Black people playing Norse gods

[Amy Sorel]

Thor is a comicbook superhero based on Norse mythology, it IS NOT Norse mythology. End.

For hundreds of years Jesus was drawn as tall white guy with blond flowing hair and pale skin, when he probably was a short guy with dark curly hair and very tanned skin.

That's not exactly what I was asking. I asked about how people might feel if a white man was chosen to play an African god. I don't care about the current situation; it does not matter to me if Thor is a comic book or not.

In that case i'll just say that i think that any god based on a human form can have any skin color, unless they specifically say he's got a non-human skin color like blue or green...

 

[Altorin]

Of course there can be, but my question was not regarding whether or not liberties can be taken. The discussion topic is about how people might react if a white man played an African god.

My guess is that they wouldn't care.
I mean the only ones truly getting their nuts in a twist over this are the racists, right?

If the situations were reversed, those bigoted dillholes would keep their mouths shut and there wouldn't even be a situation.

Woody Allen playing Ra the Sun God.

 

[Nocturnal Gentleman]

Of course there can be, but my question was not regarding whether or not liberties can be taken. The discussion topic is about how people might react if a white man played an African god.

My guess is that they wouldn't care.
I mean the only ones truly getting their nuts in a twist over this are the racists, right?

If the situations were reversed, those bigoted dillholes would keep their mouths shut and there wouldn't even be a situation.

Woody Allen playing Ra the Sun God.

I would find that creepy and entertaining at the same time.

 

[Gindil]

Thor is a comicbook superhero based on Norse mythology, it IS NOT Norse mythology. End.

For hundreds of years Jesus was drawn as tall white guy with blond flowing hair and pale skin, when he probably was a short guy with dark curly hair and very tanned skin.

well, in the marvel universe, the norse mythology (and a lot of mythologies in fact) were entirely 100% accurate. Thor isn't just some guy that THINKS he's the norse thundergod, he IS the norse thundergod.

I personally don't have a problem with it (it being a black guy playing Heimdall), as I've seen non-north african people play characters in egyptian mythologies, and Heimdall isn't the title character. If they made a black Thor, I might be a little bit more concerned

Eh, I figure it like this. If Samuel L. Friggin Jackson can be Nick Fury with an Eyepatch, I think we can take a few liberties with the story. Maybe they just wanted to mix it up by getting a black God that is playing night time or something. Doesn't matter so long as he does a good role.

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

Well, I didn't care if they hired Mos Def to play as Ford Prefect, so I doubt I'll have an issue here. Of course, I'm personally of the thought that Brian Blessed should've been Thor, but what the hey.

Mos Def would be awesome as Ford Prefect, but don't you mean Brian Blessed should have played Odin?
Considering how he has worked with Kenneth Branagh in the past, I thought that would've been his immediate choice.

Once again, I have no qualms with this. The actor in question must have earned the role and for that I congratulate him.

In that case i'll just say that i think that any god based on a human form can have any skin color, unless they specifically say he's got a non-human skin color like blue or green...

Actually Hades, Greek God of the Underworld, was described as being Black. Hell, Osiris, The Egyptian God of the Dead, was green and black.

 

[Amy Sorel]

well, in the marvel universe, the norse mythology (and a lot of mythologies in fact) were entirely 100% accurate. Thor isn't just some guy that THINKS he's the norse thundergod, he IS the norse thundergod.

...but in the end, both the Norse gods or Marvel's incarnation are completely fictional, and that is what matters. Batman doesn't wear a black costume in the comics either, but nobody ever complained about that one. The little mermaid was described as blond in the original fairytale, nobody complained about Ariel either. The great thing about fiction is that it people can do what they like.

 

[Space Spoons]

If the situation were reversed, civil rights activists would probably be up in arms and we would see another protest similar to what we saw when The Last Airbender was released. Yes, it's a double-standard, but it's also the world we live in today. The Civil Rights Act was only passed 60 years ago, it's alright to admit that things aren't quite perfect just yet.

Incidentally, I don't know why anyone's getting upset over this, racist or otherwise. It's friggin' Thor. Who the heck cares about Thor, unless he's standing between Captain America and Iron Man? The movie's probably gonna be a bomb.

 

[enriel]

If the adaptation is trying to remain faithful and the character is depicted as a certain race, they should probably stick with that race. If they're taking artistic license, then that's fine by me.

Nobody calls racist on J.K. Rowling for only allowing Brits to be cast in the Harry Potter movies...

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

He'd probably be a god of destruction and horror.

BUt being mixed race, I cant say I'd be offended. I'm not offended by this, but I'm not Norse. I'm not offended when people tell me Jesus is not what he looks like in the drawings cause thats pretty obvious. I mean really? One woman is born perfect caucasion white in the middle east, and then she has a perfect cuacasion white baby? with a perfect caucasion white lover? IN the center of the middle east? I dont think so.

I just dont see what the large deal is, since most people are so out of touch with their religions today and the ones that arent are fanatic psychopaths who wont hear anyhting bad or different from their religion be said without correcting you and making you believe it. Besides, its not the colour of the skin, but what the man represents. For all you know, he really could be black and the Norse people got it wrong. For all you know Jesus could be Chinese (like the jokes say).

Which is why its weird when my mom wants to do Cherokee customs, my dad wants to do Christmas and grandfather wants me to do Hanukkah.

 

[Veldel]

Personaly I like when they dont change stuff.



I think people will have quite a uproar from some white person as a african god

 

[emeraldrafael]

If the adaptation is trying to remain faithful and the character is depicted as a certain race, they should probably stick with that race. If they're taking artistic license, then that's fine by me.

Nobody calls racist on J.K. Rowling for only allowing Brits to be cast in the Harry Potter movies...

Probably cause it was mostly filmed there. And there's a lot of British Actors. How many Norse actors do you see nowadays?

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

Which is why its weird when my mom wants to do Cherokee customs, my dad wants to do Christmas and grandfather wants me to do Hanukkah.

You could just throw them completely off-guard and say your gonna celebrate Qwanza!

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

They're Gods, they can choose to appear as they wish.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Which is why its weird when my mom wants to do Cherokee customs, my dad wants to do Christmas and grandfather wants me to do Hanukkah.

You could just throw them completely off-guard and say your gonna celebrate Qwanza!

I would, but of all my black friends, I dont know any that know how to celebrate it. thats not even trying to flame, hate, or be racist. I'm serious.

 

[megapenguinx]

Thor is a comicbook superhero based on Norse mythology, it IS NOT Norse mythology. End.

For hundreds of years Jesus was drawn as tall white guy with blond flowing hair and pale skin, when he probably was a short guy with dark curly hair and very tanned skin.

Except none of the Norse Gods in the Thor comics were black.
There are even several jokes made because most of them are blonde haired and blue eyed.
That movie pisses me off, and I've only seen the trailer....

I really hate these comic->movie ports. They never get anything right and are cringe worthy (at best) to comic readers.

Bah humbug

 

[BabyRaptor]

I wouldn't give a shit what level of melanin the actor/actress had as long as they were the right person for the part. (And by that I mean had the best skills, right voice, sufficient experience...You follow me.)

 

[Aur0ra145]

Infant Sorrow comes to mind.

 

[enriel]

If the adaptation is trying to remain faithful and the character is depicted as a certain race, they should probably stick with that race. If they're taking artistic license, then that's fine by me.

Nobody calls racist on J.K. Rowling for only allowing Brits to be cast in the Harry Potter movies...

Probably cause it was mostly filmed there. And there's a lot of British Actors. How many Norse actors do you see nowadays?

Yes, but having only British people is part of the casting criteria. An American literally could not play in one of those movies, no matter how good of an actor.

Your point is solid because, yes, there is a much larger pool of British actors than Norse actors.

All I'm saying is that it depends on what the director is going for. Race is a much bigger issue than it has any right to be. Using my first point in conjunction with my J.K. Rowling comment, she chose to go with an as faithfully as possible version because it was something that she could enforce, whereas Thor can't cast exclusively Norse actors and has to take artistic license. Meaning that a black man playing a Norse god is fine.