Now, I have another rant about Mystique specific to First Class that I won't go in to now, but basically just that they took way too many liberties with that character.
Anyway, I'll get right to the point. Why is she naked? Why does Mystique have to be naked in the films? Just, why?
Now before you get all technical and defensive and talk about whatever small amounts of clothing or prosthetic material Rebecca Romijn or Jennifer Lawrence were wearing, or any potential possibility of costume that the actual character was wearing in the films -- simple fact is, the character is naked.
Which is ridiculous. Especially for a film franchise sticking to PG-13 in order to gain a wider family viewing. Why is one of the main characters naked? Whose decision was this? What's going on?
They went three films without even addressing the fact that she was naked. But in the third film, when she turned human, it confirmed that she had actually been naked for three films.
I will give First Class some credit for trying to give some reasoning and explanation about it, Magneto's whole line about a tiger and whatnot, but it seems kinda weak, and in the context of the scene, kinda like Magneto just wants to see her naked. So, it doesn't really work.
What's the appeal? I mean, besides having large amounts of men in your audience coming to see Rebecca Romijn naked, why bother?
Is it supposed to make her look more menacing? It doesn't. Not in my opinion. I mean, a guy that sees a naked woman isn't going to be more intimidated by her than by seeing a woman with a tactical suit with weapons and whatnot going on. Speaking of which, Mystique is supposed to be skilled with firearms, but she wasn't in the movies because she's naked, and can't carry any.
Is it supposed to make her look more stealthy? Maybe. I can see how the idea of nothingness may seem slithery and sneaky and stealthy, but realistically, nudity isn't keen to sneaking around. A tight-fitting but strong fabric material, with pockets for whatever little devices you may need, would be way more practical. Also, uh, hi, she's a shapeshifter. She doesn't need to try to be sneaky. She can just shapeshift. So that's not a good reason.
Is it supposed to make her look elegant? Maybe it can come off that way at first. But if you think about it, nudity isn't as elegant as a costume could be. Something with a flowing, free feel would pull off the elegant vibe a lot better.
Conclusion: there is no reason, except for finding a loophole on how to get a naked chick into a PG-13 movie. Which is stupid. Have some respect for the character, and what she is, and what she needs, and that includes a costume. I hope she's not naked in the next movie.
Take a look at these photos. Included are photos of Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence as the character, and some cosplayers in a black, tactical-style costume and a white, elegant-style costume. I much prefer the costumed versions over the nude versions, but maybe I'm in the minority here.
What do you guys think?
Wow, this rant is old. Oh well. I think that Mystique's nudity is a statement, i.e. "she has nothing to hide." It's funny, you talk to a lot of real-world nudists and they'll say something similar, that the world wants them to be ashamed of their bodies. In a similar way, in the X-Men movies the world wants mutants to be ashamed of their powers, but Mystique is one of those who refuses to be shamed.
ReplyDeleteSo just like a nudist expresses their conviction for loving their bodies by wearing nothing, Mystique expresses her belief Mutant-kind by, essentially, wearing ONLY her mutant powers. It's like when she was talking to Nightcrawler, and he asks her if she has those powers, why doesn't she hide herself and blend in all the time. Her response? "We shouldn't have to."