Mutants

The difference in experiences between the internal and external mutants is that the internal mutant is accepted into society because they can blend in and the external mutant is not accepted and is ridiculed and even made a spectacle of. Really the only similarity that I see is that they are both mutants. The X-Men movie we watched did a very good job of highlighting how seperate external mutants like Rogue felt from internal mutants like Iceman or Wolverine. Groups in society that I can think of that might identify with this are homosexuals and nerds. Homosexuals, not so much anymore, but in the twentieth century, they were treated like mutants, like they had an illness and something was wrong with them that had to be fixed (which is not the case at all). Nerds probably always will identify with the stigma of the mutants because the things they are interested in are considered to be things that the rest of society isn't interested in. They don't live what is considered to be the "normal" social life. Here on campus we have examples of that. While all the "normal" people party on the weekends and go out to the bars, nerds stay in and play video games or socialize with each other, setting themselves apart from everyone else and putting themselves in that mutant category. And when they do try and socialize with other "normal" people, they are often made fun of and ridiculed because they're not interested in sports or whatever is popular that hour. X-Men films and comics might help these groups understand that even if they don't fit into "normal" society that they're still an integral part of it. Because they are.

I think the X-Men I identify the most with is Wolverine and it's not just because Hugh Jackman is sexy. I think I identify with Wolverine because he does the right thing, but he does it the way he thinks it needs to be done. He is a part of the X-Men, but he is still an individual and his own person, with his own thoughts, who takes responsiblity for his own actions if others don't agree with them.