# White supremacists boycott "Thor" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424 "2010-12-16T21:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/41 "2010-12-17T13:56:12Z")
Well, you know what they say: a norse is a norse, of course, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/42 "2010-12-17T13:58:45Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I just don’t think it’s necessarily stupid for there to be a black Norse god, according to my current understanding of how the mythology is handled in the Marvel universe- which is that the “Norse” gods visited the Norse a long time ago and the Norse started worshiping them. I agree, but doing it on purpose _would_ be stupid. If Morgan Freeman played the role of Odin, there’d be no question that he was chosen for the role because he’s Morgan Freeman and not out of tokenism, just like Samuel L. Jackson was chosen to play Nick Fury because he’s Samuel L. Jackson. Choosing an actor _despite_ it changing the race or gender of the character is fine, choosing an actor _because_ it changes the race or gender of the character is more iffy. And it’s easier to argue the latter has occured when you don’t have obvious things to point to that say _why_ this actor was the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/43 "2010-12-17T14:05:10Z")
I guess I don’t really feel that strongly about it. But creating the United Colors of Valhallah really sort of sounds like the politically correct results of some marketing focus group. “I need Loki to be more ‘edgy’ and ‘in your face’. And can we ‘rastafy’ Odin by about 10%?” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/44 "2010-12-17T14:11:50Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > The Norse DID create the Norse gods. At least they did up until the point I stopped reading comic books, that is the late eighties (maybe they were retconned since, or their retcon has since been retconned…). Things have [apparently changed](http://marvel.com/universe/Asgardians). The gods appear to be an alien race that happen to resemble humans. I also think they can’t change the main guys because people would have seen depictions of them, either in the comics or in historical form. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/45 "2010-12-17T14:19:15Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Yes, the difference is that Kingpin is a crimelord in NY city, you dont have to rape all laws of believability to make it work (and in fact it didnt work, more because of lack of talent from the actor and the director than because of the actor’s skin color). Whereas Heimdall is a Norse god. This is just more James West bullshit. > It is completely patronizing blacks in plainly stating that they’re unable to inspire heroes and major characters, and the only option for blacks to play such a figures would be to blackwash a preexisting white character. In short, racism comes back full circle, this time with the trappings of political correctness. A little sugar in a turd pile doesnt make the turd pile more edible. You know that there’s been a Mongolian Asgardian (Hogun the Grim) since Kirby and Lee first started the Thor comic, right? Strange ethnic diversity is nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/46 "2010-12-17T14:20:02Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I agree, but doing it on purpose _would_ be stupid. If Morgan Freeman played the role of Odin, there’d be no question that he was chosen for the role because he’s Morgan Freeman and not out of tokenism, just like Samuel L. Jackson was chosen to play Nick Fury because he’s Samuel L. Jackson. Or Michael Clark Duncan as Kingpin! He was the only good thing in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/47 "2010-12-17T14:20:09Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > There’s a major difference between a mythological character like Heimdall, which 90% of the people will be unfamiliar with, and a major historical feature like Martin Luther King. But if it makes you feel better, we’ve had a white guy (John Wayne) play Genghis Khan. I swear I was going to make a post anticipating a MLK-played-by-a-white-guy rant but I didn’t think it would show up on the dope. It was all over the comment sections of the articles about The Hobbit casting snafu. > [@foolsguinea](#): > > 😕 But hobbits are supposed to be tan anyway, aren’t they? Or is that just D&D halflings? I have no idea but the argument against is that Tolkien based LOTR/Hobbit on medieval England so no POC’s. I saw one comment that I can’t find anymore that said it would be plausible to have a POC because trade and exploration would have made contact possible. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/48 "2010-12-17T14:22:11Z")
I really had to double-check to make sure that story wasn’t from _The Onion_. > [@Article from OP's Link](#): > > Marvel has “[declared] war on Norse mythology” by giving the pantheon “an insulting multi-cultural make-over” > > “It’s not enough that Marvel attacks conservatives values,” the post states, “now mythological Gods must be re-invented with black skin.” It directs visitors to Boycott Thor, whose subhead reads, “Keep social engineering out of European mythology.” > > “Just another way to keep rapping the club over the heads of good white people, everywhere.” It’s hard to believe these are real quotes from real people. I guess all that hate really does make a person stupid (or maybe it’s a chicken-egg situation). These people do realize it’s a fictional movie about magical beings, right? I’ll let Idris Elba himself get in the last word: ““Hang about, Thor’s mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That’s OK, but the color of my skin is wrong?” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/49 "2010-12-17T15:55:30Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Yes, the difference is that Kingpin is a crimelord in NY city, you dont have to rape all laws of believability to make it work (and in fact it didnt work, more because of lack of talent from the actor and the director than because of the actor’s skin color). Heathen! Michael Clarke Duncan as The Kingpin was the best part of Daredevil. He nailed it in a way few actors have ever nailed a comic book character. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/50 "2010-12-17T15:59:03Z")
> [@](#): > > A white supremacist group has joined in a boycott of Thor because the Marvel Studios film cast a black actor as the Norse god Heimdall, the sentry of Asgard. > > The Missouri-based Council of Conservative Citizens, labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, writes that Marvel has “[declared] war on Norse mythology” by giving the pantheon “an insulting multi-cultural make-over” in the form of Idris Elba, the English actor known for his roles in The Wire, The Losers and The Office. Wait, now Hollywood has to be respectful of religions **nobody follows any more?!** ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/51 "2010-12-17T16:15:35Z")
Thor is, of course, the whitest superhero in comic-book history – makes (the original blond) Captain America look like a person of color – if they had cast a black to play **Thor,** maybe you could make a case for political correctness run amok. But who gives a crap about Heimdall?! ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/52 "2010-12-17T16:25:11Z")
According to some mythology (although it’s a Christian interpretation), the Asgardians were refugees from the fall of Troy, so portraying them as blonde and blue-eyed is also innaccurate. Plus, y’know, fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/53 "2010-12-17T16:33:49Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > And, Asgardians are not Eternals, they’re not multicultural quasi aliens like beings, they’re manifestations of the faith(s) of the Scandinavians. > [@BigT](#): > > Things have [apparently changed](http://marvel.com/universe/Asgardians). The gods appear to be an alien race that happen to resemble humans. The Asgardians _are_ like the Eternals, and they _are_ space-aliens-as-gods, and it has been that way since Kirby invented them as the backstory for Marvel’s Thor. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the “manifestation of the faith(s) of the Scandinavians”. Heck, they barely have anything to do with Scandinavians. This is Marvel’s Thor. Not some whacky Asatru re-imaging. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/54 "2010-12-17T16:40:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Wait, now Hollywood has to be respectful of religions **nobody follows any more?!** Well, sure, but nobody follows them because of a bunch of middle easterners! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/55 "2010-12-17T17:00:08Z")
I wonder if this was done to help Thor reach black audiences or to keep the white supremacists away. It would have been terrible press for the movie if neo-Nazi thugs like these guys were publicly encouraging their fanclubs to go see the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/56 "2010-12-17T20:22:35Z")
I could see where a mythology pedant might get their knickers in a tiny, tiny bit of a twist over this, but since it’s white supremacists we’re talking about: FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU WITH THE GIANT, THROBBING BLACK HAMMER OF THE GODS! Chowderheads. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/57 "2010-12-17T20:30:53Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > We all now that the Asgard are grey, anyway. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/58 "2010-12-17T21:42:51Z")
Marvel’s “Norse Gods” are not and never have been the physical manifestation of the Norse Religion. They are sufficiently advanced aliens who had some contact with the Scandinavian people, and were worshiped by them as gods. Norse mythology was created about them, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/59 "2010-12-17T22:00:54Z")
My definition of political correctness is “whatever pisses off the skinheads is alright with me”. And besides if it hadn’t been Idris Elba, they’d have just complained about Stanley Lieber and Jacob Kurtzberg instead. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424/60 "2010-12-17T22:25:19Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > This is just more James West bullshit. Huh? Are you referring to the Will Smith version of _Wild Wild West_? There really were black cowboys. And that movie sucked for other reasons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-supremacists-boycott-thor/564424.md?page=4)