'Thor' fans protest black actor

[girlbug2]

Wait, what film are we discussing? According to IMDB, Kenneth Branagh's Thor is cast as Chris Hemsworth--a very pale white guy.

Is somebody trying out an early April Fool's joke?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Wait, what film are we discussing? According to IMDB, Kenneth Branagh's Thor is cast as Chris Hemsworth--a very pale white guy.

Is somebody trying out an early April Fool's joke?

they are talking about Idris Elba being cast as Heimdal in the movie Thor

 

[Touch Of Death]

funny...no one seemed to care when Angelina Jolie was kind of sorta cast as Grendel's Mother :uhyeah:

What race was that woman supposed to be?
Sean

 

[granfire]

What race was that woman supposed to be?
Sean

you think anybody would notice?!

 

[Xue Sheng]

What race was that woman supposed to be?
Sean

She was suoppose to be this

Or this

or maybe this

But she ended up this

And no one complained at all

 

[Touch Of Death]

She was suoppose to be this

Or this

or maybe this

But she ended up this

And no one complained at all

I have always been Camp Jennifer, but She had to take human form, to make sweet monster love to Baowulf.
Sean

 

[Nomad]

But she ended up this

And no one complained at all

Well, duh. Personally, I think Hollywood made an excellent choice on this one...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well, duh. Personally, I think Hollywood made an excellent choice on this one...

True and I will admit that was the only reason I watched that movie... but.. I am now wondering if anyone would have complained if Grendel’s mother was played by Halle Berry

 

[David43515]

Well you wouldn’t have a man play a woman, or an old person play a teenager, but how do we know the Thor wasn’t black? He/she is a god, they can appear however they chose to be.

Years from now when I get to Valhalla, I’ll let you all know the truth.

In Shakespear`s time all female parts were played by men. This is still the case in Japanese Kabuki theatre. The character of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet is 14 yrs old and is usually played by adults, often middle-aged adults. We used to joke alot about Beverly Hills 90210 and Welcome back Kotter or Head of the Class because of all the 30-35 yr old "teenagers" on the show. In all the old Charlie Chan movies Hollywood made, Chan was played by white actors including a Swedish immigrant at one point.In the Remo Williams movie and the TV version the Korean character Shun was played by white actors. In the 7 year itch, the Japanese neighbor was played by Mickey Rooney. Sir Lawrence Olivier was famous for his portrayal of Othello, a black Moor. So were Richard Burton, John Guilgud,and Anthony Hopkins. In a COMPLETE role reversal Patrick Stewart played a white Othello where the entire rest of the cast was black. And Denzel Washington played Marc Anthony in Julius Cesar on broadway just a couple years ago. I believe Antonio Banderas was the first hispanic to ever play Zorro. Yul Brenner made a career out of playing the king of Siam in the king and I. And since it`s a martial arts board, what about casting David Carradine in Kung Fu? (I know the character was supposedly only 1/2 chinese....But when they revived it for modern times with kung fu the legend continues, the character whose family had supposedly been living ing the US since the late 1800`s STILL spoke with an accent.)

 

[ATACX GYM]

SIGH... it's hollywood okay?

And there ya are.

 

[ATACX GYM]

Interesting note:

The Prose Edda (sort of like Genesis for Norse Mythology) has - in the translation I have on hand - Thor coming north out of a great civilization out of an area described as around Persia/Turkey.

Lot of black folks in Persia and Turkey....

Beautiful point.I recall first coming across The Prose Edda after I became interested in Martin Bernal's book called "BLACK ATHENA",but Idc if Thor was White as Brad Pitt.Ole dude is ill as can be and I freakin fell in love with Norse Greek and Roman mythology.

 

[Omar B]

Also, Marvel's "Norse" characters are not in fact from earth myth, but advanced aliens that came into contact with humans at some point and kick started the stories.

The movies seem to be going in this direction (from the Thor trailor when he says that where he's from magic and technology are the same thing) and the fact that in the Avengers movie the villains will be The Skrull and The Kree, waring alien societies braught into the story by who? Loki.

Also we can look to the source material itself. Beta Ray Bill, an alien carried Thor's hammer and wore a version of his uniform for a while before he was given his own. (I will point out that Beta ray Bill destroys Thor any day of the week in a fair fight).

Or How about The Hulk showing up in Asgard all the time.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansi...vidence_Of_Skrulls_AND_Kree_In_iThe_Avengersi

 

[Omar B]

Ok, I'm home sick with the flu, reading too much and having thoughts randomly connect where they shouldn't. But a thought hit me while reading some Conan here. That is, Thor and his pantheon, much like other popular literary characters, people think they know, but really don't.

Just like I've never seen an accurate James Bond, Tarzan, Conan, Sherlock Holmes story onscreen, but we have seen many adaptations and pastiches, giving people a very concrete idea of what many of these characters are not.

Any comic fan could tell you that Marvel's Thor and the Nordic Thor relate in name and title only. But I can guarantee most of these complainers get their idea of who he is from badly made cartoons.

Reminds me of this "Batman fan" (because he had a tattoo) who would swear up and down that The Joker killed Bruce's parents. He was clearly wrong, Joe Chill was the murderer, but this person's knowledge of the character was based upon Tim Burton's movie.

 

[granfire]

Ok, I'm home sick with the flu, reading too much and having thoughts randomly connect where they shouldn't. But a thought hit me while reading some Conan here. That is, Thor and his pantheon, much like other popular literary characters, people think they know, but really don't.

Just like I've never seen an accurate James Bond, Tarzan, Conan, Sherlock Holmes story onscreen, but we have seen many adaptations and pastiches, giving people a very concrete idea of what many of these characters are not.

Any comic fan could tell you that Marvel's Thor and the Nordic Thor relate in name and title only. But I can guarantee most of these complainers get their idea of who he is from badly made cartoons.

Reminds me of this "Batman fan" (because he had a tattoo) who would swear up and down that The Joker killed Bruce's parents. He was clearly wrong, Joe Chill was the murderer, but this person's knowledge of the character was based upon Tim Burton's movie.

Strangely enough I had similar thoughts (even without knowing the actual story behind the characters) that the association with Thor=fair skinned is stemming from half informed minds.

(One reasons I am trying to tell my kid to read instead of relying on the movies)

 

[Omar B]

I totally understand that there are Thor fans who have never opened a Thor book, hell, I asked one guy bitching about it at work if he had ever read one and his answer was "no." But he doesn't need to, he's seen enough cartoons to know ... this guy who swore up and down that Thor is a DC character.

Or the Batman fan I mentioned earlier who had never read a Batman or Batman related (Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, GCPD, The Outsiders, etc) book.

I've got no problem with people who have not read the books, but these people tend to be the loudest protestors when it comes to what they perceive as changes to the character. "Bond's not serious, he cracks wise," "Sherlock Holmes does not have a drug addiction," "Conan's parents were killed and he's out for revenge," I could go on.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I totally understand that there are Thor fans who have never opened a Thor book, hell, I asked one guy bitching about it at work if he had ever read one and his answer was "no." But he doesn't need to, he's seen enough cartoons to know ... this guy who swore up and down that Thor is a DC character.

Or the Batman fan I mentioned earlier who had never read a Batman or Batman related (Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, GCPD, The Outsiders, etc) book.

I've got no problem with people who have not read the books, but these people tend to be the loudest protestors when it comes to what they perceive as changes to the character. "Bond's not serious, he cracks wise," "Sherlock Holmes does not have a drug addiction," "Conan's parents were killed and he's out for revenge," I could go on.

I like reading Wilbur Smith books, and I suggest them to anyone; however, one thing that bothers me is his constant whitening of African history. Every cool thing, including the Pyramids, were built by blonde haired blue eyed white people before being over-ran with black or darker skinned whites. It bothers me; however, I still read them, and can't wait for the next to come out.
Sean

 

[Flying Crane]

funny...no one seemed to care when Angelina Jolie was kind of sorta cast as Grendel's Mother :uhyeah:

OH I CARED ALL RIGHT!!! I WAS DOWNRIGHT PISSED OFF!!!

That was one of the dumbest things ever done by Hollywood, right down to the high-heeled feet. Yes, that's FEET, not SHOES!!!

Beowulf is a great story and could be a great movie if they stick to the damn story. But they don't, they just **** it up and cast people like angelina jolie as Grendel's mother. stupid. stupid. stupid.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

Just like I've never seen an accurate James Bond,

I dunno...Danny Craig in "Casino Royale" just about nailed it, if you make allowances for new technology.

 

[granfire]

I dunno...Danny Craig in "Casino Royale" just about nailed it, if you make allowances for new technology.

It's been a while since I read the book...but how close is the movie to it...
(ignorance is bliss sometimes: I always rather enjoyed Bond movies, not knowing there were actual books...)

 

[Nomad]

Ok, I'm home sick with the flu, reading too much and having thoughts randomly connect where they shouldn't. But a thought hit me while reading some Conan here. That is, Thor and his pantheon, much like other popular literary characters, people think they know, but really don't.

Just like I've never seen an accurate James Bond, Tarzan, Conan, Sherlock Holmes story onscreen, but we have seen many adaptations and pastiches, giving people a very concrete idea of what many of these characters are not.

Any comic fan could tell you that Marvel's Thor and the Nordic Thor relate in name and title only. But I can guarantee most of these complainers get their idea of who he is from badly made cartoons.

Reminds me of this "Batman fan" (because he had a tattoo) who would swear up and down that The Joker killed Bruce's parents. He was clearly wrong, Joe Chill was the murderer, but this person's knowledge of the character was based upon Tim Burton's movie.

Well, personally I'm more familiar with Thor and the rest of the pantheon through a variety of fantasy novels (whose "authenticity" can obviously be questioned as well), such as those by Mickey Zucker Reichart (Renshai books were fantastic), Harry Harrison's Hammer & Cross series, and others, though I did collect the comics for awhile way back when as well.

There's also a great power metal album by Wizard, called "Odin", which does a great overview of the Asgardian mythos, along with the advent of Ragnarok. Worth a listen if you're a metal fan at all.

Not to mention the fantastic movie Erik the Viking.