6/4/2011 - to look like anyone. . .

Without a doubt, X-Men: First Class is the best movie I have seen in a long while.  It captured my imagination from the start and ran with it.  Halfway through, when I realized that we were probably halfway through, I wished that the story would never end, or that I could erase it from my memory when it does, just so I can discover it for myself again later.

Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the movie introduced several mutants and their associated powers.  Some were very cool, from the ability to read minds to power over metal, while others seemed kind of pointless, like emitting unstoppable energy rings that destroy everything in its path or growing wings like a bug.

Most of what I know about the X-Men I learned from the movies.  Well, that and the various friends I had growing up who read the comic books religiously and spent countless conversations debating the various plotlines and the pros and cons of each mutant's power.  Therefore, I know just enough to know that of all the powers available in this superhero universe, there is only one I would want if ever I was given the opportunity to choose: Mystique's ability to look like anyone (or anything?) she wants.

I spent a good portion of my childhood wanting to look like anyone else but me.  I was something of a rotund kid, so I wanted to be skinny like my friend Mark.  When I grew into my body and got skinny, I wanted to be muscular like my classmate Brett.  I wanted to be tanned like the guys I'd see on MTV.  When Matty said that he didn't date Asian guys, I wanted to be white.  When Anthony said I was too young for him, I wanted to be older.

Even now, after growing wiser (a little) and not obsessing as much about my physical appearance, I still catch myself sometimes, when I see a guy at the gym with an impossible body (impossible for me, anyway), wishing I could look more like him and less the ectomorph that I do.  The apparent truth, then, seems to be quite simple: I am vain.  I fight it, try not to think about it, but the urge is often too great.

If I had Mystique's power, I know I would never look like myself, or even the same person on any given day.  Why, when I can be anyone to everyone, be exactly who anybody would want?

With these thoughts in my head after the movie, Sam and I drove out to K9-Playtime to pick up our little pup.  While I waited by the car, a woman came out with her dog and met her husband on the sidewalk.  I overheard her telling him that little Roscoe barely recognized her when she picked him up.

When Sam and Grr came out, Grr turned and saw me.  Immediately, he pinned his little ears back to his head and raced toward me like he had spent a lifetime trying to find me again.  There's a bit of "bumper sticker wisdom" that I've seen a long time ago, something along the lines of, "Help me be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."  Maybe I can repurpose it, ask for help in learning how to appreciate looking like the person my dog loves to see.