'Moonlight': A Retrospective on Barry Jenkins' Masterpiece
Barry Jenkins' masterpiece holds up as the story of a lifetime centered on the intersection of Blackness and gay identity.
X-Men (2000)
Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.
3.5 / 5
INCLUVIE SCORE
3.3 / 5
MOVIE SCORE
Representation
Incluvie Movie Reviews
Andrew Joseph Tanner
January 28, 2023
5 / 5
INCLUVIE SCORE
2.5 / 5
MOVIE SCORE
Storm & Starfire Colorism
How closely does an actor need to resemble a character or historical figure in order to portray them on the Silver Screen?
The answer largely seems to depend on whether you are darkening the character's skin tone.
We call this colorism, and in the case of Black women, misogynoir.
Moya Bailey, Ph.D., author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance, defined misogynoir as "the ways anti-Black and misogynistic representation shape broader ideas about Black women, particularly in visual culture and digital spaces".
There was a major uproar in 2018 when Anna Diop landed the role of Starfire on DC's Titans on HBOMax. The vitriol and fake concern over character design integrity were not unexpected. Whenever a darker skinned or Black (the two are not always interchangeable) character is whitewashed or given racially ambiguous features and lighter skin, any criticism is met with useless platitudes that ignore systemic issues or are benefit-of-the-doubt excuses. Suddenly, the "best person" for the role should get it regardless of race or the animation team was just going with a pastel palette.
The reverse situation is never given this benefit of the doubt.
The backlash is always swift when people of color are added to franchises that were previously all or majority white. The narrative becomes "diversity hire", and
[read more]Benjamin Netzorg
August 3, 2021
4 / 5
INCLUVIE SCORE
4 / 5
MOVIE SCORE
Erik Was Right: Revisiting Magneto In a Post-Killmonger World
Well, I guess Marvel is back. After throwing its hat into the television ring with miniseries Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, the superhero media assembly line has returned to the silver screen with Black Widow. So is this a review of the long-overdue solo feature for the only woman in the comic behemoth’s original Avengers cinematic lineup? Of course not, silly. It is a retrospective on one of the first Marvel properties to be immortalized on film, 2000’s X-Men, which set the stage for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (despite being produced by 20th Century Fox, not Marvel Studios).
The X-Men franchise is about mutants, people who have gained superpowers through accelerated genetic mutations. The 2000 movie features a strong ensemble cast: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Anna Paquin as Rogue, Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Halle Berry as Storm, James Marsden as Cyclops, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Shawn Ashmore as Iceman, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto. The gruff, immortal Wolverine and the anxious young Rogue find themselves in the middle of an ideological battle between Professor X with his school where he teaches mutants to control their powers, and Magneto’s ring of mutants hell-bent on protecting mutants’ rights, by any means possible.
It’s a fairly straightforward premise, but its lasting cultural impact is so much more complicated. The main value of the movie is as an allegory for real-life oppression, with strong parallels between anti-mutant sentiment and actual ableism and homophobia. Professor X is one of the most powerful and well-known wheelchair users in cinema history and Cyclops must wear a visor over his laser eyes. The fear, shame, and secrecy of the mutant community mirror emotions felt by so many queer people discovering their identities, and sometimes the avarice from non-mutants seems referential of the stigma around the AIDS crisis.
[read more]Pictures and Videos
Movie Information
Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.
Rating:PG-13
Genre:Adventure, Action, Science Fiction
Directed By:Bryan Singer
Written By:David Hayter
In Theaters:7/14/2000
Box Office:$296,339,527
Runtime:104 minutes
Studio:The Donners' Company, Bad Hat Harry Productions, 20th Century Fox, Marvel Entertainment Group
Cast
Bryan Singer
Director
Bryan Singer
Director
Hugh Jackman
Logan / Wolverine
Patrick Stewart
Xavier
Ian McKellen
Magneto
Famke Janssen
Jean Grey
James Marsden
Cyclops
Halle Berry
Storm
Anna Paquin
Rogue
Tyler Mane
Sabretooth
Ray Park
Toad
Rebecca Romijn
Mystique
Bruce Davison
Senator Kelly
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