A new report that Michael B. Jordan will be playing Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Fox’s upcoming Fantastic Four reboot has once again sparked heated debate. Many are praising the color-blind casting choice as a sign of progress, while others espouse racism under the guise of upholding the ever-sacred source material (which is itself a product of 1950’s racism).
I’m not going to bother directly addressing all the racist arguments because they’ve already been discussed and discredited ad nauseam. (If you need that discussion, allow me to recommend starting with The 5 Most Insulting Defenses of Nerd Racism.)
However, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the alleged progressiveness of color-blind casting. Is color-blind casting inherently a form of positive representation?
No, not inherently. Continue reading ‘Jordan’s Human Torch and Representation: Multicultural Casting vs Color-Blind Casting’
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