Blurred Lines: Dimishing the Secret Identity

In sharp contrast to the clear distinction drawn between Superman and his secret identity, Clark Kent, the everyday lives of the X-Men are far less removed from the use of the powers and performing of heroics. These differences alter the representation of the X-Men to the audience, and raise interesting implications about the role of abnormalities in everyday life.

In Superman, readers can see Superman struggle to separate his life as a hero and his life as a civilian. As a result, Superman requires two identities keep his powers separate from his everyday life, and this dual identity indicates that personal abnormalities should be kept separate from normal life.

Such is not the case for the X-men as, from chapter one, the presence of their powers heavily influences their daily lives. While they do continue to wear costumes and take on code names when performing heroics, the introduction of a school for mutants allows the various powers of the X-Men to remain present in their everyday lives through their schooling. This not only diminishes the distinction between the superhero X-Men and the student X-Men, but also demonstrates to readers that, although their powers are abnormal, their powers do not need to be kept separate from the normal elements of their life. This matches nicely with the information on the 60's that we learned from the video clip since the social movements of the time revolved around accepting the presence of differences in society.