So, last week I saw the trailer for the upcoming Thor feature film and thought it looked pretty darn solid. Not everyone agreed, though. And while some have voiced issues with the perceived fealty to the comic books, or the relative merits of the trailer itself, there's one cadre of troglodytic malcontents that's registered its displeasure for more... uh, colorful reasons. Specifically, their hackles are up because the character of Heimdall, one of the many God-folk who populate the comic book realm of Asgard in the Marvel books, is played by actor Idris Elba.
Now, if you read that last sentence and just sort of shrugged your shoulders, or scratched your head then shrugged your shoulders, congratulations, you're a rational human being. Now, for the sake of clarification, let me try connecting the dots for you. See, Elba -- the acclaimed actor most well known for his role on The Wire -- is black. Heimdall -- the not real, never-was-real Norse God -- is white. You see where I'm going with this? Let's just let the so-called Council of Conservative Citizens take us the rest of the way:
Norse mythology gets multi-cultural remake in upcoming movie titled "Thor," Marvel studios. It's not enough that Marvel attacks conservatives values, now mythological Gods must be re-invented with black skin.
It seems that Marvel Studios believes that white people should have nothing that is unique to themselves. An upcoming movie, based on the comic book Thor, will give the Aesir an insulting multi-cultural make-over.
While I'm the first person to admit that color blind casting doesn't always work (Will Smith's anachronistic casting in Wild Wild West, for example), let's be real here. These folks are upset because a movie adaptation of a fictionalized version of a fictional character is the wrong color. In fact, not only are they upset, they're so upset that they're trying to galvanize fellow racist--er, concerned citizens to do something about it. To wit, their "Boycott Thor" website, that defiantly declares:
It's well known that Marvel is a company that advocates for left-wing ideologies and causes. Marvel front man Stan "Lee" Lieber boasts of being a major financier of left-wing political candidates. Marvel has viciously attacked the TEA Party movement, conservatives, and European heritage. Now they have taken it one further, casting a black man as a Norse deity in their new movie Thor. Marvel has now inserted social engineering into European mythology.
That's a whole lot of crazy packed into one small paragraph. Oh, but the big screen Thunder God isn't the only Marvel hero who has the "Boycott Thor" folks' knickers in a twist. No, they've also taken aim at the publisher's long-running Black Panther character for being, you guess it, "anti-white." Shocked, I tell you. Shocked! A little tip, guys: when you vehemently protest against any and all accusations of racism, it helps not to say racist things. Just saying.