It might seem a little odd to bring out the X-Men to talk about how terrorism is portrayed in the media, but I think there is an interesting representation that can be analyzed.
I'm gonna go ahead and bring out the first X-Men film from 2000--yes I know it's not the comics or cartoons, but I'm not geeky enough to have seen any of them or even know what they are called.
In X-Men, we are introduced to Marie/Rogue (Anna Paquin) who hitches a ride with Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who are both mutants. The president of the U.S. recently had an assassination attempt by another mutant so the risk for being exposed as a mutant is high and there is a ton of political tension over the situation. Rogue and Logan are ambushed by some of Magneto's followers in attempt to kidnap Rogue who would be used as a weapon to turn all the world summit leaders into mutants. Cyclopes and Storm the two and bring them back to the X-Mansion where Professor X is teaching young mutants to hone and perfect their skills for the benefit of humanity. The fight is on for the X-Men to stop Magneto from killing Rogue and giving mutants power over humanity.
So we know that this is a terrorism based plot because is relies heavily on the political implications and power issues of one group of people over another--in this case mutants vs. humanity. While Magneto is putting every effort to having the mutants be accepted into society through an aggressive approach with a superior mindset, Charles Xavier believes there is a way for mutants to live with the humans in peaceful co-existence. We have this interesting dynamic between freedom fighters and terrorists--but it is even crazier because we are talking about a fantastical world meshing with the real world. One thing is clear--the humans believe all mutants are a terrorist threat to their way of life and their countries.
The film portrays terrorism as act against a group of people in which the counter group of people believe they are being oppressed by. So the Magneto is claiming his act of terrorism only because he believes the humans will not accept mutants into society, which he is partially correct at first. However, with Magneto being on the side of the "bad guys" the audience sees things in the view that Magneto is a terrorist to the humans, and Professor X on the "good guys" side is fighting against the terrorist--although you have to admit Magneto has some pretty good points he makes if it weren't for the fact that he is trying to kill off humanity. Honestly I wouldn't mind becoming a mutant with the machine he makes.
In class we talked about the coverage of 9/11 and the difference between news media, "Terror TV" and other crime films/shows in how they depict terrorism. I think X-men obviously has a much different effect than all of these just based on its content, but never-the-less, we do get a very clear representation of terrorism.
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