As an addendum to today’s Giant Size X-Men: Magneto discussion, Ian and Stephanie offer their thoughts on a particular scene that inspired discussion. Ian is a Jew by choice with a degree in Jewish Studies; Stephanie grew up Jewish and attends a Reform shul now and then.
Ian Gregory
As the previews for this issue included the scene of Magneto and Emma eating lobster, there’s already been some discussion about whether this scene represents antisemitism or the erasure of Jewish identities. I think there are several things we have to consider that play into this scene, all of which appear to be true. First, shellfish (and lobster specifically) are among the most famous examples of non-kosher foods, alongside pork. Not knowing this is a major cultural blindspot, one resolved with half a second of googling. Second, Marvel has long dragged its feet on acknowledging Magneto’s Jewish roots, as painfully described in this excellent article. Magneto eating lobster represents yet another instance of Marvel minimizing Magneto’s heritage. Third, the lobster being served in this scene is almost certainly a joke on the part of Hickman about fans’ repeated inquiries into the status of Bill the Lobster, which he has dismissed in the past and has likely grown tired of.
Fourth, we have no evidence that Magneto keeps kosher (nor, that I could find, is there any evidence that the other prominent Jewish mutant, Kate Pryde, keeps kosher). It’s hard to know how many Jews keep kosher, but one survey notes that only 22% of American Jews follow kashrut. This explains Kate Pryde, but Magneto is a European Holocaust survivor, not someone who grew up in America’s unique Reform Judaism environment which contributes to the low participation in kosher. Fifth, neither character in this scene comments on whether or not Magneto eats lobster. We can be charitable, and assume that Emma would know Magneto’s practices before inviting him to dinner, but it seems unlikely that a Jewish writer would include lobster in this scene without comment.
Here’s what it comes down to: Hickman, knowing there was a scene in this issue where Emma and Magneto would be sharing dinner, decided to take the opportunity to include a joke about Bill the Lobster and introduce an interesting side-character. That makes this scene yet another instance of Marvel glossing over Magneto’s Jewish origins, unintentionally but still harmfully. We do not know that Magneto keeps kosher, but it is odd that Emma would serve Magneto a famously non-kosher meal without it going commented on at all. This is a problem of ignorance, and a sign that a Jewish person was not involved in the writing or editing of this particular comic, a major blindspot considering the titular character of this particular issue. This was a problem that could be solved with the barest minimum of attention paid towards Judaism, one of the most famous examples of (perhaps) its most famous law.
I don’t believe the people who are upset about this scene are claiming Hickman himself is antisemitic, but rather highlighting the persistent way in which Marvel has undercut and ignored Magneto’s history. I could easily believe that Magneto is a secular Jew, or that he doesn’t keep kosher, considering his character, but for these concepts to go completely unaddressed is representative of a wider problem. This scene acts as a tacit statement that Magneto does not keep kosher, limiting the opportunities available to Jewish writers who might want to explore Magneto’s faith (or, as the case may be, lack thereof).
Stephanie Burt
I don’t want to tell anyone not to feel their feelings, and certainly Marvel could do more to underline Magneto’s Jewish roots, as well as his connection to the Roma.
That said, there is no reason to think he keeps kosher, and every reason to think Emma would know. Especially since she’s among the world’s most powerful telepaths, and he’s eating dinner with his helmet off. We could have had a word balloon here where Emma says “As a telepath, I know you don’t keep kosher,” though if I were Hickman I might cut that line from the script in order to avoid As You Know, Bob dialogue. The rest of this issue has to do with cephalopods and underwater monsters, so a lobster dinner is very on-point, as well as in character for Emma.
As a Jewish lady who has never kept kosher (though my father does), I barely noticed the lobster the first time through, but since there’s discussion elsewhere online already, I decided to look at the fullest canonical retelling of Magneto’s Earth-616 origin. That would be Magneto: Testament (2008), which begins in the house where Max Eisenhardt grew up. No one there wears a kipah. The doorframes don’t have mezuzot. Max attends a secular school; his parents are middle-class German Jews, most of whom in the 1930s would not have kept kosher. Most postwar Israeli Jews of his generation (remember, he and Charles spent time in Israel) were either visibly observant or intensely secular: American-style conservative Jews (no kipot on the men, but no lobster) at that time in Israel weren’t a thing.
The last time we saw Magneto in a solo story– in X-Men: Black (2018)– the whole of the story turned on his survivor status: if Marvel’s forgotten he’s Jewish, the amnesia must be pretty recent. I think he just doesn’t keep kosher, and given how much of him we’ve seen in canon– none of it suggesting that he was frum– a future writer who wanted to make him observant would have a lot of retconning besides the lobster to do.
Ian Gregory is a writer and co-host of giant robots podcast Mech Ado About Nothing.
Stephanie Burt is Professor of English at Harvard. Her podcast about superhero role playing games is Team-Up Moves, with Fiona Hopkins; her latest book of poems is We Are Mermaids. Her nose still hurts from that thing with the gate.
