White Supremacist Group Calls for Boycott of Thor Movie

Yule celebrate Christmas?

Here's something for dkehler:

http://boycott-thor.com/2010/12/18/monika-bartyzel-increases-the-hypocrisy/

Yep, there are crazy people on both sides. Me, I just can't bring myself to care that they hired a black actor to play the role of a fictional legendary character. I bet you were worked up about Morgan Freeman playing God in the two "Almighty" movies. (speaking of fictional characters :santa_azn

Y'know, if it were "just" a fictional legendary character, you'd have something there. But this is a God that people sincerely worshipped and still do. Beyond theological belief, Heimdall is also an integral part of a culture which is still alive and well. We're not talking about Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn being cast with black actors here, although that casting would be equally improbable -- we're talking about a cultural hallmark. The people whose culture that hallmark hails from are the ones who own it, not Marvel, and Marvel may have legal authority to change it up -- but that doesn't give them the ethical right to do it.

But you know that. You're not so stupid that you don't know. And if you didn't know, well hell, there wouldn't be nearly as much to be upset over. If you didn't know, you could be told and you might understand the objection and even show it some consideration. But you do know -- and still don't care. Were the ethnicities reversed -- a white man playing the role of an explicitly non-white deity -- with the people to whose culture that deity is integral objecting to the casting of a white actor -- Skin can't help but predict that you would be outraged on their behalf. Why not on ours but for the anti-white racism that's so prevalent today that even whites shy away from seeing it, let alone speaking up against it?

Not one bit. For one thing, Skin has no ancestral connection to the Abrahamic god. Skin can see why Christians, Jews and Muslims would have been put out by it, though, and Skin would have sympathized with them on it.

I have learned a considerable amount more about this than I did before and I'll say that I can see why some people might be against this casting choice. I could also see why some people might be against the hiring of non-Asian actors in that air bender movie as well.

All in all though, I still think such things are pretty minor in the whole scheme of things and certainly not worthy of boycotts or some such. At best, it warranted a discussion, which we have had and are having.

For the airbender thing: yes, absolutely minor. But here's the difference Skin's not sure you're seeing -- Avatar isn't exactly a long-established part of anybody's culture, certainly not a millennial thing. Nobody grew up believing in the Na'vi as a thing that's meaningful to how they conduct their lives. No one has this particular piece of fiction as a lynchpin of the way they look at the world. Nor do these fictional blue feline aliens hold any particular connection for anybody to their ancestors. None of that is true with the Norse gods, which is why the two are perhaps the same thing in direction, but not even close to the same in degree. For a lot of people, whether they identify themselves as worshippers of the old Norse gods or not, those old Norse gods are a part of who we are as a people. They're part of our history and culture, and to see our history and culture trampled on and homogenized for a cocktail of commercial greed and political correctness goes beyond annoying and into the realm of abuse.

The one consolation we can hope for is that this film will tank as badly as the last greed-inspired bastardization of Norse mythology, "Son of The Mask."

You're confusing your "avatars", but I take your point. But I can't bring myself to take Norse mythology any more seriously than I would/do the Na'Vi, no matter how seriously people take either one (and there are crazy people out there that take the Na'Vi very seriously these days). Now, if you start talking about real life people being played by actors of another race, you may have something, but even then, it would be far more important to me whether or not the actor treated the role with respect and did a good job.

Chinese Super Jesus-The Movie!

I'm starting to sway on the principle of this... There's more than a couple roles suited for other ethnicities within Norse Mythology. Hel, they could even have chosen Hodr if they wanted an Aes described as "dark".

Do you know what Thor's last name is?

It's Hiney.

Thor Hiney.

Get it? oke:

Part of treating the role with respect is to not cast an actor for it that goes entirely against one of the fundamental aspects of the character. Even treating Heimdall as a comic book character instead of as an actual deity worshipped for hundreds of years by real people, Heimdall is a Norse god who is the offspring of another Norse god. Neither of them were black, which means that no matter how talented a black actor you get, he's the wrong actor for the role. Just as the linked looney lefty pointed out, John Wayne is the wrong actor for the role of Genghis Khan. Whether or not the actor is the best actor ever to have lived is absolutely irrelevant. Idris whateverhisnameis might be to acting what sliced bread is to the sandwich -- the ethnicity of the character is explicit, and an actor of any other ethnicity does not match that fundamental attribute of the character. That means that hiring a black actor for the role wasn't a case of "color blind" casting -- the character itself is not color blind. It was a deliberate, calculated, racially-motivated slap in the face to people of Norse ancestry.

Put it this way -- even taking the characters at absolute the most superficial level: It'd be like doing a reboot of TNG with Worf having no bumpy forehead, but instead upswept eyebrows and pointy ears. That ain't "color blind" or "species blind" -- it's just plain, all-out disrespect, to the source material and to the fans. It's a gigantic "Fuck you!", and that's without taking into consideration that the real dynamic goes way beyond that, as Heimdall is the patron god for a great many people.

The difference you seem to be missing is that Norse gods are not and never have been real.

Remember the "Not Brand Ecchh!" spoof comics Marvel used to do? he was "Mighty Sore!"

No, no more than the Abrahamic god, whether you call him Yahweh or Allah. That's just another expression of the double standard -- we're expected to respect Jewish beliefs, Islamic beliefs, even still to an extent Christian beliefs. But not Northern European ones. How is this double standard so difficult for you to see?

Now, this, I might watch.

Yes, they definitely could have. There certainly are roles in the Norse mythos that would have been well filled by non-white actors. Heimdall just happens to not be one of those roles.

As real as any other god(s)... fuck you very much.

Oh, I agree.

Just back from a Yule ritual and feast. Got the opinions of three different Gothi (that's Asatru priesthood).
No one really gives a shit that a comic company fucked this up. Sure, it's dumb casting and unnecessary kowtowing to inclusion. But nope, nobody who takes the faith seriously cares given the context.

Guessing none of the three Gothi were guards at any point, so Skin would expect at most bemusement or annoyance from them -- just as Skin isn't really in a towering ire over it other than the double standard angle. Now, Skin being a writer, if they had pulled this shit with Odin, well, Skin would have to send some of the motherfuckers to Valhalla for a face to face with the old man.

Haven't you heard? Odin is being played by Dame Judi Dench.

Guards? Is that an AFA thing?

You keep claiming this is a corruption of one of the last living vestiges of pre Christian culture. It isn't. This is about a comic book that is less than half a century old.

As in people whose day job (or night job, as it were) is with a security company.

The comic book is the corruption of, etc. etc., and the film takes it a step further. It may not be a big deal to you -- if not, then fine. It is a big deal to a lot of people. Fair being fair, that ought to count for as much when it's whites who are offended as it does when it's anybody else.

A lot of people?

One was an MP, the other teaches Jeet Kun Do, not sure on the third's day job. Even less sure what the fuck they do for a living makes? Something Steve MacNallen wrote back in '76 that you cling to?

Back to the point... I don't even see the comic as a corruption. It's so fucking far removed from the already corrupted stories(Sturlson was a RC, remember?) that if this is the limit to viewer's comprehension, I would be happier if they remained ignorant to the troth.

Yes, a lot of people, Skin has no duals here, and Skin doesn't have an account on Stormfront, and Turkey, when did your subscription to Clueless Dick Monthly show up?

If only the white supremacists would boycott life itself.

And take self-important religious zealots with them.

Nah. We need the white supremacists. Keeps things balanced. If only there were more blacks who hate blacks.

Who is the "us" in this equation?

People of Scandinavian descent. Who did you think?

Wasn't the mythological Thor a ginger?