Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Anna Paquin as Rogue in X-Men, screencap by Mary Miracle
This shot is my choice for The Film Experience’s X-Men Hit Me with Your Best Shot series. In this series, we choose a shot from a movie that is in some way meaningful to us.
I had to go with this shot because of the relationship between Rogue and Wolverine in X-Men. X-Men is a visually stunning movie, especially considering that it is now 14 years old. Wow, time flies.
However one of the things that have always stood out for me is both Anna Paquin’s fantastic performance as Rogue and her tenacity in dealing with Wolverine. In Rogue, we have a character who is fearful of herself but not so much of hunting down the seriously tough Wolverine, in a dive bar so dangerous that I might not even visit.
Despite her fear of injuring others with her power, she can’t help but run to Wolverine’s side during a night terror. In the scene above we see him accidentally stabbing her due to a protective reflex in his sleep. Even in this situation, she is strong enough to come to terms with things quickly enough to heal herself from this deadly injury by feeding off of Wolverine’s power.
Of course, she hasn’t mastered her ability yet and is lucky not to kill him but we all have to start somewhere. I bet there are Freudian explanations of this scene out there equating it to penetration but I would disagree. Yes, there is unrequited sexual tension between them (since she’s a teen & he’s much older) but this is more about trust and friendship.
If you are one of those naysayers who hate True Blood and hence disparages Paquin’s acting, I urge you to watch not only this movie but her 90′s work. She’s always been quite talented. Dislike Sookie, if you want, but don’t blame it on Anna.