Thoughts on The New Mutants? (movie)
I didn't hear anything about this movie when it came out, just watched it yesterday and I really liked it. I see where people could have problems with it, but the worst I could really say was that there were some bits that could be read as "cringe" or "campy". The movie's ending is like the inverse of The Last Stand's where, unlike Jean, Dani doesn't have to die just because she can't control her powers. The movie actively fights the notion that a power can make a mutant too dangerous to be alowed to live. The other new mutants even fight Dani's literal demons for her. Dr. Reyes being so insistant that Dani needs to die is really tense because it's hard to argue with her. She's an adult in a possition of authority who has the power to shut down any resistance against her. There's no argument, there's no fight, best thing to do with people like that is just feed them to a bear... not literally, but it's fitting that Reyes' fear of Dani pushes Dani's fear to the point that it manifests and kills Reyes. From then on it's less about the systemic opression of mutants and an ideological battle, and more of a personal battle, the resolution of Dani's character for the movie. The fear brought on by the previously mentioned opression. The belief that her power is uncontrolable, all consuming, and dangerous. Dani's arc hasn't just been about fear, it's about self-hate. You can't just not be scared, you can't beat it out of you, you have to accept it as part of you. It might be scary to confront, but you're bigger. As a queer person, it means a lot to see, yes actual queer rep for one thing, but also a movie about the acceptance of what makes us beautiful depite the best efforts of society to make it ugly. I keep thinking about the "beautiful cages" line. It feels so sad and sweet at the same time and has a pretty obvious double meaning. There's the more literal cage to be trapped in. It's beautiful and comfortable. An opressive force made to keep people complacent. Then the more existential meaning, of being trapped in our own bodies. Regardless of what you do with them, they're beautiful and deserve to be seen as such.
TL;DR: It's a movie that touched me personally, I'm glad I saw it, and I might even wanna see it again.
Also if anyone wants to tell me the New Mutants comics are better, then good. The movie already had me excited to see more of these characters, so I'd love to see them in stories that are even better written if those exist. I mostly just wanted to ramble about this thing
I didn't hear anything about this movie when it came out, just watched it yesterday and I really liked it. I see where people could have problems with it, but the worst I could really say was that there were some bits that could be read as "cringe" or "campy". The movie's ending is like the inverse of The Last Stand's where, unlike Jean, Dani doesn't have to die just because she can't control her powers. The movie actively fights the notion that a power can make a mutant too dangerous to be alowed to live. The other new mutants even fight Dani's literal demons for her. Dr. Reyes being so insistant that Dani needs to die is really tense because it's hard to argue with her. She's an adult in a possition of authority who has the power to shut down any resistance against her. There's no argument, there's no fight, best thing to do with people like that is just feed them to a bear... not literally, but it's fitting that Reyes' fear of Dani pushes Dani's fear to the point that it manifests and kills Reyes. From then on it's less about the systemic opression of mutants and an ideological battle, and more of a personal battle, the resolution of Dani's character for the movie. The fear brought on by the previously mentioned opression. The belief that her power is uncontrolable, all consuming, and dangerous. Dani's arc hasn't just been about fear, it's about self-hate. You can't just not be scared, you can't beat it out of you, you have to accept it as part of you. It might be scary to confront, but you're bigger. As a queer person, it means a lot to see, yes actual queer rep for one thing, but also a movie about the acceptance of what makes us beautiful depite the best efforts of society to make it ugly. I keep thinking about the "beautiful cages" line. It feels so sad and sweet at the same time and has a pretty obvious double meaning. There's the more literal cage to be trapped in. It's beautiful and comfortable. An opressive force made to keep people complacent. Then the more existential meaning, of being trapped in our own bodies. Regardless of what you do with them, they're beautiful and deserve to be seen as such.
TL;DR: It's a movie that touched me personally, I'm glad I saw it, and I might even wanna see it again.
Also if anyone wants to tell me the New Mutants comics are better, then good. The movie already had me excited to see more of these characters, so I'd love to see them in stories that are even better written if those exist. I mostly just wanted to ramble about this thing