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Judge Decides X-Men Aren't Human

An anonymous reader points to this Wall Street Journal article, writing "According to the U.S. Court of International Trade, the X-Men (along with other figures from the Marvel universe) aren't human. The presiding judge subjected the figures to "comprehensive examinations" which included "the need to remove the clothes of the figure." Ironically, the X-Men, whose struggle for human acceptance has been a key theme in the series, were more easily classified as non-human than Kraven and Mole Man.

2 of 443 comments (clear)

  1. It's not a big deal by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 5, Informative

    Before the comic book geeks get worked up about "They may not be Homo Sapiens, but they're human dammit", it's just a stupid tax matter. There used to be different import taxes on "dolls" and "toys". The guv'mint said the Marvel figures were dolls because they're human figures and wanted them taxed at twice the rate of toys. Marvel disagreed and won.

    The taxes have since been repealed. Nothing to see here.

    -B

  2. Re:what about barbie? by efflux · · Score: 5, Informative

    This begs the question.

    Does anyone know the name for the logical fallacy of incorrectly attributing a logical fallacy to an argument as a counter argument?

    Or perhaps I'm missing where the judge assumed the conclusion. As far as I can tell Judge Barzilay's argument goes as follows:
    1) "Kraven exhibit[s] 'highly exaggerated muscle tone in arms and legs.'"
    2) To have exaggerated or extra-human traits is to be non-human
    therefore, Kraven is non-human.

    Of course, I think being made of plastic is quite inhuman in itself.

    --
    Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. -- Walt Whitman