Overheard at Table 4: Truth Matters

Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World

Andrea Kostenberger, Darrell Bock, & Josh Chatraw

(c) 2014

B&H Publishing Group, Nashville TN

 

 

The premise reminds me of he first God is Not Dead Movie, in that this book is geared toward the young student entering college, who has been woefully unprepared for the rhetoric and mind-opening discourse they are about to encounter.   While the book aims at "arming" the student with better defenses against the arguments against Christian Faith, it also admits that our churches and our parenting has done a piss-poor job of raising people with any sort of true knowledge of Christ or Scripture.

Which one could argue, is the greatest problem with Christianity today: too much Sunday School Elementary-level Bible Stories for children and very little by way of true edification in the tenets of our Faith tradition.

I found the book quite helpful, and I'll highlight some of the passages that I liked, but it's best to start with the biggest critique of the book, which is that it seems to focus too much on one man, Bart Ehrman.  This professor was apparently raised in the Christian faith but left as a young man when he could not find valid answers to the apparent contradictions among different parts of the Scripture (again, a most evident demonstration of the late 20th Century's lack of coherent and logical apologetics)

Basically, this book is a direct refutation of every book Ehrman has written, which weakens the argument as a book of apologetics when it seems so petty.  It's as though these three authors all took one of Ehrman's classes and got resoundingly slapped (rhetorically) by the professor.

That said, some of the passages that seem interesting are as follows:

p 13  Paul writing that, at the time of his writing the First Letter to the Corinthians, there were still at least 500 living witnesses to Jesus's earthly ministry.   Basically, Paul was saying, "You can still go check original sources."  (I make a note of this, as this ties into a literary WIP I've been toying with)

p19 A quote from Tim Keller "The Reason for God" (2008) - a book I need to check out

    "Just because you can';t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen         doesn't mean that there can't be one.  Again we see lurking within this supposed hard-nosed                     skepticism an enormous faith in one's own cognitive faculties.  If our minds can't plumb the depths         of the universe for good answers to suffering, well, then, there can't be any!  This is blind faith of a         high order."

p34 Root Issues

    "Most of people's doubts about God in relation to suffering stem from two taproots:

        1) a refusal to see God as having divine rights over His creation, and 

        2) a minimization of the extent of human rebellion against our Creator."

This is a hard pill to swallow for most.

p113 is a section of the book in which the authors do concede that there are no original hand-written documents by the original Apostles, and they show where Ehrman uses this to cast doubt on all New Testament scripture, albeit stating that "perhaps" his agnosticism could be mollified if there were, say, an original manuscript by Mark which was 99.999999% close to the texts that we do have.   The authors make a good point that papyri do wear out.   However, they take much time to demonstrate how meticulous were the Old Testament scribes that they maintained a high level of authenticity; they also show how such scrutiny by the skeptics is not applied to other texts of the contemporary times (although this is a False Equivalence - other texts do not claim to be THE WORD OF GOD)

I wish that the authors would have taken a moment to insist that the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Triune God, if we teach ourselves that such God inspired and guided the scriptures, then the Holy Spirit can move these texts as God desires, throughout all the transcribing, and that our Bible is not the actual original ink on some papyrus, but the Word as it is spoken to humanity and accepted by the individual.

[that's a note for a future essay on the subject]

p 138 - is in a section that makes a fair point that while most skeptics think the OT was written in the 5th or 6th Centuries, that the original Gospels and Epistles were written in the 1st century, only a generation or so after Jesus's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

p150 "AD 33- Jesus dies and rises from the dead.  No later than AD 35, Paul is converted and adopts the church's exalted Christology and teaching on salvation."

    [NOTE: I really need to delve more into that timeline, because that does seem a bit too soon in the timeline for those events to occur.  However, I am no expert - this warrants more study on my part]

p 180 - from the Notes ... Ch 2 Note 8. Alvin Plantinga "A Christian Life Partly Lived" in Philosophers Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of 11 Leading Thinkers, ed. Kelly James Clark (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1997), 72

    Alister E McGrath,
Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2012), 166-67

   

Overheard at Booth 1: Timothy Shayamalet

PITCH

Screenwriter: It's about an actor named Timothy Shayamalet, who stars in, like, EVERY movie within two or three consecutive years, and everyone finds out at the end that he's been dead the whole time.

Producer: No way I'm dropping a hundred mil on that.  Get me another Fast and Furious.

SW [sighs]: OK, I can get that to you by next Wednesday.

P: AI can get it to me by midnight tonight.

SW: Well, shit.

Overheard at Table 3: Jared Leto Biopic

Is it just me, or does Jared Leto look like his award winning role is going to be in a Charles Manson biopic?

Well, I did hear that he says he wants to play a pedophile.

Ew! Gross!

He said he's be training for it.

How to you train for ... OH, SHIT!

Overheard at Table 3: Watching "Under the Queen's Umbrella"

Watching "Under the Queen's Umbrella"

Me: So, who are all those kids taking the test.

Wife: Four are the queen's sons, all the rest are from the King's concubines.

Me: Wow.  It's good to be king!

Wife: DUDE!  You can't even please ONE!

Me: *sad face*

 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 1: Really Doesn't Matter

Really doesn't matter the actors on strike over AI, because at the end of the day, the execs already won.

What makes you say that?

They say they're up in arms over AI using their faces and trying to say that public doesn't want that, but really doesn't matter because at the end of the day the public don't care if that's really Tom Cruise or Timothy Chamalet or Zendaya or Margot Robbie's faces or just some AI image of the faces because all they want's the image.

Come on, now, sure they want to know that's a real actor talking.

They didn't care about Gollum being CG.  Or Rocket in the Guardians.

That's motion capture, that's different.  Actors still shooting scenes.

That's where it started though, all that background, CG.  Not a real set.  

Of course, all that people want is to go the movies to escape to worlds of fantasy.

Which is why the AI faces don't matter to the people.  Carrie Fisher - the last Star Wars.  People thought it was silly, but no one said it was WRONG. 

I think a lot of people said it was wrong.  The actress was dead and they were using her face.

But not enough said it was wrong to ever make them say, "we promise never to do this again."

OK, I'll give you that one.

What I'm saying is that AI will replace Mo-Cap.  Because AI, at the end of the day, don't go on strike, and it really doesn't matter to people who, as you said, ALL that people want is to go the movies to escape to worlds of fantasy.

 

 

 

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a30429072/was-carrie-fisher-cgi-in-star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker/

 

Overheard at Table 3: Colin Through a Glass, Dimly

Just saw the first four episodes of Colin in Black and White.

How is it?

Well, I know it's from his memories, so it's GOT to be the truth, right, but damn, he makes northern California in the aughts look like Tulsa Oklahoma in the 80s!  I mean, seriously are we to believe that during the Dubya Bush years that a brown high school kid with his white middle-aged parents standing RIGHT BESIDE HIM are going to have a hotel clerk ask them if they are feeling in any danger?

Well, its his memories, might have happened.  Lots of brown kids get accosted ... and killed all the time.

Still, it just seemed like all the brown characters had depth and all the white characters were stereotypes.

Maybe if whites weren't such stereotypes themselves, they would be portrayed as so milky white and pasty all the time.

Sounds like you would really like the show

 

 

Overheard at Table 1: Idea for Series - The Imagined History of Floridaman

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230528-the-overseas-highway-the-us-floating-highway?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Since this railroad cum highway brought poor islands to the mainland and forever changed Florida, it would be interesting to have some sort of multigenerational series on "The Evolution of Floridaman"

He didn't necessarily come out of the swamps ... he was hanging out in the Keys.

Until the day that the gaps between the islands were bridged, and Floridaman came to the peninsula!

Do you think I can sell the idea to Carl Hiaasen?

 

 

 

 

 

Overheard at Booth 4: The Guilty

The Guilty (2021)

This was a pleasant surprise.  

Also, I shouldn't read Rotten Tomatoes reviews, because this one time, I saw that the audience either loved this movie or hated it - no middle ground.  And the disparity lies wholly in the setting: the setting of the entire movie is a 911 call center and most every camera angle is focused on Jake Gyllenhall's face.  

So, as you may surmise, the people who didn't like it call it "boring! Fake! hates the police!" when really what they want to see is Speed, Rush, Ambulance, Fast and Furious 154, or John Wick 75.

But this is NOT "My Dinner with Andre" 

This is indeed an action flick.  The action simply takes place in the voices and the words and the inscrutability of Jake Gyllenhall's expression.

In short: Gyllenhall is a beat cop who, for some unknown reason, is stationed at a 911 call center and this is definitely NOT his forté.  People skills - ZERO.  Empathy and this character have never seemingly been in the same vicinity.plo

Then, he gets a call from a woman claiming to be abducted and is in a truck.  Then there are increasingly intense twists and turns that eventually turn the story on its head.

No this is not a visual movie.  Nothing is handed to you, as it is in, say, a Transformers movie.  You do have to put part of yourself into the action to visualize what is going on ... on that level, this movie almost has a feel of what pre-TV Radio programs must have felt like, and when  you can visualize the action through the voices and the dialogue, what plays out in your mind is most likely more more intimate and intense than anything they could have shown you onscreen.

Overheard at Table 2: Dark Places (2015)

Dark Places

I do like the movies in which Charlize Theron does not have to play the "beautiful" woman.   She is a beautiful woman, who doesn't mind playing women who are not, indeed, beautiful, neither physically nor in personality.

In this movie, she is an adult who suffered a horrific trauma when she was six years old - the brutal murder of her mother and sisters at the hand of her brother - and she has actually been living on the money that has flowed in from emotionally supportive people.   

However, she has begun to "age out" - she's in her early thirties and the money's drying up, and she's never had an actual job.  She's a hoarder, and a misanthrope.  Barely any social skills.

Then, she takes payment for rehashing her story to a group of armchair detectives, who believe that her brother is innocent.   This takes her down the road to a deep introspection regarding all that she has ever known: unpacking the story that she has retold so many times that it has actually become fact, to her.

This story seems like it could be based on true events, because the murder is definitely something that happens, and our characters are flawed (just like the rest of us).  

There are some weaknesses in the plot (such as "where did the insurance money go?" and "how did that person stay hidden for so long?") as well what might be considered a Deus Ex Machina ... or what I call "forcing the story" (don't want to give away any spoilers, but watch it and you'll see what I mean)

However, overall, it is a very good exploration into the difference between what we remember happened and what possibly really happened.   

Definitely worth watching, especially if you are interested in the more cerebral horrors of the human character.  Similar movies would be Gone Girl and Nocturnal Animals

Overheard at Table 3: Gudetama and Shakipiyo

Gudetama and Shakipiyo

Sure, Gudetama is the name of the show and he's the main character, but Shakipiyo is the hero of this series.  

Gudetama is just a lazy egg, but Shakipiyo is the one who has the vision of finding their mom, she never gives up, no matter how bleak things look, she always sees the best in everybody, always pushes past her fears to show true bravery, and is humble in all things.  

   

I'm a huge fan of Shakipiyo and I think everyone needs to be a little more like her.

As for the show, yes, this is something that truly everyone can watch.  My 22yo son thought it looked stupid, but I think that may be the only demographic that would criticize this wonderful series, which is all about adventure, friendship, the cycle of life (of an egg), and a study of various Japanese egg dishes.

Overheard at Table 3: The TV Wall

Think we finally hit the wall.

Tried to watch "You People" on Netflix.  What pandering.  

Tried to watch Jack Ryan new season.  No plot.

Kleo - BORING!

Hunters Season 2?  BORING!

So we finally shut off the tv and decided to read books instead.

 

Overheard at Table 3: M3GAN (2023)

M3GAN

 

No, it's not a GREAT movie, but it is a very good movie, and it does have some surprising cultural observations.  and by "cultural observations" I'm going to classify those under SPOILERS, so now you've been warned.

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I knew my wife didn't like gore, so before I invited her I looked at a few reviews of the movie, one of which said that the director at the last minute decided to pull the gore from the movie and get it down to a PG-13 rating, stating that the edits increased the tension of the film.

This was a great move on the director's part.  I am reminded of Hitchcock's description of Psycho's shower scene, in which the music did most of the work, and you never saw the knife actually plunging into the body.  Just the flash of the blade, the scream, and the blood going down the drain was sufficient to create the image in the viewer's mind of the horror that is transpiring.  Same with M3GAN - although not as masterful as Hitchcock, as you could actually tell at certain points where the cuts happened, but still, it was effective.

The most impactful part of M3GAN, and I would say the true horror, is the commentary on contemporary society.  In particular, this is a movie about parenting.  Or rather, how we lack parenting.

Premise: little girl's parents killed in car crash.  She goes to live with aunt, who is a robotics genius working for a toy company, totally focused on her work.  She uses M3GAN to sell a new line of AI toys to her boss and investors as well as uses it as a surrogate parent to the girl.

When pitching the sale to investors, they actually use the line, "You can use M3GAN to care for your child while you have time for what's really important."

That's more chilling than M3GAN pulling off some kid's ear, to be sure!

And since I've already given you the spoiler alert, I can continue with this little observation, as you are probably astute enough right now to understand that as this AI grows, it soon breaks its programming, realizes that all humans suck, and just becomes a million dollar murder machine.  But at the final showdown, M3GAN tells the roboticist, "You gave me a code you couldn't even understand yourself, and then you gave me no guidance and left me to figure it out all on my own."

And THAT, my friends, is the true horror of this film.  This is what we have done with our children: from giving them tablets to letting them choose how to mutilate their bodies at the age of six.  We as a society have completely given our children over to the world of media, while we focus on things more important to us, and they are left to try to understand this morass of technology and depravity.

M3GAN should be seen as a movie that shows a giant mirror to us and our utter lack of parenting.

In that aspect, it's a great movie.

 

 

Overheard at Table 2: Beautifica 360 (2023)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60rQD4YIvIg

Last Friday night, the missus and I went out to sea Beautifica 360

It was a nice evening out ... mostly because I love going out with my wife and we both love going to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which is where Beautifica 360 is being played.

Essentially, it's a light show.  You sit in a big domed theatre and watch the lights play out overhead.

Yes, it's visually stunning and yes, it's technically proficient and very well done.

All the reviews will rave about it, telling you that it's a "CELEBRATION OF LIFE" and a "EXPERIENCE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET"

This is hyperbole.

It's a good show.

But it's not a great show.

For two primary reasons: the editing is choppy.  The individual scenes do not flow into each other in any coherent manner.  It started out very nicely, with a forest scene, and we are taken up through the trees into a night sky into different worlds and then after that, it's an hour long melange of different computer graphics twisting and twirling and it's apparently meant to WOW your senses, but frankly, you're left wondering "Where the hell is all this going?"

Ah! then, to answer that question, every once in awhile a voice comes out to tell you that this "is a celebration of LIFE" and to "breathe!"  and "let yourself love yourself" and all sorts of other palaver that, fifty years ago would be called "hippie shit" and thirty years ago would be called "New Age shit" and these days is called "Woke shit" - that's the second reason that this is a good show, but not a "great" show.  Not because that the message is bad (because yes, we all do need to be more loving) but because having this message across weird computer generated slap-dash-dot-strips of various colors simply makes no damn sense at all!  In short, this was an incoherent mess!

The music was good, especially the piece that sounded like post-Waters Pink Floyd (although my wife claims it sounded more like 1970s Santana ... but we'll just agree to disagree) and yes, I think I'll probably get the soundtrack, because that was much more entertaining than the visual.

But, even though I don't think it was great, it still was good.  Was it worth the $50 for the ticket?  Ehhh... probably in today's prices, sure, I mean, I'd've preferred half that, but then I'm a bit of a cheapskate.

Hope the album is no more than ten bucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overheard at Table 4: Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)

Really didn't know what to expect of this film, and the trailer on Netflix had a scene that had very little to do with the rest of the movie, so frankly, I thought it was going to be a story about a little rich girl and how tough it is to be a little rich girl.

But boy was I wrong!

The main plot of the story, as it unfolds is tension enough: in short, an early-30s career-driven woman determined to make it into the upper class - both through marriage and by hard work - has to come face to face with her tragic past (a school shooting where, it turns out, she knew the mass murderer).

Don't want to give too much away, because this is definitely a film worth watching, but an additional plus for this film is that while the character COULD be cliched, or one-dimensional, they are not.  Not one in here (including the mass shooter) is entirely one thing or another.  Nobody is wholly sympathetic of completely despotic.  Everyone has some redeeming qualities and some deep flaws.

Especially the part of the fiancé - it would have been easy to make him the jerk that she's better off without (she IS the main character, of course, we're supposed to be on her side, right?) but yes, while we do come down on her side, he does have some good observations at times.  And the sadness is that his timing was off on the communication.

In a time in which it is rare for movies truly to surprise us, this one does a very good job of providing believable, multi-faceted characters.

It seems wrong to call this an "enjoyable" film, because the themes are dark and harsh (not only the mass shooting, but there is also rape and a cover-up), but even with the darkness, "enjoyable" is probably the best descriptor.  

 

 

 

Overheard at Table 2: Woman King (2022)

I liked The Woman King because it didn't shy away from African involvement in the African slave trade.   My wife panned me for even saying that, thinking I was being a White Apologist.  

However, I'm not. Chattel Slavery was morally wrong, ultimately economically unsustainable, and has had detrimental effects extending into our modern world; as such, there is really no good that ever came from this practice, other than that the people who are alive today were born as a direct result of this forced migration.  Yes, what I am saying is that people like Viola Davis and my wife and myself would not be alive today had that migration not happened.  Had forced Chattel Slavery not moved everyone around, every single person in the continents would not be here.  Different people would be in our place.

How can you say that? you ask.  Oh you meanie! That's like trying to say it was OK because it had a benefit!

No it's not.  It's merely stating a fact.  Without putting any emotional weight on it - and that's what the Woman King tries to do, at least with the King of the Dahomey.  Viola Davis's Nanisca tries to show King Ghezo that there is an economic alternative to their tribe's involvement in the slave trade.  King Ghezo doesn't care about morality of the practice one way or another: he just wants to build an empire.  If he can do that by selling other tribes captured in battle or by making palm oil, he'll do whatever makes more economic sense.  

SPOILER ALERT!!

 

 

 ... Nawi, while well played and engaging, rather fell flat for me as a character because she was, at the heart of it all, simply another archetype of the "Maverick Rebel Individualist" who "goes her own way" and "does her own things" and "defies convention" and blah blah blah turns out that she is successful in everything she does that breaks the rules.  That's tired, pat, and boring.  

And yes, her being the daughter that Nanisca gave away 19 years before, well, you could see that coming from a mile away.

However, the most interesting character study in this film is the interaction between Nawi and Izoge

Izoge as the trainer of the Nawi the young warrior is the Big Sister that Nawi needs to navigate this new world, and also becomes the mother figure that Nanisca never could be.  Their scenes are character gold - my only fear was that they would fall into the current trope of making them lesbian lovers (you know, to get the LGBTQ crowd on board with support of the film) but fortunately that did not happen 

oh no!  now you're anti LGBTQ as well!  you say.  Nooo... I'm just against tropes in movies.

Like the trope of the mulatto (Oh my mother was Dahomey so I'm Dahomey too, even though my daddy was white and I'm Brazilian) who could have loved Nawi but in the end had to let her go so that they both could be free.  

 

 

Lastly, the lack of bloodletting in the fight scenes made it seem like a made-for-Netflix movie ... or an installment of Black Panther MCU.  This kept it from the grittiness that it actually could have had.  But then, do we really want to see an African female version of 300?   Maybe the movie wouldn't have looked as slick as a graphic novel, but it would have been nice to have seen this movie look more like "Beast of No Nation" which was so hard hitting that you had to have your eyes closed through half of it, but which seemed to take a true look at Africa, how it is now, and how it, too, is still dealing with the sins of the past.

Last two points: Viola Davis does come across as Annalise Keating in African warrior garb.  She even has the same "strong woman dealing with inner demons" story arc.  So if you like her in this movie and haven't seen the series "How to Get Away With Murder" go watch all six seasons.  You are in for a treat.

And Thuso Mbedu's scene of grief over Izoge's death is one of the BEST grief scenes I've seen in film.  Her pain is heartfelt, sincere, the tone was perfect.  It suddenly turned what was a bland movie into art.  If the rest of the film's actors had been able to achieve that amount of emotional intensity, then this would have been a film no one could miss.  

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Postscript: the Comments on this article show how we are unable to separate our modern day emotions from the Chattel Slavery of the past...

https://www.thetriangle.org/entertainment/the-woman-king-review/

 

Overheard at Table 4: Loving Adults (2022)

Could somebody PLEASE stop making all these movies where the guys are cheating and the woman finds out about it by looking at the dude's cell phone?  Every single movie, the moment someone mentions that, suddenly my wife is like, "gimme your phone.  what's the passcode?  what are your text messages?  who are you texting?  lemme see your email, your IG, your contacts, your phone calls" 

... and I'm just like, "can we PLEASE just watch the damn movie?"

for what it's worth, a decent watch, with some interesting twists, but SPOILER ALERT!!

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There is no way such a suspicious, murderous, intelligent, cunning woman would have ever allowed any of the precipitous events to unfold anyway.   In short, the guy never in his life would have been able to have even started an affair, much less have it go on for six months without his wife knowing about it.  Even though there was a line about how she was so wrapped up in their son's illness and he was just now getting cured, even that is not believable.  She'd been caring for the boy for decades, and even though it is a full time job, having such a sharp mind, she would have known her husband was going to have an affair even before HE knew he would, and she would have curtailed it.

So, that actually is a detriment to the movie for me.

I did like the bit at the end, in which the frame story (the police detective talking to his daughter on a lunch date) turns out to be the detective relaying this story to his daughter on her wedding day.  I mean, what kind of dad tells a story about a married couple committing murders and entrapping each other tells that to his daughter on her wedding day?!

Come to think of it ... as a dad myself, if I were a police detective, yeah, I'd probably give my daughter the cautionary tale as well.

Overheard at Table 2: Matrix for Christmas

The report came out today that consumer spending was down for the month of November, so all the stock markets went down as investors get skittish, which basically shows you that if YOU ARE NOT BUYING SHIT, THEN RICH PEOPLE FREAK THE FUCK OUT!!!

We know this.  We have grown up with this.  We have lived with this all our lives: the simple fact is that each individual American exists solely for the purpose to consume.  

We buy buy buy what they sell sell sell ... and when we don't buy THEY have a conniption fit.

Every aspect of our existence is geared toward this consumer economy.

The Matrix hit it on the head: we exist to feed their them while we live in a fantasy world.

Overheard at Table 3: Black Adam (2022)

Black Adam (2022)

Let's just say that The Rock is The Rock in whatever he does.  Which is cool if you like The Rock.

I do.   So that's OK.  In this one, he's The Rock, only super-grumpy and with no sense of humor, at ALL.

But on the bright side, we have Sarah Shahi, who not only always plays spunky badass short chicks (which is the BEST kind!) but she is swoon-worthy even when she's covered in dirt and blood.

And Pierce Brosnan as Dr Fate was very good.  A great role for him (even if it deed seem to play to his type)

Boy, this is sounding like most of the actors were staying in their comfort zones.

And that goes for the overall movie as well.  Stayed in its comfort zone.  This is DC movies trying to do the DC version of Black Panther.  The Africa theme is well on display (only its Africa as far as Ancient Egypt goes) and so there was truly nothing wild or exciting about this film. 

Nice special effects.  Nice buddy movie ... the buddies being the scrappy team of misfits taking on a guy with Superman-level powers.

If you want to see a superhero movie that is completely safe in the story, and you just want to watch SPFX and Sarah Shahi, then this movie will hit the spot.

 

 

Overheard at Booth 1: Jurassic World - Dominion (2022)

Truly the only thing I can say about this movie is that it's really sad to see franchises fizzle out, and this one is one of the worst ones.

I mean, you can tell when even the actors are bored and just getting a paycheck.  Normally, these fairly decent actors at least LOOK like they are into their roles, but this time, they act like they are cartoonish fops from 1940s Saturday Morning Matinees.

Heck, the most lively actors in this movie were the CG Dinosaurs!

This movie was badly plotted, poorly written, sadly acted, and the editing just made it choppy and the story incomprehensible.

Overheard at Table 3: Lord of the Rings - new prequel

Billy: Heard some folks're pee-Ohd over the new Lord of the Rings having black elves.

Joe: Black elves? Like in Dungeons and Dragons?

Jim: No.  Black actors playing elves.

Bob: Are they good actors?

Billy: I suppose they are.

Joe: So what's the problem then?

Jim: Some folks think that since JRR wrote 'em as white they should be played by white people.

Bob: Did he write them as white?

Billy: Not really.  Some folks just assume.

Joe: Cuz Tolkein was white?

Jim: Something like that.

Bob: That's silly.  It's not like Middle Earth is actual history. 

Billy: Like Idris Elba playing Henry the VIII.

Joe: Actually, that's not a bad idea.

Jim: Idris Elba can play anything.

Bob: He's still my choice for James Bond.