In this movie, though, the juxtaposition of Xavier's "fixing" of Jean with Angel's gruesome attempt to "fix" his wings makes it clear that Xavier is making a really dubious ethical call, and I think it's strongly implied that this played a significant role in his parting of ways with Magneto. The comics are filled with cases of Xavier meddling with people's minds for what he claims is their own good, and he's never ever been called to account for it, so I was delighted to see it taking center stage here.
I wish I'd seen what you describe here, because it would've been cool. But I honestly didn't feel like they were trying to point out any kind of ambiguity in Xavier's actions; if anything the characters were more black (Magneto) and white (Xavier) than ever here. Of course, I saw lots of darkness in what Xavier did (it was horrible, and I was pretty much rooting for Jean to kill him), but I don't think the film really treated it as dark. Xavier was basically proved right when Jean went nuts and Wolverine had to kill her.
Unfortunately, turning Jean into the object of a philosophical tug-of-war between Xavier and Magneto pretty much reduces her to a pawn, which is a real step backwards from the strong, determined, self-motivated hero we saw in the previous movies.
Yes, and that really pissed me off after the buildup of Jean as an actual strong character in X2. I liked that, even though she was the object of a love triangle, she asserted herself and was clearly in control (she chose Scott--it was ultimately her making an active choice), whereas here she was just totally a pawn to be used by the men around her. Even when Wolverine killed her, you felt sorrier for him for having to kill the woman he loved, than for Jean (who wasn't really even an individual anymore at that point). Not to mention the sexism in the idea of a woman who can't control her power/ the idea that it was right for Xavier to cut her off from it instead of helping her deal with it and use it for good. UGH, and the fact that evil Jean automatically equalled sexual Jean. Oh, and why didn't Storm even seem to care of feel bad about killing Jean? It was all "Wolverine, you have to kill her," when really if you look at the previous film, it was Storm who'd known her longer and had more of a relationship with her--didn't Storm even feel sad about the death of her friend?
And don't even get me started on Rogue giving up her powers. That was so one-sidedly stupid. Either they should've shown it as the tragedy it was (Bobby should've dumped her immediately, that's for sure) or they should've had her come in at a pivotal moment and use her powers to save someone, thus showing that even though her difference has major social drawbacks, it's also a power that she can use for good. But they just went for making her utterly pathetic.
Or (to get off the sexism rant), what about Iceman and Pyro? They were friends in the previous film. Their showdown should've had some layers, depth, sadness, or at least the passion of friendship turned to hatred. But it wasn't even a very interesting fight! Just an excuse to show Bobby covered in ice so the comic fans could squee.
I don't know... I'm glad you liked it, but I really didn't see most of the stuff you're saying. I don't think they explored Magneto and Xavier's differences in any great depth. The one thing I did like was that Magneto clearly didn't want Xavier to die and was sorry when it happened, but aside from that... meh.
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I wish I'd seen what you describe here, because it would've been cool. But I honestly didn't feel like they were trying to point out any kind of ambiguity in Xavier's actions; if anything the characters were more black (Magneto) and white (Xavier) than ever here. Of course, I saw lots of darkness in what Xavier did (it was horrible, and I was pretty much rooting for Jean to kill him), but I don't think the film really treated it as dark. Xavier was basically proved right when Jean went nuts and Wolverine had to kill her.
Unfortunately, turning Jean into the object of a philosophical tug-of-war between Xavier and Magneto pretty much reduces her to a pawn, which is a real step backwards from the strong, determined, self-motivated hero we saw in the previous movies.
Yes, and that really pissed me off after the buildup of Jean as an actual strong character in X2. I liked that, even though she was the object of a love triangle, she asserted herself and was clearly in control (she chose Scott--it was ultimately her making an active choice), whereas here she was just totally a pawn to be used by the men around her. Even when Wolverine killed her, you felt sorrier for him for having to kill the woman he loved, than for Jean (who wasn't really even an individual anymore at that point). Not to mention the sexism in the idea of a woman who can't control her power/ the idea that it was right for Xavier to cut her off from it instead of helping her deal with it and use it for good. UGH, and the fact that evil Jean automatically equalled sexual Jean. Oh, and why didn't Storm even seem to care of feel bad about killing Jean? It was all "Wolverine, you have to kill her," when really if you look at the previous film, it was Storm who'd known her longer and had more of a relationship with her--didn't Storm even feel sad about the death of her friend?
And don't even get me started on Rogue giving up her powers. That was so one-sidedly stupid. Either they should've shown it as the tragedy it was (Bobby should've dumped her immediately, that's for sure) or they should've had her come in at a pivotal moment and use her powers to save someone, thus showing that even though her difference has major social drawbacks, it's also a power that she can use for good. But they just went for making her utterly pathetic.
Or (to get off the sexism rant), what about Iceman and Pyro? They were friends in the previous film. Their showdown should've had some layers, depth, sadness, or at least the passion of friendship turned to hatred. But it wasn't even a very interesting fight! Just an excuse to show Bobby covered in ice so the comic fans could squee.
I don't know... I'm glad you liked it, but I really didn't see most of the stuff you're saying. I don't think they explored Magneto and Xavier's differences in any great depth. The one thing I did like was that Magneto clearly didn't want Xavier to die and was sorry when it happened, but aside from that... meh.