Days of Future Past Erik and Charles

[blueserenity]

So, cards on the table: after having been a longtime fan of all animated incarnations of X-Men, the movies, and to a lesser extent the comics, it took ONE movie for me to completely re-evaluate the relationship between Erik and Charles.

Short form: I honestly believe that XMFC's Erik and Charles had feelings for each other.

I don't think anything "happened" offscreen, nor do I think they were officially involved. But there is an intimacy between them that far extends beyond brotherhood and friendship. I'm not a "slasher", I have no interest in fan-fabricated romances. This is an element of the film that I feel was absolutely intentional. Both of the actors are head-to-toe actors and their body language as the characters betrays this undercurrent. James McAvoy has said a number of things to indicate he was well aware of the romantic aspect, and the writers themselves have described the Erik-Charles relationship as a "tragic romance". One of the writers, Zack Stentz appeared at SDCC last year at a panel and stated that if not for their differing ideologies, Charles and Erik would indeed be together.

I'm just curious to hear how others interpreted the relationship.

 

[Nerial]

This is an interesting topic. Okay, I think I've argued this with you before, and conceded on some points. Here's my thinking on it:

I do believe there is some intimacy in their relationship. Like two people knowing or understanding each other in a way no one else seems to understand. Even as they get older, there's this continued understanding--Charles the leader of the X-men and Erik the leader of the Brotherhood. Always having to be the strength and guide to their followers. But with each other, they appear to know what makes the other tick, including fears and vulnerability. I think this comes from this lifelong friendship and the conflicts they've dealt with together (even if they are on opposing sides).

You also have to take into account that these men, despite their different upbringings, have a lot in common. They are both natural leaders; they are intelligent, charming, and ambitious. And they are both very powerful mutants who wish, above all else, to guide and protect their kind. The way that they go about it is the issue that separates them.

I do not believe, however, that these two want to sleep with each other. I don't think they fantasize about each other, but all the platonic components are there if writers or whoever else wished to "push the relationship up a notch." Hence the reason there is the slash fan fiction.

I do believe there is intimacy, understanding, and love. It doesn't have to be sexual love to be powerful, but I can see where others would "go there."

 

[blueserenity]

This is an interesting topic. Okay, I think I've argued this with you before, and conceded on some points. Here's my thinking on it:

I do believe there is some intimacy in their relationship. Like two people knowing or understanding each other in a way no one else seems to understand. Even as they get older, there's this continued understanding--Charles the leader of the X-men and Erik the leader of the Brotherhood. Always having to be the strength and guide to their followers. But with each other, they appear to know what makes the other tick, including fears and vulnerability. I think this comes from this lifelong friendship and the conflicts they've dealt with together (even if they are on opposing sides).

You also have to take into account that these men, despite their different upbringings, have a lot in common. They are both natural leaders; they are intelligent, charming, and ambitious. And they are both very powerful mutants who wish, above all else, to guide and protect their kind. The way that they go about it is the issue that separates them.

I do not believe, however, that these two want to sleep with each other. I don't think they fantasize about each other, but all the platonic components are there if writers or whoever else wished to "push the relationship up a notch." Hence the reason there is the slash fan fiction.

I do believe there is intimacy, understanding, and love. It doesn't have to be sexual love to be powerful, but I can see where others would "go there."

Oh I totally agree. There is absolutely understanding, intimacy, and love. For me what seperates them from say, BBC's Sherlock and John's platonic best friend relationship, is that intimacy. There's just something more in it.

I'm not suggesting that this is necessarily sexual though. From my perspective there are two lines of thought when it comes to romantic Erick and Charles. There's the "fanfiction" side, where the pair spend the movie mentally ravaging each other, and then the other side, where sex probably never occurred to them. I think realistically, it's the latter. I think they spent their 6 months together kind of falling in love, but not physically falling in love. They're both straight but are attracted to each other's mind on an intimate, romantic level. I think a relationship between them would be largely asexual.

I maintain this homoerotic subtext was absolutely intentional and I've found reviews and articles on the movie to be pretty interesting with wording regarding certain scenes. The beach scene is frequently labelled as "the divorce", The scene in the club has been noted for the inclusion of a bed (and of course Dragneto). The satellite scene has been described as a bit of a metaphor for sex. Which, considering the above, makes sense to me. Again, not being intimate on a physical level, but being intimate through the mind.

Either way it's an element of the film that I hope they keep up in the sequel. I can't see it ever manifesting clearly onscreen, at least not while our society still has such a long way to go. Not to mention the diehard comic fans. Enough of them were ticked by Charles and Raven's relationship, or the fact that Alex is Scott's OLDER brother. I can't imagine the reaction to the two mutant leaders showing any sign of non-brotherly affection.

 

[Mrs Vimes]

Well, personally I have never been a slasher or shipper or anything along these lines. And deep, emotional platonic friendship or bond has been one of my favourite themes in fiction since forever and it's something that I just always found incredibly moving. It doesn't have to be between men necessarily, but in the majority of books/films that I've read/seen and loved it's more often than not a strong friendship between male characters. It honestly never occurred to me to see any of them in a romantic/sexual light.

With Erik and Charles in FC, while I did not think that the characters fell into bed together offscreen or even thought about it, I did find it entirely plausible that their relationship could have tipped over into that other territory. I've been surprised by my own reaction because, like I said, it never occurred to me to see a fictional close friendship this way. I just think there's something about this particular combination of personalities, chemistry and dynamics that sells it for me.