Black Thor Actor Talks About Racist Comic Book Fans

[Aurgelmir]

Idris Elba, who plays Heimdall in Marvel's Thor movie, has spoken about the backlash caused by the casting of a black actor as a Norse god. Elba's casting has infuriated a number of groups who feel it is insulting to have a person of color playing a figure often referred to as the "Whitest of the Gods."

For the record Elba was an amazing Heimdal.

And well, in the latest comics he has actually been "black", as his face has looked like a stary night sky... So casting a black guy wasn't to much of a big deal...

Now where was this controversy when they cast an Australian as Thor? (Hemsworth is Australian, or is he a Kiwi?)
As a Norwegian I am mildly insulted by this choice! P)

No to be honest, the newer Marvel movies have great casting. Though I do feel that changing the race of some more prominent characters could be taking political correctness very far. I am saying this mainly because the characters are built around their race, and making Storm a White chick from Germany would just be wrong.

 

[Eternal_Lament]

So long as he is a good actor for the role, does it really matter what his skin color is?

I stand by the argument that if this was a movie about the actual Norse gods that it would indeed by sketchy if someone other than a Scandanavian played one of the Norse gods, but seeing as how this is a Marvel version of the Norse gods, its quite clear that liberties and scalpels were taken to the original text (Odinism) so that it could fit in the realm of comic books, so it really becomes mute if they have different ethnicites or different races play once White characters.

 

[HellbirdIV]

Rather pointless casting choice, in my opinion. As a scandinavian with a vested interest in history, well, I know that while they were in fact black people in scandinavia in viking times, those people were generally thralls (slaves). So... isn't casting a black guy as a viking kind of... Racist in itself? <_<

I really don't know, to me it just smacks of political correctness when you could just have made them all white. Or hell, if you want to make the excuse that they're aliens, make them all black? At least give them some consistency and feeling of being... you know, immortal gods? Why would alien-gods-whatever have the same racial niches as humans on earth? Argh, biology senses tingling...

And because I like pointing this out, if it was a character who was black in the comics being cast with a white actor in one of these movies, the studios would get so much shit for it. Gotta love them double standards.

 

[Antari]

I don't really give a shit about a black person acting in a movie, not against it racially at all, but I gotta say, I hate to see source material altered just so they could say "hey, look, our cast has a token black guy!". If they're casting an actor because of his skin color, then that IS the definition of racism, whether he's black or white.

Ya I can see fans of the Shaft series being pretty pissed off if that movie had been played by some white guy.

All in all it comes down to absolutely stupid casting people. Yes he would do the part well, yes hes badass. Unfortuantely he doesn't even remotely look like the character hes trying to play. Just because your movie has a big budget doesn't mean you can STOMP on 30 previous years of canon being set in place.

 

[Jonluw]

I'll say what I've said on the issue before:

I think it's weird that they cast a black guy as a norse god, but it's not like the source material for the film goes for an accurate depiction of the mythology anyways, so I don't see it as an insult to the mythology, and I think changing a character's skin colour is (barely) within the scope of acceptable changes to make to the canon of the source material in an adaptation.

I still think it's a really strange casting though. If I was in charge, I'd look for an actor that looked like the character from the source material; but it's not like it's important that his appearance was changed in the end.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

While I really couldn't care less about this specific example ...

"If you know anything about the Nords, they don't look like me but there you go. I think that's a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that's good."

..that is a pretty awful sentiment to my mind.

If you want to depict a particular race or a particular culture\mythology then I think you really should try to cast to fit the role. I find both whitewashing and indiscriminate casting distasteful in that situation.
Just because Hollywood has always done the opposite by casting square jawed white Americans in every role doesn't mean we should now just put anyone in any role if they are a good enough actor. Hollywood of today has the chance to redress the balance properly and cast actors of all ethnicity, colour and creed in roles to suit; preferably leaving cultures intact behind them.

If the Victorians managed to destroy fairy myths in the space of one generation without even trying just think what holywood could do with repeated miscasting and intentional character changing. Our stories are meant to be fluid but the prospect of losing them to homogenised modern culture friendly distortions is unpleasant. One day those stories could be all that exists to show us the cultures of our past (happened several times over in most European countries so it's not a stretch).

Spoiler

The Fay where seven or eight feet tall, inhumanly beautiful, malicious and a warring culture with magic. They lived in a whole other world accessed through 'magic places' and occasionally granted great gifts of power and luck to people and were the basis of almost all British folklore and mythology. In the space of a single generation they became tiny, shy, almost powerless butterfly people of no significance and the telling of the old stories has become increasingly rare to the point that most children wouldn't know a fairy legend if you tied it to a fish and slapped it about their head. )

 

[BoTTeNBReKeR]

I've never read the comics but I have seen the film. Personally, I find the entire movie a huge dump on Germanic mythology as a whole (no, it's not just Scandinavian mythology). However, it's not really trying to be anything like the Germanic mythology so, I can live with it. But featuring a black guy to play Heimdall (whitest of all the Gods) is just a stupid decision if you ask me. It'd be nearly as weird as making a movie about the president and giving the role of Obama to a white or asian actor.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I'm offended by this movie ... 'cos it's going to be SHIT.

That's a bigger concern to fans and detractors alike, if the product is potentially so bad it could make your eyes bleed.

I like Thor and all, but y'know, maybe if the product wasn't going straight to DVD I might actually watch it.

 

[Ericb]

And because I like pointing this out, if it was a character who was black in the comics being cast with a white actor in one of these movies, the studios would get so much shit for it. Gotta love them double standards.

No bigger double-standard than the actual ratio between white actors to non-white actors in movies/series.

The shit studios get (as well as they should) for replacing an originally non-white character with a white one is well deserved.

 

[Joshimodo]

Idris is a great actor, but I don't see why he was cast for a canonically white god.


I mean, I wouldn't want a white guy cast as Nick Fury, for example.


Oh well, whatever.

 

[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.

I am insulted. THIS MEANS CULTURAL WAR

Don't get me wrong. I give props where props are due. Those Norwegians can fish circles around everyone with one hand tied behind their backs. Of all the captains in the fleet, Sig Hansen of the F/V Northwestern (the "Norwegian" in his native tongue) is my favorite.

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted . . . dead or alive."

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

This is a great example of how absurd racial issues are anymore. Everyone seems to imagine it as some totally overblown knock out brawl either between racists and not racists or whites and white haters. These comments are a big fucking mess. As far as I'm concerned, you're all arguing about something completely different than this particular issue and I don't even want to know what it is.

 

[JDKJ]

Do you just walk around with blinders on most of the time or something?

Not all of the time. Only when I can be absolutely confident that no one's trying to sneak up behind me. Which isn't often but does occur from time to time.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

I've never read the comics but I have seen the film. Personally, I find the entire movie a huge dump on Germanic mythology as a whole (no, it's not just Scandinavian mythology). However, it's not really trying to be anything like the Germanic mythology so, I can live with it. But featuring a black guy to play Heimdall (whitest of all the Gods) is just a stupid decision if you ask me. It'd be nearly as weird as making a movie about the president and giving the role of Obama to a white or asian actor.

Not quite true. It now seems that prior to the early bronze age all Teutonic peoples lived in what is now Sweden. They took their myths with them when they settled across most of northern Europe. Calling the Teutonic tribes Germanic is a hangover from archaeology that is now out of date and for the moment it seems that those stories really are Scandinavian in origin.

This is a great example of how absurd racial issues are anymore. Everyone seems to imagine it as some totally overblown knock out brawl either between racists and not racists or whites and white haters. These comments are a big fucking mess. As far as I'm concerned, you're all arguing about something completely different than this particular issue and I don't even want to know what it is.

What is the issue then? I, for one, would like to know.

Is it racism in Hollywood?
Is it racism in the source material?
Is it racism in the target audience?
Is it that the supporters of this casting are painting anyone who thinks this is a bad casting as racist?
Is it about respecting cultures you draw characters from?
Is it about fairly casting of any actor to any role?
Or is it some other thing all together?

Almost anything has a multitude of issues depending on your initial approach and how carefully you think about it. People will take different views and maybe with discussion some of them will walk away enlightened a little. Probably not you though.

 

[Alar]

Ultimate nick fury in his various appearances accross hundreds of issues now.
Although since they changed the film cannon to space aliens rather than norse gods it kinda evens out to me not caring.
And ALBA did kick ass in the role.

WAIT WAIT WAIT! They changed it to Space Aliens?! What the heck, movie!? I wanted my Norse Gods, not just another group of aliens! The point of this multi-movie thing was to incorporate science, technology, aliens, magic, monsters, AND gods!

This makes me upset, and with good reason. I could care less if there's a black guy playing one of them, I care about the fact that they made them ALIENS!

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

I don't see a problem with a black Nordic god. The Norse as a people were exceptional sailors and we've found artefacts such as dirhems (silver coins from the islamic world) and even a golden statue of freaking Buddha in Viking graves. That particular statue has a twin, currently in a museum in India. So the Norse knew full well there were races other than Caucasians

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

The only problem I have with him being Black is that it just seems like troll bait and flame warish that they pick to portray the character called the whitest of the white. It is not like Kenneth Brannagh hasn't done this before. It is either Cornelius or Voltemand that is black in his production of Hamlet and it really just seems like he is there for that one scene so they can have one black guy.

Ultimately I don't care if the actor is different and they are good and suits the role.

 

[BoTTeNBReKeR]

I've never read the comics but I have seen the film. Personally, I find the entire movie a huge dump on Germanic mythology as a whole (no, it's not just Scandinavian mythology). However, it's not really trying to be anything like the Germanic mythology so, I can live with it. But featuring a black guy to play Heimdall (whitest of all the Gods) is just a stupid decision if you ask me. It'd be nearly as weird as making a movie about the president and giving the role of Obama to a white or asian actor.

Not quite true. It now seems that prior to the early bronze age all Teutonic peoples lived in what is now Sweden. They took their myths with them when they settled across most of northern Europe. Calling the Teutonic tribes Germanic is a hangover from archaeology that is now out of date and for the moment it seems that those stories really are Scandinavian in origin.

True, however I still refer to it as "Germanic mythology" since it was practiced as a religion by (I believe) all the Germanic tribes who settled in the rest of Europe till they eventually converted to Christianity.

 

[w-Jinksy]

it just irks me that a black guy is playing a god described as the whitest of gods, just seems a bit off.

i'd actually care if the film wasn't a comic book film but a film based solely off the mythology, then maybe i'd actually give a flying fuck but as it stands don't care either way.