"I have heard these arguments before"

“Women, children, whole families destroyed because they were born different from those in power” This was said by Erik Magnus Lensheer before he and his Brotherhood launched a terrorist attack on Liberty Island. Though it is definitely a bit on the extremist side, this quote holds a bit of the Marxist argument within it.

It may be a bit unconventional, but I decided to analyze the “X-men trilogy” movies for this week’s response. It appears that it was actually not as far from Marx’s ideals as it had seemed.

The story is set in a world where a new species of humanity has emerged, one with abilities that set them apart from the “normal” populace. They are branded simply as mutants and are right away cast aside or exploited by those around them, especially by the “normal” high-ranking government-types. One of the main characters, Logan has suffered much from such exploitations. His particular talents were used by those of higher authority for the so-called benefit of the country. And he received no compensation for it besides the pain that was the rest of his life as they considered him beneath them because of what he could do. The government had also begun forcing other mutants to register, to sign away their names and abilities to be recorded for future reference and use. The mutants, for the most part, just want to be treated equally and to be given equal rights. Others want to not be mutants, wanting to become “normal”. A major theme of the third installment deals with a “cure” being developed for mutant-kind’s condition. For several of the mutants, this is a chance to finally transcend their current way of life for a new and (arguably) better one, the luxuriously “normal” way of life. But taking this “cure”, considering taking the “cure” or even calling it a cure, would just confirm what the higher power led them to believe, that there’s something wrong with them and that being “normal” is better. Such a thought would just keep the cycle of persecution and exploitation going, exposing it to future generations.

Marxists have identified fascism as a form of politics adopted by governments, where those not equal to or meeting with the qualifications of those in power are stripped of their rights, to prevent a socialist revolution. This series of films speaks out against fascism in almost the same way.