Module 6: The X-Men and Genetics

 


If I Had to Live the Same Life 10 Times, I'd Be Crazy, Too 

In class, we collectively steered the lecture with Dr. Tinsley toward how people's identities get bound together by their genetics—demonstrated by mutants depicted in X-Men, specifically House of X (2019)—and how easy it seems to be for people to come up with harmful narratives, stereotypes, and even ideologies against those bound groups on a greater march toward attempting to create a world where they no longer exist. 

It's interesting to see how, in House of X, the mutants are not the dominant group, but their numbers are growing and are projected to eclipse that of humans' within twenty years of the series' opening. This creates a panic within humankind, and a mad dash to get in the good graces of mutants—specifically the initiatives and leadership of Charles Xavier.

          

It flips expectations with mutants having the upper hand and imposing their will in many of the multiple lives/timelines experienced by Moira X. In those timelines, their justification for taking charge in their plans is that humankind will never accept them as they are; therefore, they must take their own future into their own hands. Because the eugenics discussion was fresh on my mind, the ways that people oppress others of different genetic expressions was, too; it's a compelling narrative choice that the mutants are employing some of these tactics for self-defense on a massive scale rather than subjugation of humankind, which is what had been done to them historically. 

It forces the reader to consider the measures that they're taking to ensure their own survival. That train of thought—thinking about it in terms of survival, of preservation—is likely the headspace that advocates of eugenics teeter upon before tipping into a fear-based territory that makes room for harsher and more violent ideologies. Ironically, and in pursuit of survival and avoiding eradication, some mutants (like Destiny) take on those harsher and violent ideologies:

          


Thinking about this particular topic definitely gets the gears turning about what would happen if some marginalized group or identity suddenly had the power or pull to completely reshape the dynamic between them and the dominant population. I also thought about how if that were to happen, the possibility of them taking their newly dominant position a little to seriously and killing people to maintain the safety of those within the community. When does one decide where the line gets crossed? When does the genetic anomaly become the norm, and humankind without the mutant gene the freaks? Is there even such a line? And if so, who gets to enforce rules against powerful mutants with super powers?

 

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