He starts the movie already having 'graduated', already trained, while Charles's graduation scene, which is literally shown, shows a man just stepping out into the world
Hmmm, this is making me think about the way, in the film, Charles has a future while Erik has a past. XMFC Charles is at first the brilliant student full of possibilities, then the young academic establishing himself. Erik, on the other hand, is entirely focused on redressing his past; I wonder if he ever thought about what he'd do after finding and killing Schmidt/Shaw. In a way, his taking up of the mutant cause gives him a reason to live and to think about the future (beyond "when I catch Schmidt") for the first time ever.
in my read of the movie, by the time they're at Oliver Platt's facility Charles has already read Erik's mind completely
That's certainly compatible with how we see Charles use his powers. I like to believe that he didn't, because I like to believe that he treated Erik with more respect than most other people (Raven being the other exception). I guess my own preferred interpretation is that he took a peek and decided that on second thoughts, he didn't want to go wandering around in Erik's intense and rigidly controlled suffering without permission. But that's not exactly about Charles having ethics, it's about his feelings towards Erik.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-08 15:36 (UTC)Hmmm, this is making me think about the way, in the film, Charles has a future while Erik has a past. XMFC Charles is at first the brilliant student full of possibilities, then the young academic establishing himself. Erik, on the other hand, is entirely focused on redressing his past; I wonder if he ever thought about what he'd do after finding and killing Schmidt/Shaw. In a way, his taking up of the mutant cause gives him a reason to live and to think about the future (beyond "when I catch Schmidt") for the first time ever.
in my read of the movie, by the time they're at Oliver Platt's facility Charles has already read Erik's mind completely
That's certainly compatible with how we see Charles use his powers. I like to believe that he didn't, because I like to believe that he treated Erik with more respect than most other people (Raven being the other exception). I guess my own preferred interpretation is that he took a peek and decided that on second thoughts, he didn't want to go wandering around in Erik's intense and rigidly controlled suffering without permission. But that's not exactly about Charles having ethics, it's about his feelings towards Erik.