Black Thor Actor Talks About Racist Comic Book Fans

[JDKJ]

'..we need to talk about it...' I've been on videogame websites for years now and it's always that same fucking lame line. Stop talking and do something about it. Besides, I don't think anybody on gaming site should have any say since the KKK has better hiring practices than you guys.

Huh? What on earth are you talking about?

Maybe the general point that if you're counting prominent African American gaming journalists, after you've counted N'Gai Croal, you can put away the rest of your fingers because there's no further need for them? I dunno for sure, though. I'm just guessing.

Got any African Americans on your editorial staff? If so, please lemme know. I've got these nine remaining fingers and nothing that I know of on which I can use them to count.

 

[SamElliot'sMustache]

While a large part of this is moot because both comic and film canon has the Asgardians as being aliens that were worshipped as Viking gods (a common theme in Jack Kirby's work: see the Eternals and the New Gods), I can still see why this is an issue. As much as people want to pretend that race doesn't matter, it still does. For example, if you took the same character traits that Peter Parker would have, and put them on a black teen, that does change the context of the character in subtle ways (I can imagine that the bullying Peter endured in high school would take on a slightly different dimension, at least). Similarly, if Heimdall is depicted as looking vaguely Scandinavian, that's completely different than seeing him as a black man. Any changes from the source material does give the character a new interpretation (see also: Joe Chill dying in Nolan's Batman films, whereas in the original story he got away, and in the Burton films he became the Joker. Three different interpretations that cast different lights on the same characters).

For all those saying that it's tokenism, though, I can't help but disagree, since the choice to make 'the Whitest of the Gods' black seems a bit too deliberate, as if Branaugh is suggesting that the Vikings depicted Heimdall as white on purpose, because they couldn't accept a god that looked nothing like them. It goes to that same phenomenon where all these depictions of Jesus of Nazareth as a white man, even though there is staggering amounts of evidence that he was black (like his parents choosing to hide out in a region where whites would be noticed; it even says in the Bible that Mary's lineage has ethnicities that were known to be dark-skinned).

So, I guess where I come down on this issue is: if it's being done to give a new, interesting wrinkle to the (back)story, then I am all for it. If it's just being done to score bonus points with minorities, then I think it will show in the performance and the writing.

EDIT: Anyone else realize that the setting for the movie is New Mexico, as in, the heart of American UFO culture? They are definitely playing up the 'aliens masquerading as gods' angle.

 

[Gindil]

When the hell did politics get into entertainment? I thought you picked up a comic for the story!

 

[evilstonermonkey]

If there's only 50 of them, I feel priveleged, because I personally know at least three of them -- although they just use the generic term "pagans" to refer to themselves; they seem to get all of the different pantheons mixed up, instead of sticking to just one. I knew a guy who was convinced he'd go to Valhalla when he died, though.

Yeah, I think they were meaning Wotanism or Odalism. There is some confusion since Odalism and Odinism are similar words and Wotan takes its name from the Germanic name of Odin so... That and all the dumbass racists that refer to themselves as Odinists because they don't know the difference in their own "religion," which is for some a genuine (but very racist) faith but for many more is just a semi-legalised form of racial hate.

 

[JDKJ]

Stringer Bell ain't bad. Omar Little is bad.

"Omar comin'! Run! Omar comin'!" -- Unidentified Hoppers, "The Wire"

 

[EvilPicnic]

If casting Stringer Bell as Heimdall is a travesty, then the Marvel butchering of Norse mythology is also a travesty.

A travesty of a travesty.

In fact, this thing is such a major fuckup, why don't we all go home and sulk, and go back to cave-painting. Or we could be grown-ups and enjoy the film for what it is (entertainment, by the way).

 

[Popido]

Fans bashing fans for not being okay when changing stuff they like lol wut?

 

[SinisterGehe]

The idea of black man playing a Scandinavian god, specially the white one, seems kinda offensive to me as a Scandinavian. But I haven't seen the execution yet. But what can I say, the movie isn't about the Nordic mythology but about a comic book, so it doesn't really matter. I could name a character in my movie Dr.King and design him as a white man, but that wouldn't serve the original reference, it would serve only my story.

 

[Arsen]

In all complete and total honesty, I feel as if it was slightly ridiculous in a sense to give any other race a role in a movie about a Scandinavian mythological entity. It's culturally tied to Nordic people and is a bit insensitive to not care about. I know, I know... we're American and it's an American movie. We typically force the race issue down people's throats if they don't agree with our perspective of it.

But then again this movie role was about a god that was tied to Nordic culture. This isn't the same as Sam Jackson being cast as Nick Fury. That was just an actor change. One I could care less about because the character wasn't portraying something out of canon to the mythology of a certain race of people.

People become angry at actors and roles becoming whitewashed, such as Prince of Persia and Avatar, but the second a minority from America does it...it's "okay" because of the historical suffering and political correctness of it all?

Sorry, but it's somewhat insulting to the source. I'll still see the movie regardless however. Ultimately though, he has no right to call anyone racist. I think some people the modern day black community feel insulted by things they perceive as racism, which are in fact well founded arguments.

 

[WolfThomas]

They'd give a lot to get that content back and in universe.

..Then why did they sell it in the first place, instead of just license it for the movies?

Well it's not like they permanently own the rights, it's just it's tied up in contractual obligations. Back when they did it, they never thought they'd have their own in-house production or Disney's cash-money. If Sony or Fox don't keep producing movies, it reverts back to Marvel. That's why there's another X-men movie and Spiderman reboot.

 

[Findlebob]

Dont get me wrong he was a great character in the movie but i can understand the rage, its like how they casted Prince of Persia where everyone was to white with inaccurate accents.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Its the black Hobbit fiasco all over again.
Fans just get very attached to the source material.

No...I've never been a major fanboy of LOTR, and certainly not Thor.
The reason I think both these cases are stupid however is that it's purely political correctness for political correctness' sake.
Not only do neither fit with the source material, they don't make any sense! I'm of scandinavian descent and i can assure you, all my relatives from that part of the world are very fair skinned. Casting a black guy for Thor is just unnecessary and...stupid.
But from what I hear the movie IS pretty stupid, so maybe it fits.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

If I depicted Mohammed and said he was really just the Alien version of the prophet, would it be any less culturally insulting?

TBF, the way they've treated Bin Laden shows that no-one is above disrespect.

Still smacks of the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BaldBlackLeaderGuy though; and that's where some people believe the real racism lies: The role's been made to fit him.

Like others have said, I'd much rather Thor was Scandanavian. Heimdall seems to have been a token choice that worked out in their favour.

 

[JDKJ]

Look at it this way: it's compensation for Marvel's "Tarzan" comics. How's a white British guy gonna be Lord of the Jungle? He didn't even own a tube of sunblock. That don't make no sense.

 

[DTWolfwood]

just want to say that Nick Fury was a white man and was casted as a black man so this is ok excuse is bullshit.

Anyone who don't read comics and saw Ironman had no idea who Nick Fury was. I sure as hell didn't. But anyone who had even a bit of education in world history know of the Norse Gods. They don't need comics to tell them its based on white people. To then suddenly cast a random black man to play a norse god is deliberately throwing shit into the fan. If they said they didn't expect this its a complete lie.

In the end of the day, it doesn't fucking matter. If the movie is some how terrible because a minor character in the movie isn't the same color as he was in the source material, i believe you have bigger problems than just the casting.

 

[DaJoW]

It's a bit odd that "the whitest of the gods" is played by a black man, but I'm not really upset about it. It's not like much else in the story follows Norse mythology from what I understand anyway.

 

[Nickolai77]

As much as all you people want, different skin color isn't and will never be the same thing as different hair color, or different eye color. It's different. Black and white is like man and woman. Having a black man cast as a character who's been white in all other iterations is not the same as casting a blond James Bond (though many people made it seem like that when Casino Royale came out). I mean Christ, how popular do you think "The Last of the Mohicans" would have been if Daniel Day-Lewis was supposed to play an actual Native-American, and not an adopted son? People would have called it white-washing. So how come this isn't facing similar critique? Because it's not as significant as my example? To some people, it is. If you're going to argue for or against this, this is something you need to realize.

I agree. If anyone was to make a film based on the Hindu or Chinese mythology (or indeed mythical folk hero's) i would rather such films be casted only by Indian and Chinese actors respectably. Otherwise, it breaks immersion because we have certain expectations of characters. We expect James Bond to be white, British, have gadgets, fast cars get laid frequently. If they made James Bond, say, American, that would just spoil it because that is not a feature of his character. Same applies to race. Still, i wouldn't be kicking up a huge fuss about the casting of a relatively minor character- the reaction to this is overblown.

PS: What is up with all the people feeling the need to point out that they are from Scandinavia? To anyone who does this: You have no, nor will you ever have, any connection to Norse Mythology in your entire existence. Your nationality doesn't suddenly make you higher above everyone else in this discussion.

What day is it today? Wodensday! Tomorrow will be Thor's day, and the day after Freya's day. I'm not Scandinavian, but the legacy of the Vikings is all over Britain, my home country. Most obviously in place names- York, Grimsby, any place named Irby etc are all Viking-given names. Plus, if you have any British or Irish heritage, you probably have a Norse ancestor some where.

I understand that that Scandinavians can lay a special claim to have Viking heritage, but i think most people whom live in the British Isles and even Normandy in France can also claim a connection to the Vikings as well. They settled everywhere.

 

[SamElliot'sMustache]

When the hell did politics get into entertainment? I thought you picked up a comic for the story!

It's always been there, most people just chose to ignore it.

 

[evilstonermonkey]

Look at it this way: it's compensation for Marvel's "Tarzan" comics. How's a white British guy gonna be Lord of the Jungle? He didn't even own a tube of sunblock. That don't make no sense.

Huh. It's been a while since I've needed to say this, but... not sure if serious. You do know about the original Tarzan books, right?

In the Thor comic's Heimdall was white. In the Thor movie Heimdall is black. THIS MOVIE IS HORRIBLE.
In the story Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption, Red was a white guy. In the movie Shawshank Redemption, Red was a black guy. THIS MOVIE IS HORRIBLE.

 

[JDKJ]

PS: What is up with all the people feeling the need to point out that they are from Scandinavia? To anyone who does this: You have no, nor will you ever have, any connection to Norse Mythology in your entire existence. Your nationality doesn't suddenly make you higher above everyone else in this discussion.

Actually, we do. Norse-gods and religion still flavor our culture, our national holidays, and our common names.
As late as the 19th century, Rune-writing was still used in some parts of the country (Sweden), and paganism is alive and well.

So don't speak of things you don't know anything about.

These are not connections. These are conventions. People in England can be said to have as much of a connection to Nordic religion as Scandinavians. All of this is superficial. The names, the holidays, it's just a superficial link between contemporary Scandinavia and Nordic Mythology that might as well be doing-fuck-all-because-we-can days.

As for the culture, that's just false. Ignoring the fact that the culture of Scandinavia is pathetically insignificant as it is, there is nothing from Norse Mythology that support the social rules now in place. The popular Swedish mindset of everything having to be "lagom" came from Viking custom. Hell, Sweden could barely call itself a real country until far after Nordic Mythology was abolished.

As for the runes, you are once again applying Nordic Mythology to something it had absolutely nothing to do with.

Let me just put this as clearly as possible: Norse Mythology did not have any moral values to enforce. It had no messages to preach, it had nothing to teach. It is one of the most pointless religions ever to have existed.

So my point still stands: Nobody from Scandinavia has no reason to proclaim their national heritage.

And them crappy Volvos ain't nothing to be proud of, either.