Radiolab – "Mutant Rights"
Episode Date: December 22, 2011
Hosts: Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich
Special Guests: Ike V. Khandaraja, Sherry Singer, Indy Singh, Bryan Singer, Joe Liebman
Overview: Exploring the Boundaries of Humanity Through Tax Law
In "Mutant Rights," Radiolab dives into an unusual customs case that forces the US government to answer a bizarre but profound question: What does it mean to be human? When Marvel Comics' X-Men action figures are at stake, this legal inquiry transforms into a meditation on identity, belonging, and the surprisingly tangled dealings between pop culture and tax law. The episode explores how customs classifications and a legal battle over toy tariffs left Marvel's mutants officially “not human”—with ripple effects about societal categories, civil rights, and what it means to not fit in.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule: Where Humans and Monsters Diverge
00:55 – 03:43
- Background: In 1993, customs attorneys Sherry Singer and Indy Singh came across the US government’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule during work for Marvel Comics.
- The Schedule categorizes imports for taxation: "Dolls" are representations of humans (taxed at 12%); "Toys" are anything else—robots, monsters, angels (taxed at 6.8%).
- Marvel's Problem: Marvel’s action figures (including superheroes and mutants) were being taxed as "dolls"—as if they exclusively represented humans.
- Indy Singh: "Everything was a doll? Yeah, at 12% rate of duty." [03:20]
- Financial Stakes: Singer and Singh saw a huge financial opportunity if Marvel’s figures could be moved from “dolls” (human) to “toys” (non-human/other), saving “more than a million dollars” [03:49].
2. Are X-Men Action Figures Human?
04:02 – 07:06
- Legal and Philosophical Quandary: The case boiled down to whether Marvel’s characters, especially the X-Men, are representations of humans or something else.
- Ike V. Khandaraja: "They have to convince government officials that under US Law, these characters are not considered human." [04:04]
- Singer and Singh physically brought dozens of figures to US Customs in DC, arguing that features like blue fur (Beast) or claws (Wolverine) disqualified these figures from being "human" under tariff law.
- Sherry Singer: “Our argument would be is human beings do not have blue skin. The judge agreed it doesn’t resemble a human being.” [06:57]
3. Mutation, Augmentation, and Human Identity
07:17 – 09:27
- The Beast and Wolverine Cases: The government argued features like heads, arms, torsos made figures human-like. The attorneys countered that mutant characteristics (e.g., blue fur, claws) were fundamentally nonhuman.
- Joe Liebman (for the government): "He has aspects that perhaps are closer to the monster." [07:20]
- Robert Krulwich: “If one of them just gives you claws, that doesn’t mean that the other 19,999 genes are keeping you pretty much in the human classification.” [08:46]
- Real-World Parallels: The case referenced real-life augmentation and mutation, including athlete Oscar Pistorius’s prosthetic legs, to challenge the boundaries of “human.”
4. Cultural Paradoxes: Mutants as Metaphor for Civil Rights
09:29 – 13:55
- The Marvel Paradox: In the comics, mutants struggle to fit into human society—fighting for rights and acceptance. In court, Marvel asserts X-Men are NOT human for financial gain.
- Ike V. Khandaraja: “But in the real world, it’s exactly the opposite. You got Marvel saying they’re monsters, and you got the government saying, no, let them be human.” [10:09]
- Bryan Singer’s Perspective: Director Bryan Singer discusses the X-Men’s origins during the civil rights movement, and their function as allegories for marginalized groups.
- Bryan Singer: “It’s no coincidence that it was born during the height of the civil rights movement.” [11:08]
- The show highlights an X-Men film scene as a metaphor for “coming out,” emphasizing the franchise’s resonance for gay rights allegories as well.
5. The Legal Outcome: Officially Not Human
13:55 – End
- Resolution: After 10 years of litigation, the judge rules that all Marvel heroes are not human, lowering their tariff and saving Marvel significant money.
- Ike V. Khandaraja: “Eventually, the judge ruled that all Marvel heroes, not just the X-Men, are not human.” [14:22]
- Jad Abumrad: "So Sherry and Indy won." [14:29]
- Aftermath Reflection: The attorneys feel no guilt for “robbing humanity” from the characters, highlighting the sometimes arbitrary boundaries within law and identity.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Robert Krulwich: “This is about what goes where, and what doesn’t go there, and what should go there if you were only smarter about it.” [00:36]
- Jad Abumrad (on dolls vs. toys): “So getting a Barbie doll into the country would be more expensive than, like, importing a Transformer or something?” [02:31]
- Sherry Singer (on legal argument): “Human beings do not have blue skin. The judge agreed…” [06:57]
- Bryan Singer (on the X-Men): “All the movies at their heart are parables about living in a world where you don’t fit.” [10:32]
- Bryan Singer (on allegory): “It’s no coincidence that it was born during the height of the civil rights movement.” [11:08]
- Bobby Drake’s mother (from X-Men film): “Have you tried not being a mutant?” [13:51] (Jad quoting the line)
- Ike V. Khandaraja: “Marvel Comics has created this world where mutants want to be treated like humans…and in the real world, it’s exactly the opposite.” [10:09]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:55–03:43 — Introduction to the customs/tariff dilemma and Marvel's legal challenge.
- 04:02–07:06 — Explaining the human vs. nonhuman classification with the X-Men.
- 07:17–09:27 — The argument about mutation, augmentation, and the edge cases (Beast and Wolverine).
- 09:29–13:55 — Cultural context: X-Men as a metaphor for marginalized identities, Bryan Singer’s insights.
- 13:55–14:22 — The legal outcome: Marvel’s heroes ruled “not human.”
Conclusion
"Mutant Rights" is a playful but thought-provoking episode showing how the definitions we create—legal, scientific, social—can shape culture, commerce, and our intuitions about self and other. Through the lens of a customs lawsuit, Radiolab explores what it means not just to be human, but to fit (or not fit) into society’s boxes—a narrative with implications far beyond comic books.