7. X-Men Films and the Domestication of Dissent: Sexuality, Race, and Respectability

Genetics in the X-Men film franchise: mutants as allegories of difference

“…This paper adds a focus on the role of genetics in shaping the presentation of difference, particularly in regards to race and LGBTQ+ issues. Christopher B. Zeichmann, for instance, explores how the first two installments of the X-Men films— X-Men , X2: X-Men United —utilize queer metaphors that he reads as “problematic to the extent that [they reinforce] historical and prevailing real-world anti black respectability politics” ( Zeichmann, 2020 ). He argues how the first two installments to the film franchise “are emphatically anti-intersectional, in that queer liberation and Black liberation are placed in an antagonistic and ultimately unreconcilable relationship, wherein the former is lent legitimacy by its refusal of violence and insistence upon gaining inclusion within hegemonic social structures that perpetuate the marginalization of people of color” ( Zeichmann, 2020 , 392).…”

“…Christopher B. Zeichmann, for instance, explores how the first two installments of the X-Men films— X-Men , X2: X-Men United —utilize queer metaphors that he reads as “problematic to the extent that [they reinforce] historical and prevailing real-world anti black respectability politics” ( Zeichmann, 2020 ). He argues how the first two installments to the film franchise “are emphatically anti-intersectional, in that queer liberation and Black liberation are placed in an antagonistic and ultimately unreconcilable relationship, wherein the former is lent legitimacy by its refusal of violence and insistence upon gaining inclusion within hegemonic social structures that perpetuate the marginalization of people of color” ( Zeichmann, 2020 , 392). As the franchise has progressed, it has evolved to address more intersectional topics pertaining to systemic oppression and subjugation of minoritized groups, especially as they relate to issues of genetic privacy and the exploitation of biological materials by both commercial and governmental entities.…”