The X-Men comic book franchise started in 1964 as a daring parable: gifted individuals (more engaging/descriptive word?) persecuted for being born “differently” than the rest of the world. These “mutants” had two divergent leaders in Professor X, the MLK stand-in who believed humans and mutants could live together in harmony and Magneto, the Malcolm X radical who wanted mutants to rule over their inferior human counterparts. This has always been the crux of the X-Men storyline and compelling enough to maintain comic book’s most popular franchise for 50 years.

Over the last decade, X-Men has gone Hollywood and with that came a new layer to the allegory: how genetic mutations are comparable to the gay rights battle. X2, directed by the brilliant Bryan Singer, featured a scene where one character has to “come out” to his parents. The scene is rather overt, but still handled well enough that the movie doesn’t yell out HEY THIS GUY’S ACTUALLY GAY, THAT’S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!!! Unfortunately, the third X-Men, directed by the halftard who directed Rush Hour 3 or some sh*t, was an abomination; a horribly illogical piece of convoluted mess that could might as well have yelled “BUTT SEX…does that make YOU uncomfortable” every time mutants talked about being “different.”

I totally sympathize and understand the desire to put the gay rights movement in the same realm as the Civil Rights movement, and I’m not one to argue about which group gets f*cked over worse. But I do contend that the latest installment of the X-franchise, First Class, opted to focus on the gay rights issues under (below) the surface in lieu of racial conflicts.

Let me make this clear: X-Men First Class was way better than it had any right to be. As I stated earlier this year, expectations where pretty low but the movie blew me away. It’s right next to X2 as the greatest X-film to date. For a full review with all the relevant film critiques and stuff I’m not smart enough for, you can go check out Vince’s house. I agree with his review and one sentence in particular stood out (mild, inconsequential spoiler alert): “Also, if you’re trying to be PC, you probably shouldn’t kill off the only black guy first, five minutes after you introduce him. Just saying.”

And really, my only major gripe with the movie comes from the one scene that seems to ignore the fact that the movie A.) takes place in 1962 when B.) being Black was generally considered not awesome.

The scene comes after a young crew of mutants come together for the first time. Five white kids and one African-American. Mystique, the mutant that’s born blue but can transform into any person she wants, complains about how her life is horrible because she looks different. Beast, who’s also battling a deformity called *gasp* BIG FEET, echoes Mystique’s frustrations. Basically, no one else in the room knows their plight.

When they said this, I tried to channel Professor X’s powers of telepathy to get Darwin, Black guy, to yell out, “Bitch, I’m Black!!!” But he just sat there, looking like his mutant power was the ability to appear human while actually being the room’s lone elephant.

Later, in what has to be considered either a failure to master subtlety or horrible editing, the main villain talks about how humans will enslave mutants. As soon as he utters the word “enslavement,” the camera cuts to the token black guy and stays there for an uncomfortable amount of time. Ah yes, Black people were enslaved. We forgot.

From that point on, X-Men focuses on its gay rights allegory. However, the movie missed a grand opportunity to play the anti-mutant segregation against the backdrop of the real life racial segregation taking place in 1962. I understand what X-Men: First Class was trying to do by making the message largely about the gay rights struggle. But ignoring the racial issues that directly parallel – especially set in the midst of the mid-60s – is a glaring misstep that’s hard to reconcile.

Previously: 20 Reasons To See “X-Men: First Class”