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Days of Future Past
I actually really enjoyed X-men: Days of Future Past, which is interesting to me because I really disliked First Class. But it should be stated for the record that Erik/Charles was basically my first ever slash pairing, maybe after Emerson/Thoreau RPS and Sirius/Remus. But in spoilery news:
The one thing I wish was different in Days of Future Past is the scene where young!Charles goes into Logan's mind and talks to old!Charles. This was such a missed opportunity. For one thing, old!Charles's speech is cliche and non-specific, and Stewart's delivery is surprisingly rushed and lacking in emotional weight.
For another thing, though, get Erik in there. Get Erik all up in there. Either make old!Charles reach out for old!Erik's mind to show young!Charles what is possible, or at least make old!Charles think at young!Charles about who Erik has become.
I mean, this is a movie whose whole theory and climax hinges on belief in other people, faith in the compassion of man, hope in our ability to understand and forgive each other, our ability to embrace our differences instead of lashing out in fear. Thank you, Powers That Be, for giving us a movie whose heroes succeed because they choose peace instead of violence, because they choose not to fight, because they decide war isn't the answer, and that it is better to believe in the possibility of peace and human dignity, compassion and understanding than it is to act out of fear. I feel like so much media just wants to tell us that such beliefs are all hopeless, innocent and ignorant idealism, that you can't rely on them, and this movie turned that on its head. Thanks, movie, good on you!
But if you want us to believe it give us an example; give young!Charles an example. And I could see how you could think that the fact that old!Erik is working with old!Charles isn't such an example; old!Erik is proof that young!Erik was right; old!Erik is only working with old!Charles because young!Erik was right. But it doesn't have to be read that way--old!Erik doesn't have to be that way. If humanity can grow and change, learn to understand each other, learn compassion, then Erik can do it too.
Make old!Erik tell young!Charles that he's changed. That he believes there can be peace, that he believes young!Charles was right all along; have old!Erik tell young!Charles that it's partly because of Magneto that their future is post-apocalyptic. When old!Charles tells young!Charles that people occasionally lose their path, don't be talking about Charles--be speaking of Erik, whose path was lost for so so long, who rejected human compassion in favor of war, and only too late in life realized that love could have been the answer.
Just, I'm not asking for this just because I ship it and it would basically be the hottest thing mine eyes have ever seen. Even if you don't ship it, Charles loves Erik, in whatever way you want to see it, and some part of Erik loves Charles. If only young!Charles got to see that love, got to see that one day Erik could face that love and embrace that love and believe, with all his being, that that love is the answer--then young!Charles could really believe in a new future, and believe that any amount of effort and striving and sacrifice is worth it.
And then Charles would always know it; he'd always see it in Erik even when Erik was fighting them and at his worst; Charles would always know that in the end, Erik can learn to accept humanity, and if Erik can do that, then humanity can accept them. And Erik would look back at Charles and know that Charles sees something in him that isn't there, can't be there, because it isn't there yet, and Erik would try to convince Charles that it can never be there; he can never be that person. But Charles will know. He'll know that one day Erik will take his hand, and that will make everything worth it.
I just. I want that.
The one thing I wish was different in Days of Future Past is the scene where young!Charles goes into Logan's mind and talks to old!Charles. This was such a missed opportunity. For one thing, old!Charles's speech is cliche and non-specific, and Stewart's delivery is surprisingly rushed and lacking in emotional weight.
For another thing, though, get Erik in there. Get Erik all up in there. Either make old!Charles reach out for old!Erik's mind to show young!Charles what is possible, or at least make old!Charles think at young!Charles about who Erik has become.
I mean, this is a movie whose whole theory and climax hinges on belief in other people, faith in the compassion of man, hope in our ability to understand and forgive each other, our ability to embrace our differences instead of lashing out in fear. Thank you, Powers That Be, for giving us a movie whose heroes succeed because they choose peace instead of violence, because they choose not to fight, because they decide war isn't the answer, and that it is better to believe in the possibility of peace and human dignity, compassion and understanding than it is to act out of fear. I feel like so much media just wants to tell us that such beliefs are all hopeless, innocent and ignorant idealism, that you can't rely on them, and this movie turned that on its head. Thanks, movie, good on you!
But if you want us to believe it give us an example; give young!Charles an example. And I could see how you could think that the fact that old!Erik is working with old!Charles isn't such an example; old!Erik is proof that young!Erik was right; old!Erik is only working with old!Charles because young!Erik was right. But it doesn't have to be read that way--old!Erik doesn't have to be that way. If humanity can grow and change, learn to understand each other, learn compassion, then Erik can do it too.
Make old!Erik tell young!Charles that he's changed. That he believes there can be peace, that he believes young!Charles was right all along; have old!Erik tell young!Charles that it's partly because of Magneto that their future is post-apocalyptic. When old!Charles tells young!Charles that people occasionally lose their path, don't be talking about Charles--be speaking of Erik, whose path was lost for so so long, who rejected human compassion in favor of war, and only too late in life realized that love could have been the answer.
Just, I'm not asking for this just because I ship it and it would basically be the hottest thing mine eyes have ever seen. Even if you don't ship it, Charles loves Erik, in whatever way you want to see it, and some part of Erik loves Charles. If only young!Charles got to see that love, got to see that one day Erik could face that love and embrace that love and believe, with all his being, that that love is the answer--then young!Charles could really believe in a new future, and believe that any amount of effort and striving and sacrifice is worth it.
And then Charles would always know it; he'd always see it in Erik even when Erik was fighting them and at his worst; Charles would always know that in the end, Erik can learn to accept humanity, and if Erik can do that, then humanity can accept them. And Erik would look back at Charles and know that Charles sees something in him that isn't there, can't be there, because it isn't there yet, and Erik would try to convince Charles that it can never be there; he can never be that person. But Charles will know. He'll know that one day Erik will take his hand, and that will make everything worth it.
I just. I want that.
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