Personally, I wouldn't mess with the dude.
I remember a discussion I had with my father when I was but a wee lad. We had just seen one of many science fiction movies we watched when I was a child and being the inquisitive (and somewhat intelligent) child I was, I had questions which my father took his time to answer as best he could. One, however, may have been much more embarrassing to my father than the rest had we been in public at the time.
“Why would there be black aliens????
Keep in mind I was asking a serious question. I wasn’t being a pre-teen jerk or anything. I honestly wanted to know why an alien species would have races that so closely resembled our own. I could have asked why there would be Asian aliens or Spanish aliens but that day, it was “black??? aliens.
Growing up, I realized that suspension of disbelief was a major part of watching movies or even reading books. Actors are chosen to play a role because they gave the best performance in their audition or because a director thought they would be “perfect??? for a role. This doesn’t always match up with our, the audience’s, ideal of who should be cast in a specific role. But I’ve learned that an actor’s skill and talent is necessary for me to be able to suspend my disbelief and for the most part, especially in the case of very talented actors, they succeed. Not everyone has an easy time with this, however.
Enter the upcoming Thor movie.
I’m excited about it. I think they nailed the choices for the lead characters (and I mean Thor, Loki, and Odin) right on the head. The story looks like it has potential, the special effects look great, and it’s really starting to look like Marvel is getting the hang of this whole move to the big screen thing down. Well, at least initially. They’re still working on the whole sequels thing. And sometimes they let the screenplay writers take some pretty big liberties. Yes, I’m looking at whoever made Galactus a cosmic cloud…
Now, those of us who are looking at this movie with a cautious eye have, at one time or another, picked up a Thor comic and have the perceived right to be critical of cast choices. We base our critique on what we’ve read in the comics, what we know of the characters from the comics, and on the stories we’ve read on those pages. So long as some basic rules are followed, we’re going to be happy. After all, this is supposed to be fun, right?
Apparently someone at the Council of Conservative Citizens didn’t get the memo about this being fun. The CCC is up in arms that Idris Elba is going to play Heimdall because he’s not… white. Somehow I think the fact that he’s not white wasn’t missed by the people running the auditions and thus far, from what I’ve seen of his acting, I’m actually looking forward to seeing Idris playing the role of Heimdall. If you’re not familiar with Idris’ work, check out 28 Weeks Later or Losers. He’s really good at playing a tough guy and aside from Thor, who else in Asgard was such a badass?
The Council of Conservative Citizens. Sheesh, guys. Hire a PR person... and some stand-ins.
The CCC, however, is really upset that Idris isn’t a Nordic looking Viking dude and says that “Marvel has declared war on Norse mythology??? by casting him as Heimdall. Because that’s what Marvel does… declares war on mythologies. For fun and profit.
Seriously though, we’re talking about a mythos here, not some historical event or living religion. It’s not like Marvel is doing the “Adventures of Jesus and the Apostle Squad???. Now that I write that, I could see myself reading a title with that name and probably enjoying it. Don’t get any ideas, Marvel, copyright pending.
Among the CCC’s “noble??? goals is the opposition of “all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called “affirmative action??? and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.??? Straight from their website.
Here’s where I’m confused. Mentioned in their “Statement of Principles??? is this little Tidbit: “We believe the United States is a Christian country.??? I might be a little bit of a stickler but doesn’t that mean your group should be protesting the movie as a whole because, you know, it’s about a race of Gods who don’t appear to be mentioned in the bible? But nooooooo, you’re going to protest the fact that a black man is playing a Viking God. Way to pick your battles there, guys.
This isn’t the sort of thing I would typically legitimize by writing about it but the humor here writes itself. It’s hard to believe you’re going to pick a movie about mythological beings to protest ONE whole cast member as a means to make your principles known. Seriously.
I wonder what they’re going to think when I cast Idris as the main character in my movie adaptation of “Jesus and the Apostle Squad???.
Gritskrieg – End of Line
