Some fallacies in the argument against race-bending

Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 with the post-credits scene in Iron Man, super-hero movies have been a nearly constant staple at the box office. With all of these new movies, more actors and actresses are required to fill these costumes. Casting these actors and actresses is one of the most talked-about and controversial topics on the internet in relation to these films. There is endless debate about how closely the movies should reflect their source material. The controversy comes when the heroes’ races are changed, inciting an entire range of emotions; empowerment, indifference, and even rage.

The people enraged with the changes are the most vocal, so they will be the ones treated in this blog. Finding issue from minor characters such as Idris Elba as Heimdall in Thor to major characters such as the speculated Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, these arguments mostly boil down to bigoted fallacies.

The arguments of this group are recycled over and over again [perhaps to incite ad nauseum, which “uses repetition to assert the truth in the belief that if something is said enough times people will believe that it is true” (Smith 115)] in the comments on virtually any article about casting, rumour or not, and so, the following quotations are not direct quotes, but are the general consensus of these arguments:

I.                   When Idris Elba was cast as Heimdall in Thor, backlash ensued. “How can a Norse god be black? Norse people are white!”

Fallacy: The fallacy here is composition, which “assumes that the whole has the same property as its parts” (Smith 115). Just because every Norse person is white, does not necessarily mean that everyone in their mythology is. Also, key word: mythology.

II.                When Jamie Foxx, an Academy Award winning actor, was cast as a villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there was significant backlash, yet again. A common argument against this sort of race-bending is “Well if Electro can be played by a black actor, then why can’t a white actor play someone like Martin Luther King, Jr?” and "Production companies are only trying to be trendy by adding diversity." This is a straw man argument, which is “a fabricated weak argument of an opponent and then declares victory without attacking stronger arguments that are on the opposing side” (Smith 115). In these cases, the arguments they are attacking, that a white person shouldn't play Martin Luther King Jr.(which is obvious and true) and that trendiness is the only reason for diversity are not even really arguments made by the opposing side. This argument is invalid because Electro is not a character whose race is important, while Martin Luther King Jr.’s is. 

Currently, the rumours circulating that Michael B. Jordan will play Johnny Storm are causing plenty of controversy and bringing back all of these arguments once again. I personally find all arguments against this irrelevant because Michael B. Jordan is an awesome actor. The end.

For more thoughts on the matter, visit: http://www.racebending.com/v4/blog/ or read Malcolm X's "Devil-in-the-Flesh"

Truth and the Humans of New York

"I spend my time doing other people's stuff. I don't have time to do my own stuff. And if I have the time, I don't have the energy."
"So what would you do if you had the time?"
"I've always wanted to make a children's book."
"What would it be about?"
"It'd be about this boy who's waiting on a train to come into the station, and he announces to everybody that when the train comes, it's going to be on the ceiling. And then the train does come in on the ceiling. And he's got to figure out how to get it down."



The discussion of the concept of Truth is a common thread in most any philosophy, and the Sophists certainly had their own. In Craig R. Smith’s Rhetoric and Human Consciousness, Smith describes the general Sophist conception of Truth as, “a relativism, in which humans became the standard by which all things were measured, and [T]ruth was based on individual perception” (35). The relativism of Truth is not a solely Sophist concept, but they undoubtedly were the pioneers (in Western Civilization) of the “doubting what was conventional wisdom” (Smith 35).



Humans of New York is a photo blog which was started by Brandon Stanton. As he tells in this video, he moved to New York with the goal of taking 10,000 photos and making a name for himself in photography. Stanton faced opposition early on when some acquaintances doubted his whole scheme: “How delusional do you have to be to think that you’re going to be a successful photographer with no experience?” Stanton carried on with his mission anyway. In 2010, he began posting his photos on Facebook and since then, his blog has exploded with popularity.

Stanton’s main focus, as the title of the blog suggests, is the diversity and wonder of the humans of New York. With each photo, he attempts to tell at least a small part of each person’s story. Each picture is usually accompanied with a quote Stanton acquires from the subjects of the portraits to include their own voice. Stanton’s big motivator in this endeavor can be explain with his statements, “What I really hope to maintain is the culture of positivity of celebration and support that these people share” and  “We walk down the street and see all these people and we do kind of wonder about their stories. The celebrations and the victories; that’s what people are engaging with.” Though his focus is on people’s stories, Stanton is not necessarily on hunting down some universal truth. He instead is hoping to unify humanity and engage those things that encourage solidarity and charity.

For his photos, Stanton does not do research on the people he photographs, he simply takes the shot, asks a question, and posts. The people he interviews could easily be lying to him, but that in no way changes the affect they and their pictures have on those who follow the blog. Every photo garners thousands of likes and comments, all of people inspired by Stanton’s photos.

In Smith’s book, he talks about Gorgias and his object, which was “not to find the truth, because it is not communicable; his object… is to build a better illusion” (47). Stanton’s quest, to tell the stories of the humans of New York, is not something by which truth can be scientifically measured. In fact, it is probably riddled with fallacies and lies. Despite this, Stanton shapes these stories to inspire, bring people together, and decrease worldsuck. Like Gorgias then, Brandon Stanton is building an illusion, but his illusion is True. 

"My dad was just a working class Irish dude. He drank himself to death when I was fifteen, but he was a good dad when he was sober. I remember him taking me to a gay wedding on Christopher Street to teach me tolerance. And that was back in 1971."