Black Man, Norse God

Yesterday morning, Perez Hilton posted the following blog:

                            ignore the apostrophe . . .

African-American Thor Actor Responds To Racial Casting Criticism Filed under: Film Flickers > Wacky, Tacky & True Gods don't see color

This is just absurd!

Marvel's upcoming film Thor has been getting criticism from fan boys
for the casting of African-American actor Idris Elba as the Nordic God
Heimdall.

You know, the big scary bad guy with scary eyes in the trailer?

Some idiots people believe it is wrong for a black man to play a white
Nordic god, but the actor in question is firing his own criticism back
at all the haters, saying:

   "It's so ridiculous. We have a man [Thor] who has a flying hammer
and wears horns on his head. And yet me being an actor of African
descent playing a Norse god is unbelievable? I mean, Cleopatra was
played by Elizabeth Taylor, and Gandhi was played by Ben Kingsley."

We couldn't agree more! The fact that his is even a DEBATE for some, is ridic!

C'mon people, open your minds and stop worrying about something as
superficial as skin color.

We personally can not wait to see Idris Elba's fierce performance as a
vengeful God and have a feeling the color of his skin will be the LAST
THING on our minds during the film.

Thoughts???

The comments on the blog (scroll down and you can read them) ranged from those criticizing Elba's examples ("Cleopatra was a Greek. So ELizabeth Taylor playing her is just fine."), to those offended ("There is no way now I'm going to see this movie. If this is the casting going on with such an easy pick then I wonder who else they casted in for important key roles and I question their ability to properly cast anything."), to the supportive ("Idris Elba is playing a CHARACTER not an ACTUAL PERSON so the comparisons with him and people like Sammy Davis Jr. and Martin Luther King Jr. are pointless. I'm glad that the casting directors picked the best ACTOR for the role instead of looking at his skin color."), to the geeky ("In the soon-to-be-released movie "The Black Panther" from Marvel Comics, T'Challa, the African king of the nation of Wakanda and with the aid of herbs and a Vibranium suit which enhances his natural athletic abilities, will become the Black Panther. T'Challa will be played by Edward Norton spray painted black.").

As a G.N.O.C., I personally don't have a problem with it portraying a Norse god.  In fact, I'm stoked.  When superhero comic books were first created (mid to late 1930's), white-America was the target audience.  Superheroes could only be white in a society that still supported segregation and the belief that those of color (any color) were second-class humans  (see Japanese-American Interment camps, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, the American Indian Movement, the Women's Rights).  If you throw the Black Panther at me for evidence of diversity, all I have to say is, he was called the BLACK PANTHER, and wasn't created until 1966; and, even then, still had to be from Africa, not African-American, so as to avoid offending social sensibilities; and, Luke Cage was blaxpolitation for children.

Luke Cage

As a avid reader of world religions, I am well aware of the anthropomorphizing of deities.  It is no surprise that the Norse gods were originally depicted as being fair-skinned; similar to their worshipers.  However, when speaking of the Marvel Universe, they were aware of people of color, but actively chose to make all their heroes white.  At the time of Thor, and most other superheroes' initial creation, doing otherwise was not even plausible, much less acceptable.  Heroes were always white-American and villain was always Black (or, on special occasion, any colored person).  

It is for this reason that characters like those in Avatar: The Last Airbender and those in the Dakotaverse of Milestone Media were so groundbreaking; the characters in these universes were real representations of minorities and their cultures, not stereotypes created to pander to the comfort of the white majority.Yes, Luke Cage, the Black Panther, Tonto, and Kato were all necessary steps in the slow acceptance of minorities into popular media; but, even if you look around today, particularly in search of Asian and Native American characters (whether in film, television, or comics), they are still scarce.

For those comparing the portrayal of Heimdall by Edras to the portrayal of Martin Luther King by insert white-looking actor's name, there is no comparison.  Heimdall is not real, and MLK Jr. is.  Thor is not a biopic.  It is not even a religious film - which would give these argument and protests a bit more credence.  If you're not sure how Marvel's Thor differs from the Nordic god Thor, start at Wikipedia with Thor and the sacred text the Poetic Edda; and, then progress to some English versions of the text online - 1, 2, 3.  The second links to the entire Poetic Edda online, and the last link goes to Project Gutenberg, one of my favorite e-sources for texts.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Pere Vila's more traditional depiction of Thor.  Yes, he was originally ginger. 

The protests of Racebending, and the addition of a Black-American Nick Fury and Heimdall into the superhero mythology are long overdue.  Hollywood and popular media in the States have been racially homogeneous for  too long; and, I'm happy to see Marvel trying to fix their past flawed portrayal of heroism as something which is defined by race. For those arguing accuracy, Marvel's Thor is about as religiously accurate as Disney's Hercules.  I, for one, plan on enjoying them both.

by Frank Hazen