the film has the clear message that people shouldn't be treated differently because they are different from us.

Now, I am not saying that the X-Men films are bad films. I really enjoy watching them. What I am saying is that this franchise aptly demonstrates that ideas have consequences. The ideas regarding tolerance and discrimination that are presented in the X-Men films have had a powerful impact on the thinking of those who do not take the time to think through the ideas being presented on the screen in front of them. Therefore, the X-Men films ought to be watched with discernment, and parents watching the films with their children should take the time to talk with their children about when we, as Christians, can be tolerant of people who are different from us and when we must discriminate.