this is a blatant oversimplification. and just plain wrong in most parts.
magneto is a radical. he is a terrorist. whether or not you agree with him doesn’t change the fact that he KILLS people. magneto’s goals do not require him to have a public image other than Magneto. professor x run a school. a sanctuary for mutant children and teens and adults. he requires a certain amount of social capital in order to run this school, in order to convince the parents of closeted mutant teens to allow their kids to come there. he SAVES CHILDRENS LIVES. while still allowing them to retain contact with their families and outside society. magneto is HATED. that’s why he can walk around with an entourage of people who look like they do. that’s why he can wear a cape and a helmet and bright red everything. people look at him and they see a freak and he allows it because it provokes a reaction that he’s looking for. he proves people are prejudiced with his presence.
professor X can’t do that. he cant risk KIDS AND TEENS getting hurt or attacked because of the way they look. he can’t risk being labeled a freak and an outsider and he cant risk his teachers and staff doing the same because then everything he ever worked for would come crashing down.
let’s equate this to something real. imagine this is all an allegory for queer people (it is) and imagine professor x ran a school for queer kids (he does) and his whole job was to convince super uptight conservative and religious parents to send their kids to his school. you bet your ass he’s gonna show up in his most christian clean pressed suit with a cross necklace and a rosary in his hands clutching a bible and wearing a ten gallon hat if need be. he’s gonna bring the masculine gay teachers and the feminine lesbian ones and he probably won’t bring trans teachers and students if they don’t pass because the parents will SEE that and go “hmm i dont like this guy’s looks”.
he SPECIFICALLY plays off people’s prejudices. purposefully.
and then? when he gets the queer kid safe? when they’re out of their parent’s grasp? he hands them a rainbow scarf and a bottle of hair dye and tells them to go wild. he helps the trans kids get hormones and binders and makeup if they need or want them. he introduces them to other queer teens and adults and lets them live the life they want to live, an authentic life, and a safe one.
but in public? wigs go on, disguises are in place, and pride pins and rainbow thongs are hidden. not because he’s worried about his own image or that he thinks everyone SHOULD look and act a certain way, but because he KNOWS that society is still grossly judgmental and if a kid in a mohawk and sparkly eyeshadow goes waltzing around the city they’re going to get bottles thrown at their head.
dropping the metaphor now; if they need to go out in full mutant form, they get disguises. uniforms. armor. they get trained on how to protect themselves and CONTROL THEIR HORRIFICALLY DEADLY POWERS THAT THEY OTHERWISE COULD HAVE KILLED THEMSELVES OR OTHERS WITH so they can be safe and be authentically them and OUT if they want to.
i side with magneto on a lot. but shitting on professor x? NO. BAD. and entirely missing the point. magneto has shown time and time again that he’s willing to let other’s die for his cause. kids and teens and humans and mutants alike. professor X is not willing to let a child die for him. period.
back to the metaphor; if you’re a trans person you worry about passing. if you dont pass you could get attacked, assaulted, raped, murdered, etc. there are certain areas of the world and times and spaces where you can be as out as you like. pride is a good example of this. drag queens will be out in full makeup and costumes. but no queen or king or trans person or queer ANYONE is going to advise you to walk down the street in Alabama at midnight in the same outfit.
professor x and magneto are both violently aware of societies’ prejudices. professor x was able to hide his existence as a mutant due to his privilege as an upper class white boy who’s power didn’t manifest in a visible way. he has used this privilege to help people. magneto, growing up during the holocaust, was targeted for being jewish AND targeted for being a mutant. due to this, he has chosen to make himself as visible as possible. he was tattooed with a string of numbers that will forever mark him as “other” and he decided to fully embrace that and challenge society to do the same. he thinks that the loss of a few, or many, lives is worth pushing for change. professor x’s focus is on protection and change in subtler ways. he uses his privilege and hidden status as a mutant to sway people’s opinions in other ways.
there is NO side that is without it’s flaws. but saying “professor x does nothing for the mutant cause” completely ignores the fact that he is doing everything he can to protect vulnerable groups like MUTANT CHILDREN and flat out RESCUES them from homes they might have or HAD been abused in otherwise and honestly makes me question if OP has ever experienced what it’s like to be attacked just for LOOKING a certain way and living in FEAR that any moment you’re going to be outed and discovered and killed for it. if 5 years ago someone had offered me a watch to make me look like a cis dude? i would’ve taken it and pledged my life to whoever had given it to me.
and yeah hiding SUCKS but so does DYING. and if you have to pick one GUESS WHAT??? most people go for the first. for those ok with the risk of the second there is the choice of magneto’s side.
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