Black people playing Norse gods

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Lilani

Sometimes known as CaitieLou
May 27, 2009
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No_Remainders said:
See Amun, Horus, Isis and Osiris.
That's sort of an Egyptian art thing, though. You can tell the women in Egyptian art because of how light their skin is compared to the other figures. It's just the way they do things. Egyptian art is very...expressive rather than literal. For example, they also do hierarchical figure sizing. That means the most important figure (such as a god, pharaoh, or a local ruler) is the largest on display. That way anybody looking at it can immediately tell who's in charge.
 

Vaer

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Jan 24, 2008
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Uhh .. are they gonna paint him white ? cause otherwise its stupid, I mean seriously, what is the damn point, just why ? things like these just annoy me, if said character is white you cast a white guy to play it, simple enough. Why bother casting a black man, what would you gain from it ( except for looking politically correct ), does it make the movie better ? what?

This reminds me of a thread some time ago discussing if it would be ok to cast a black man as spiderman (or some other superhero, can't remember exactly ) its just stupid multicultural bullshit, it doesn't help the movie, it goes against the established mythos and all for really .. nothing.

I also like how everyone in this thread is so defensive and always mentions that they aren't racist for the simple fact of expressing their opinion on a cast of a movie character, uhh... gg freedom of speech, you have been good to us however you must be silenced in favor of political correctness, it started out as a way to make people treat each other equally and its become a hammer to bash people on the head with because of their opinion.


John the Gamer said:
black gods work just fine; Morgan Freeman in the Almighty movies.

He was awesome as god. Really brought the 'character' to life.

Fuck you racists.
Are you really trying to compare the christian god to a norse god that is really particular to the region ?


I find this really ironic :

wikipedia said:
Heimdall is described as the son of nine different mothers (possibly the nine daughters of Ægir, called billow maidens) and was called the White God.
 

Napierdalac

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Oct 3, 2010
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It is quite fun about the rascism bit yeah.. I saw this standup yesterday with a white man - and he did a part about rascism.

How come a black man can jump on the table yelling "black power" it is encouraged - but if a white man jumps on the table yelling "white power" he is a rascist?
 

Gingerman

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Aug 20, 2009
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My previous post on this subject still stands but after watching the trailer... I dont mind Heimdell being black.

When I imagine a Norse god I imagine the kind of fellow if I saw 100ft away I'd begin running for a head start. Cant remember the actors name but he has the appearance to pull of the scare factor and warrior appearance so if he can do the acting then awesome. If this was supposed to be a film based off of mythological fact then I would have a problem with it regardless how good the actor is but since its a comic I don't mind as long as he's a good actor.

Marvel has the bad habit of ret conning and making non sensual plot lines (like the devil one moviebob brought up). Not only that Marvel comics in the past have been butchered when Hollywood got their fingers on them (looking at you X-men) so if they pull of a decent film then all in dandy in my eyes.

Edit: With that said if they could of found a white actor that could have the same effect then I'd say they should of hired him as it makes a tad more sense.

Yes I know these aren't THE norse gods but everyone by the looks of it in Asgard are white BUT this guy, even if the character was black in the comics that'll still strike me as odd because where is all black citizens of Asgard?
 

technoted

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Nov 9, 2009
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I'm not a racist but I fully understand the reason for the boycott. You've got a bunch of Gods that scream "White Power!" at everything and then you go and make one of them black. It's just not going top end well, especially considering most of the famous modern day Odinists are incredibly racist (See Gaahl and Varg Vikernes)you just know it's not going to go down well.
 

Jonluw

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May 23, 2010
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No_Remainders said:
Jonluw said:
I am actually extremely annoyed that these people decide to cast a man who doesn't look a bit like the part to play Heimdal. I find it fucking ridiculous that they need to alter my cultural heritage in order to have the cast better represent the ethnic diversity in modern day North-America.
...

Your "cultural heritage"?
I'm sorry, what?
Not trying to sound offensive, but really? It's a Hollywood movie based on a comic book based VERY LOOSELY on Norse Mythology.

So, no, that's just stupid of you.
Try to read my entire post before commenting on it, please.
 

Rusty Bucket

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Dec 2, 2008
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joystickjunki3 said:
If you didn't read it, it's about a black man portraying one of the Norse gods (doesn't matter which one)
It kind of does, actually. The black guy is playing Heimdall, who was often known as the 'White god'. It has a certain irony to it.
 

FolkLikePanda

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Apr 15, 2009
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Meh, being that he's based on a Norse God I'd say that he should be white, but then again being picky like this he should be played by a Scandinavian or something. Either its up to the producers and casting agents etc. who choose who plays characters in films.
 

Kilgengoor

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Sep 7, 2010
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Fishir said:
Lets remake Roots with Kunta Kinte played by a white man and see what happens. Guarantee you it wont go down well. All sorts of people will be up in arms.
This is Marvel in my opinion, all its cast has ben traditionally varied in matter of race, so I wouldn't be so picky in their racial origin. It's not the same playing a comic character based in a deity than one which is heavily based in a real person (Gandhi) or in a film that specifically revolves around this person's race/background (Kunta Kinte) and who you couldn't be played by someone else lest the film wouldn't make any sense. Will this film be worse depending in which color is the person who plays an abstract deity/superhero based off some mithology? I don't think so.

Really guys, it's a comic book movie. It's like saying Iron Man's ARC reactor couldn't possibly exist. It can have as much creative freedom as it likes. I personally wouldn't realize there is a problem until this argument.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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Well, It's a bit like the Hobbit thing, but with this it's a fucking God, so they can do as they please. When it's a race of people living in English countryside-esque conditions then it's slightly more perplexing.
 

Dmc1759

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Aug 23, 2010
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surely this has already been said
but for 2000 years now in the western world jesus has been portrayed as a white guy....
an irony im gessing would be lost on the white supremecists
 

bdcjacko

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Jun 9, 2010
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It is a fact, if a black guy plays the part of the white person, no one cares. If a white guy plays the part of the black person, shit storm.

Look, in the Gridiron Gang, the real life coach was white, but they got the Rock to play him and no one cared.

In Ironman 1 and 2, Sam Jackson plays Nick Fury, no one cares (actually lots of people liked it.)

In Dare Devil, King Pin was played by Micheal Clarke Duncan, and no one saw that movie, or cared. (come to think of it, Marvel cast lots of black dudes to play white guys).

But they never cast white guys the play the part of a black guy.
 

Baboon Lover

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Mar 23, 2010
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Want to know something fun about the god Heimdal the black guy is playing? Heimdal is often called "the white god"(ohh... the irony)
 

Kinokohatake

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Jul 11, 2010
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KSarty said:
Beyond that, why do they WANT a black actor playing the character? Will the movie be better because of it?
Wow that sounds really racist. It really shouldn't matter. Hell I was all for black Peter Parker. God knows it's better than the guy they picked to play him.

And it IS a double standard but really it has to be. If 95% of Hollywood is white and 3% is black, and you took 5 roles from each demographic and switched the races, who would it affect more?
 

someonehairy-ish

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Mar 15, 2009
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008Zulu said:
They're Gods, they can choose to appear as they wish.
I like your pic. RAMM -- STEIN!!

OT: it doesn't matter. The original myths have already been bastardised by christianity enough that Thor is no longer depicted as an 'authentic' Norse God. He was originally redheaded, not blonde- and Loki was not originally 'evil'. Have a black guy as heimdall! As long as he's a good actor, fine.
 

Spaceman_Spiff

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Apr 16, 2009
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I don't see why everyone is so upset, I mean Idris Elba could be cast as the Shark from Jaws and it would still be considered good casting.
 

dogenzakaminion

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Jun 15, 2010
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will1182 said:
I think people should cast whoever feels most natural for the part. If they did a biography on say, Abraham Lincoln, it would be completely unnatural for a black man to play him. Similar to a white man playing, I dunno, Ghandi.

In other words, the casting director should pick who is most suitable for the part, and not go by "Hm, I better make my cast more multicultural lest someone yell at me."
I agree entirely with this. You sir, are a smart cookie.

It seems to be a token character rather than some sort of deep statement and I really doub the movie wouldve been different had his character been white.

And yeah, I think there would be a massive uproar if a white man played some a role mainly suitable for a black man. Like if they made a film about Martin Luther King, I'm sure say...Ben Kingsley could do a great job and might play the role the best, but the actual role would go to Morgan Freeman. I think people just need to understand that not every decision is made on prejudice or hate for something different.