Michaela's Muses: art imitating life

Are new movies and shows trying to tell us something?

I was recently watching the cartoon show X-Men 97 and it occurred to me that the story of the war on mutants was all too familiar.

In a time where conflict's sour taste is leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth, I think shows like X-Men 97 have a sweet way of reminding us to take the sour with the sweet.

I have always enjoyed the X-Men stories. The whole point of the comics, shows and movies is to explain the implications of racism in a way that even the most simple minded can understand. The mutants, born with abilities that many struggle living with, are fighting to be accepted into society. The humans are threatened by these individuals having capabilities to possibly wipe them out.

In a constant back and forth between these two peoples, the X-Men fight to keep peace between the two without causing the demise of either race.

One quote stands out to me over all.

"People are afraid of what they do not understand," Professor X tells Cyclopes.

Throughout all X-Men lore, certain mutants struggle with their appearances and gifts, though they do not consider them to be gifts because of how they were treated.

I consider all that when in the real world, people are fighting each other over their differences. Hate has become a significant part of a lot of our lives. But if you look closely enough the word "hate" can be interchanged with the word "fear". When I see people at each other's throats both in wars and on the streets in my home town, I feel a sense of dread and sorrow. Most of the time, people are just scared of what might happen to them.

But there is also a sense of peace knowing that there are little moments in each day that keep us all human. These things seem like common courtesy or muscle memory but they make all the difference. A simple hello, asking how people are doing, sending someone food because they need it in their time of grief and a simple smile that lets people know that you mean no harm. These small things take away fear and hate from the equation.

I humbly ask that we all do some of these things to just have a little less hate in the world. It doesn't matter what party, race, gender, faith or any affiliation you are. We are all human.

In this day and age when people are busy avoiding one another, a little understanding goes a long way.

I don't think it takes being one of the X-Men to realize that.