A Queer Theory Bonanza!

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2011)

X-Men itself has always, in the best of times, been the best superhero comic books for analysis by academic critique. The issues of diversity and civil rights movements inspired Marvel Comics artists to transform the monthly adventures of our favorite mutants into an analogy about liberation movements in the USA, with Charles Xavier as Martin Luther King Jr. and Eric Lensherr as Malcolm X. Here they nail the analogy better than before, with Charles acting as quite the ladies man (not unlike the flirtatious Dr. King) while Eric is a radicalized and angry to the point of violence (not exactly Malcolm X in execution, but certainly in principle). This itself makes the film an important piece for analysis in the academy. The 'Mutant and Proud' slogan echoed throughout the film is clearly a pun on old gay rights slogans, with the analogy of hiding an identity in plain sight equally powerful.