Wolverine Is Jewish

Wolverine Is Jewish

(Editor's note: there aren't any spoilers in here other than a basic plot line for the first five minutes of the movie. If you're one of those people who HATES knowing what a movie is about before you see it, then don't read this. If you already know who Wolverine is and what X-Men is about, then go right on ahead! Just don't come crying to us when we've "ruined it" for you, please!)

I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night. Can I just say, TOTALLY F*CKING AWESOME!

For those of you who aren't comic book nerds, Wolverine (real name Logan) is a mutant with two strange super powers. First, he heals almost miraculously from any kind of injury. Almost nothing can hurt him permanently, and this leads him to have a lifespan far beyond a normal person. Second, he has razor sharp claws that come out of his hands when he clenches them.

In the movie, Logan and his brother Victor (also a mutant with similar powers, later to become the character Sabertooth), are born in the 1800's. With animalistic fighting powers, they hide their mutant abilities by serving in every war from the Civil War until Vietnam. In Vietnam, Victor begins to show a ruthless lust for blood, killing anyone he can. Logan, on the other hand, suppresses his animal instincts and shows a sense of compassion for others. This tension between them leads to an epic struggle (and tons of fight scenes) through the movie.

I ask you...what ISN'T Jewish about this? First, you have a struggle between brothers (Cain/Abel, Jacob/Essau), people living a strangely long time (Adam 930 years, Methuselah 969), supernatural powers, war...I could go on.

The main point I want to drive home is the psychology of Wolverine. Throughout the movie, Wolverine is suffering from an internal struggle between his good nature (humanness) and his killing nature (animalistic). Jews know all about this: we view ourselves as part G_d, part animal, constantly trying to imitate G_d so that we can fully live in his image. Wolverine hates what his brother Victor stands for: self-centered-ness, cruelty, violence, but at the same time cannot escape those feelings himself.

The word "Israel" means "to struggle" and when we see characters like Wolverine struggle between their G_dly nature and their evil nature, we can't help but feel a sense of connection.

What Wolverine ultimately realizes is that he is neither G_d, nor animal: he is something else entirely. He is something special. That's why he finds himself in the company of the X-Men, a mutant "minyan" of other people fighting between a cruel nature, that while powerful, has the ability to create total chaos, and another, more Divine sense of goodness that triumphs over the evil doers.

Sure, Wolverine isn't actually Jewish. But his struggle to live a righteous life sure is!

Besides, we all know Kitty Pride is Jewish...come on, she's from Deerfield, Illinois for G_d's sake!


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