Fox apologizing for X-Men Apocalypse Mystique billboard reflections by Anthony Andujar Jr 5/6/16

 Fox apologizing for X-Men Apocalypse Mystique billboard reflections by Anthony Andujar Jr 5/6/16

 First off , I have to say, Wolverine was never the leader of the X-Men, nor was he a tall 6'3 pretty boy (mind you, I like Hugh Jackman as wolverine despite the material he's given to work with). Quicksilver was never that popular to the mainstream. Prior to 2000, the x-men wore colorful costumes, not black leather biker outfits and paintball gear, and Mystique was never a superhero. Mystique is Barely even a anti hero. She is a comic book villain who happened to fight the X-men numerous times. She is unashamed of using her sexuality , expressing her sexuality and ruthlessness/aggression to further her own personal interests, and it shows in the comics. 

(Art by Ron Garney) You could read Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri's Wolverine run (Essential Wolverine volume 3), 

 

or any X-Men book from Chris Claremont  ( who co created her) onwards. Heck the 90s X-Men cartoon , X-men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-men cartoons are fantastic examples of mystique in any adaptation by far. 

X-Men Evolution (2000) 

 

and the 2009 Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon 

 Mystique is unapologetic and it shows in her actions as a character who has manipulated her own children (Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Greyson Creed ) as pawns throughout the entirety of her existence and in comic book /X-men history. But this isn't about Mystique (at least not the awesome original comic version ). I'm taking about the Bryan Singer /Jennifer Lawrence Mystique of the 2nd trilogy of 20th century Fox X-Men films.   I have to confess that despite how I feel about the X-men film franchise, I've always loved X1 , X2, First Class and Days of Future Past. While First Class was a great film (thanks to director Matthew Vaughn ) and Deadpool (Thanks to director Tim Miller and actor Ryan Reynolds) , they were the only real good X-Men films ever. I mean, I appreciate what singer did at the time before the golden age of comic book films by making X-men 1 (after Blade came before), and helped make superhero films become a main staple in cinema in the early 2000's onward. But in terms of the x-men films, First Class and (mostly) Deadpool are the closest to their comic book content in terms of theme, characters (Deadpool was the best one in terms of accuracy), action, story and wardrobe. Those yellow and blue costumes were awesome in First Class. 

 (art by Jim Lee)

(Art by Jack Kirby) 
 Deadpool took it a step further in terms of embracing it's content for what it really is (in the same way the Marvel Studios films have down with the Avengers etc). 

 I could go and on about the lack of color in the costumes, but YouTuber Kaptain Kristian has already explored the importance of costumes and color in his videos and Fox studios lack of faith nor interest in the comic book content it extracts. If you have a chance, take a look at that video and his amazing channel. Now... Down to the main course. 

 Now while the focus of this piece is centered on the Bryan Singer adapted film version of Mystique, this segment will touch upon other things. Bad guys are supposed to be unapologetic. and since they made mystique into Katniss from Hunger Games's, they might as well have her take the brunt of apocalypse's hits anyway. But, since the general public want to soften up villains these days, it makes it difficult to even have a good one without some people getting overly sensitive.      The fact that fox apologized for a character that actually can defend themselves is pretty ridiculous and insulting to the character as well. Oh well, I guess no one will bat an eye against this one image of the scene in Days of Future Past when mystique choked people out and even used her legs to choke people.  

   If people were to nitpick these then the general audience would probably call mystique a hoe, whore, bitch, slut etc etc. Mind you Mystique is a very independent character, so just because she's using her body to whoop ass like any other  person who has combat training & experience, doesn't mean that she is defenseless or sexless. But in terms of the billboard of mystique being choked out by Apocalypse, people are going crazy saying that the image promotes domestic violence towards women.  I'm telling you man, the double standards are crazy , It's absurdly Over 9000 ! 

     Imagine if anyone ( who isn't a comic book fan, or casual fan) reads a comic with X- 23, Mystique , Rouge, Storm, Psylocke, Dazzler, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Marrow  or Phoenix and they just happen to see  them all  bloody and fucked up in the middle of a vicious battle against a supervillain? It would be dumb for anyone to complain about that because that's what superheroes tend to do, they fight bad guys and come out a little bruised up or more. Interestingly enough, No one complains when Spider-Man was caught up and beaten by a villain. Heck! barely anyone mentioned anything about Wonder Woman getting beaten up in a fight numerous times in both comics, animation and film.. Just overly sensitive, false feminists who take things out of proportion and nitpick things that aren't that crazy big of a deal.      

 If anything, what's the point of conflict in a story? Or dramatization? heck, what is the point of a having a female character or superhero leading a battle if people are gonna nitpick?  it's absolutely Ridiculous. Does a female soldier not fight when it counts? does a female martial artist not defend themselves when attacked? does a female stunt double shy away from bruises on set? not at all. Now I understand that the online discussions about the X-men apocalypse billboard is more centered on the portrayal of domestic violence. But, the question is, is Mystique really defenseless? no, not at all. This character has gone head to head with all of the X-Men heavy weights such as Wolverine, Rogue, Magneto among many others and has fared well. 

 (Art by Humburto Ramos from X-men issue 200) (2007). 

(image from X-men issue 177 written by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr) 

   

(Wolverine: Get Mystique written by Jason Aaron and art by Ron Garney)

( Mystique slitting Banshee's throat) 

. (Ms Marvel v2 issue 48 -49 written by Brian Reed and art by Sana Takeda).  

    Sigh... If the general audience continues to nitpick and complain about such things, the next thing you know, Wonder Woman will end up just not doing anything in a movie simply because overly sensitive people will complain that she will engage in intense combat and that the battle field isn't for her. Soon after, they'll complain for her to have no opportunity for her to shine, so that when they do have her fight crime, she ends up getting taken out because they don't want to see a woman taking a hit by a man toe to toe. Yet they want a strong woman, but won't allow her to take a punch nor fight her battles as she should (and can) because she is a strong, independent and powerful character aside from being a woman. Now i exaggerated a bit, but in this day and age, i can't help but wonder what else the general public will complain about next.  

    I know this gets a little redundant but the fact is that it's like people want to boycott anything and everything and can't even loosen up and enjoy something without having to deconstruct everything just because they feel that it's too much, is troublesome for fandom. If this keeps going, it'll make it more difficult for really skilled up and coming writers, and artists to create works where they can feature characters in ways that show them in a different light.  Stuff like this has gotten really annoying as time has progressed. I mean hell, last year when the Batgirl comic cover fiasco with the Joker (holding her with a gun to her head) was released. 

   I remember how much crap people were giving the illustrator and DC Comics for it (despite the fact) that the cover was an homage to Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's Batman: The Killing Joke. While I understand the point of view of those that are new to comic books or just don't like imagery associated with strangling activities, it doesn't change the fact that there are things like bad people and trauma that happens to people all the time. Heck the Hydra Captain America/ Nick Spencer thing is another example. I understand that it set people off but it was the first issue and people were outraged just for the plot twist reveal to a "first issue" that hadn't even completed its story to see what lies ahead.  That's my problem with social media and people these days. But again, to reiterate, I understand, but that doesn't mean that they have to do that for every image. For all that, the general audience might as well censor everything.  

           I was gonna make a meme, but someone beat me to it. Whoever made this meme, kudos to you! 

         Overly sensitive people who really nitpick and want to make an issue with everything yet don't even know or acknowledge the content and what it's about. It's why I really don't like the Jennifer Lawrence /Bryan Singer portrayal of a lot of the x-men characters because they are either watered down, or over exposed and crappy. Hell, mystique in these new trilogy of films sucks. Rebecca Romijn is the closest example of the character by far and yet we still haven't had an accurate portrayal of the x-men characters. The fact that there are people who want to go and complain about the x-men poster simply because they think that "woman being choked out is what will bring people to theaters " is reasonable but the fact that they want to complain about this "superhero" getting choked out by a super villain is dumb. In this day and age, you can't have anything without offending no one or sounding off reasonable opinions. 
If a villain is a villain, they can't be apologetic, terrorists aren't apologetic, and neither are bad people. So for fox to apologize is retarded. The general point is, that the public is complaining about a watered down version of a classic femme fatale for being choked by a major supervillain. It just so happens that the watered down version of the femme fatale is considered a "superhero" in the Singer films, who happens to be going against a major supervillain. If a character or hero can't be shown struggling against their antagonist, then what is the point of seeing superheroes, let alone movies of any genre?  
By the way, mystique is a smart and powerful character, so the fact that they want to apologize is like saying she can't handle her own. Is just so unfortunate and just dumb. If it was Professor X getting choked out? Or Wolverine getting choked out, would people care? If it wasn't Jennifer Lawrence in the role of mystique, would people really care? Double standards 2016.    Now that the redundancy and reflection is over...   I decided to make my own meme by drawing this in the Sketchbook X app. Enjoy.