Political correctness has become an enormous theme in American life, in and outside of political discourse. Anything that could be construed as negative regarding a person or group that just so happens to share a certain race, religion, affiliation, etc. could be seen as breeding hatred based on that type.
X-Men: Apocalypse is the latest installment in the ongoing series about the Marvel Comics team of mutant superheroes. It is also the latest target of social justice warriors.
The film features a villain by the name of En Sabah Nur, who has been reawakened from a long sleep to take down a world he sees as lost its way without him. Long story short, it’s your standard good vs. evil plot which sees heroes fighting to stop an opposing threat.
In a battle between good vs. evil, the inevitable point is that people get hurt. It happens in real life when good people go to war against a threat, and it’s no different in a fictional story about mutants fighting a strong villain.
These are points that actress Rose McGowan, joined by the liberal Internet site Salon, fail to grasp. When Twentieth Century Fox began advertising the film, there was a scene used depicting En Sabah Nur choking Mystique, who is a female character in the film played by Jennifer Lawrence.
Is this in poor taste? There’s an argument for it, but McGowan and the leftwing P.C. warriors took it a step further in claiming it specifically promotes violence against women.
The criticism by McGowan is wrong, and anyone who takes the time to understand the X-Men series can see that this, if anything, teases a big battle between two important characters. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg, who wrote the film and has been involved with the last few films in the series, has previously noted that this film comes full circle for Mystique. He has described how far she has come through previous films First Class and Days of Future Past.
In other words, this film is a big moment for Mystique.
The recent X-Men films, including Apocalypse, have promoted the growth and development of a female superhero. But this point escapes Hollywood liberals and fringe social justice warriors.
Furthermore, film villains generally do not discriminate in their destruction. They just hurt and kill people. Similarly, the villain in X-Men: Apocalypse isn’t targeting women or on some misogynistic mission, he’s trying to destroy the world.
And by the entire world, that means: men, women, children, Salon and even Rose McGowan’s career. En Sabah Nur isn’t holding back. What’s sexist about that?
Film marketing is naturally going to depict a struggle of some sort, because it attracts people’s interest. En Sabah Nur has Mystique in a choking grip. Will she escape? Will she survive? Will she defeat her mutant male oppressor?
Marketing obviously isn’t going to show what happens in it’s advertising materials. If we know what happens to Mystique, what’s the point in seeing the film? There’s no point in spending the money and taking the time if a conflict’s resolution is known prior to the story, this is why everyone hates Internet spoilers.
But if it did, would the outrage be different? If Mystique did reign supreme over En Sabah Nur and defeat her opponent, and that was shown on a billboard, would McGowan and Salon be shouting about violence against men?
There could be an argument that the film could have used a better image for depicting the conflict of the film between the X-Men and En Sabah Nur, but what was used is hardly endorsing violence against women. If anything, it’s showing a conflict that leaves the viewer rooting for the oppressed over the oppressor.
In this case? Viewers will see X-Men: Apocalypse with the hope that the typical good triumphs over evil plot plays out and Mystique beats down En Sabah Nur for his wicked ways.
