BMM said:
And you know this how? Where is it ever shown that Xavier cannot see what is going on in the museum? And where is it ever shown that he is in a different room altogether?
Where is it ever shown Xavier CAN see what is going on in the museum or that he is in a different room. It very much looks like everyone freezes and then he and the others come into the food court.
BMM said:
Are you telling me that momentarily freezing people in place is the same as segmenting someone's mind, which ultimately causes it to be fragmented, ruining the said person's life, while attempting to keep it under wraps for several years?
Obviously it's not the same, but given the events of X3 it is a part of a greater picture - that he will use his powers in a controlling, forceful manner where he thinks it appropriate. There is even a deleted scene for X1 where Wolverine asks Jean if Xavier is holding her back. Xavier is obviously a man of strong beliefs - as he would have to be to set up a school and recruit and train other mutants - who does what he feels is right.
BMM said:
He holds back information on Wolverine's past so that Wolverine's mind can discover things for itself. The key point being that he doesn't want to interfere with Wolverine's personal issues that are better left for him to deal with.
And Magneto retorts in the prison, questioning if Xavier has kept quiet because he is frightened of losing another of his precious X-Men. Xavier and Magneto are not black-and-white characters, as well you know, but there are shades of grey. It's not a case of Xavier is good and Magneto is bad.
BMM said:
The notion of Xavier's more controlling dark side isn't abhorrent to me. It is undoubtedly present in the books, and definitely interesting if done properly. Although Xavier faking his death (which Jean was in-on) is hardly of the extent to what we're told he does to Jean Grey in The Last Stand. What bothers me is the fact that his "dark" side is poorly and randomly introduced via a sudden preponderance of exposition that ultimately detracts from the themes of one of the best X-Men arcs ever told and doesnt quite jive with what is presented in the previous installments . . . which is probably why the maker of this thread is suddenly lead to question why Xavier didnt just do to Pyro (or all bad mutants) what he did to Jean Grey?
Well, obviously Pyro didn't pose a danger and had/has no control issues. His defection to the Brotherhood in X2 was rather rapid to say the least - suddenly he was depicted as bitter and psychotic, none of which we'd seen in X1.
Xavier controls Jean because he believes she cannot control her power. His actions create a dark personality. If he hadn't put in mental blocks, the implication is that she could unintentionally have done something terrible, harmful, destructive, by using a limitless power that she could not wield safely and effectively. When they first met, she was brattish and arrogant, invading their thoughts and irresponsibly showing off by raising the cars in the neighbourhood, though she appeared to have no control issues in that scene itself. It was more about Xavier's fears if she could do such things so casually and arrogantly. One could argue that his guidance and controls helped (for a long time at least) to create a more benign, modest, disciplined woman who focused herself on medical studies and was cautious and responsible (overly so, perhaps) with her powers.
The general concept worked for me, given Xavier's darker side in the comics, the earlier hints in the movies of his more controlling aspects and the comicbook origin of Jean in which he blocks off her telepathy as a child after her childhood trauma.
But leaving it as a natural evolution of her powers could also have worked fine, with Xavier trying to control her after her powers spiralled out of control, rather than doing it pre-emptively.
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