Racists boycott Thor movie because of Idris Elba playing a god

[RoBi3.0]

To be fair in the minds of those that worshiped the Nordic pantheon the gods probably were white.

That being said the Thor movie is based on a fucking comic book not actual mythology of any kind.

This is proof that people are stupid.

Edit: to the guy who said "but he is white in the comic." Stan Lee the creator of Spiderman and Thor has said that he did not see a problem with a black Spidereman. So I would have to surmise that he would also be okay with this. Hell, just looked it up and Stan Lee is Executive producer of Thor. so apparently he is okay with it, and if the guy that created is cool with it I am cool with it.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Um... hate to tell you guys (the crazy people, not you lovely 'Scapists), Marvel's Norse Gods haven't exactly been... accurate, like... ever.

 

[gigastar]

Wait 1 question as a comic noob (liking comics and gaining knowleage atm of supers) are there any *dark-toned* characters in the comic and are they appering in the moive otherwise i dont understand why people are making a fuss about it. If there isn't and there will be because of pressure wouldn't it be safe to assume that the actor/actress would be but in the 'token black' role, so whats the point O.O

To answer your question as an Entry-Level comic book nerd, and with some foreknowledge of the movie, Thors arch rival is Loki the trickster god who is taking the opporunity to get rid of Thor while hes disempwoered and moving one step closer to becoming king of Asgard. Thats all you really need to know for this movie.

 

[Axolotl]

Idris Elba was Stringer Bell and for that I support him being cast as any role in any movie he wants.

 

[rancher of monsters]

Oh Gee, complaints about a character being played by someone of the wrong ethnicity, that's so new and uncommon. Truely the Europeans are the greatest victims of cinema editing. (Insert massive amounts of sarcasm)

Honestly, while I'm always happy to see a black actor get work even I found this kind of odd. I generally like my characters to be the race they were written as, the only exception being Morgan Freeman as Red in the Shawshank Redemption. So unless Idris can drop a performance like that he kind of get's whats coming to him.

 

[Fanboy]

Why are people confusing a comic book's mythology with the actual Norse mythology. The argument that the gods would be white because the norse people were white doesn't apply since the gods were not imagined by the norse people in the comic book mythology. Also, they're apparently from outerspace or something. It's called artistic license.

 

[Lord Legion]

um...
Not to be a jerk or anything, but it's not exactly like the norse warriors were exemplars of racial tolerance...unless you think of the undiscriminating mace to tha face!

I honestly don't care though, heh, my liniage is Jomsviking (northern germany). Just like throwing that out there.

besides, "Too Human" was a greater affront.

 

[Ironman126]

As a European, I'm insulted that these people use the word "European" in the same sentence as which they justify their malignant views!

As an American i'm insulted that they used the words "European" and "American" the way they did!

Racist douche-bags. Is it intolerant of me if i say that i can only tolerate people who don't pull this kind of shit? Cuz i fucking hate these people.

 

[Ekonk]

Idris Elba! I love Idris Elba, he was awesome in that BBC series, Luther.

Maybe I'll have to watch Thor after all. Not in the cinema though. Wouldn't catch me going to the cimena to watch a superhero movie dead.

Also, racists are backward people who need something to believe in, i.e. that they are - by birth - better than all the differently coloured people because they cannot achieve something to actually make them feel better for a reason.

 

[DustyDrB]

I'm gonna go ahead drop a reference to The Wire and how you (yes, you!) are a horrible person for not having watched it yet. Oh, there it is. Reference done, g'day. Seriously, though, this makes me want to watch Thor. And I don't know shit about Thor except he's a He-man esque Marvel character who likes to smashy smash with his hammer. But Idris Elba was magnificent in The Wire.

 

[mrwoo6]

Council of *Conservative* Citizens...Did you expect anything less?

Conservatism isn't actually a bunch of uptight angry insecure arseholes without the perspective and common sense to see outside the imaginary boundaries of their race, right? They're not all avid supporters of big business and defenders of massive corporations while paradoxically advocating a "good old fasioned clean-living traditional christian lifestyle" that only exists inside their tiny, embittered minds and tends to include bigotry and a bizarre, incredibly misguided hatred of multiculturalism and diversity?

Someone PLEASE tell me there are SANE conservatives? I'm extremely left-wing, but it would be nice to see a few sane people over there too.

Of course they were white for god sake, they were envisioned in their own image by the norse folk... there isn't a whiter race on the planet.

There's nothing racist about it.

This whole thing, and the Hobbit story a while back, is simply about authenticity.... it's like people being told they have no right to moan 'cos Budda is being played by an Irishman.

Has the right to expect authenticity also become a victim to political correctness?

The whole bloody world has gone insane.

No, the right to take liberties with casting has fallen victim to a group of white supremacists spouting reactionary bile because they view other races as a threat and feel their small-minded cultural ideas are under attack. Try re-reading the original post, please.

This guy was given the role because he's supposedly good at it.

These people are angry about this because they are bigots.

Political correctness has fuck-all to do with this.

Look at this outside the box. disregard these peoples opinions and clear your mind of what you have read.

now think.

Your favorite charter in a comic. for arguments sake is an American black man. in the movie remake he is a Irish white man.

would you be pissed?

To be honest i don't really care for Thor and i don't mind either way. but for example if they made braveheart again and made William Wallace black. the entirety of Scotland would go mad.

that doesn't make them RACIEST.

This group however, the one thats boycotting the moive is. thats not to say they dont have a point.

 

[Megawizard]

How is this any different from the people that harp when a movie gets whitewashed (the recent Prince of Persia springs to mind instantly)? I fail to see why this is such a massive issue.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Here's the thing. If they made someone important to the movie the wrong race (hello, Kingpin), I'd say they say it's not racist. But let's face it, Heimdall probably won't even have that much screen time (Didn't read Thor, don't know if Heimdall is important). Probably a cameo to please the fans, then gone. This is assuming they know Marvel.

Now if it's because of Norse mythology, the Marvel norse gods (hell, all mythology in comics) are extremely inaccurate. I don't know much Norse mythology, but I know enough to not get upset if something is inaccurate. If that's the case, Heimdall being black is the least of their problems.

On the other hand: black vikings. Just seems... odd.

 

[Vryyk]

As a European, I'm insulted that these people use the word "European" in the same sentence as which they justify their malignant views!

Why? You did nothing wrong. Countries are just lines, place the blame where it belongs, on individuals.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

Marvel should just troll the racists and digitally black-face all the actors.

It would be entirely worth it.

 

[asinann]

The only issue I have with them casting anything other than a blond haired blue eyed Scandinavian in any role as a Norse god is that it IS mythologically inaccurate. This is a comic book movie, not a movie detailing the history of the religion or what the Norse pantheon was supposed to be like, so they can cast whoever they want.

And before you idiots start screaming racist at me (and I know you will) I don't care who they cast in comic movies, I would on the other hand have an issue if they did something like this in a movie that was supposed to be an accurate portrayal of the pantheon.

 

[KindlySpastic]

Although whining about a fucking retarded Marvel property in all of its convoluted glory is rather stupid (they're right wing, everything is a leftist conspiracy even tap water, nothing new), so is claiming that you didn't know that the Norse gods were white.

What? Did I miss a massive influx of people from the Congo sailing up into deadly seas with canoes, completely unprepared for the climate, hell bent on getting some Swedish meatballs? Sorry dumbass, the Norse gods were white. That isn't racist, it is simply true. There wasn't much in the way of international migration back in those days (chances are you never left the region you were born in) unless some tribe invaded and raped everything that moved. Apart from the occasional Norse merchant near the Middle East it would be entirely correct to say that 99% of the Norse had never seen a black person. Why should the gods they imagined be black then? Because they were worried about diversity? Ahahahaha!

I see idiots spread out before me.

Has the right to expect authenticity also become a victim to political correctness?

The whole bloody world has gone insane.

Yes it has. Next we'll have Asian hobbits and Gandalf will be Samoan.

About the last part of your post: I can't really remember if it is specified what race Gandalf or the hobbits are. If not I think it is still understandable that those that read the stories would project their own likeness onto the characters to some degree.

On the general topic: I would rather see that they cast good actors than to adhere slavishly to the general perception of that character's skin colour. Idris Elba was very good in The Wire so in this case I approve.

Jesus seems to have popped up several times in this thread. It's funny that someone remarked that it would be like Jesus being portrayed by an asian actor. Exactly which continent do you think Israel/Palestine is in?