http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=20051&count=0 Controversial news of the day. Devour at your leisure.
Meh. In the context of the movie, Heimdall isn't a Norse god; he's an alien. He doesn't have to look Scandinavian. Maybe the ancient Norse (in Thor's version of Earth) deliberately fudged the appearance of Heimdall's mythical counterpart when they created their mythology around the Asgardians.
And can we just say that Idris Elba is an insanely talented actor? I have no trouble believing that he's the best man for the job. Now if they threw in some random street talking Norse God, I might have a problem with that, because that would be entirely out of place. This isn't.
He's INSANELY INSANELY brilliant. Yeah, I can care less. What's REALLY freaking is looking at the comments in the linked article. Holy shit. Some people are still upset about the Kingpin casting...!
Idris Elba (stringer bell from the wire!!!!!) is awesome. I honestly wouldn't care if they cast HIM as Superman. That's how much i like him.
And here, from the "Statement of Principles" of the Council of Conservative Citizens - the folks organizing the boycott - is the heart of the issue: So, you know, fuck these congenitally syphilitic inbreds.
The Council of Conservative Citizens is an overtly white supremacist organization. Why anybody would bother paying a whit of attention to what they say is beyond me. I'm just surprised they forgot about Tadanobu Asano. As to the film: if they were going for an authentic rendition of Norse mythology, then a black actor would break the illusion. But what we've seen of the trailers makes pretty clear that Marvel's Asgard is far and away not the Asgard of Norse myth but rather high-tech aliens misinterpreted as deities. In that scenario, ethnicity is irrelevant. Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
Oh dear God. I mean, really.... Just by looking at that crap, I can hear banjos playing. After having seen "Luther," I will gladly go see Mr. Elba read the bloody phone book.
I suppose if Heimdall tries to clean Thor's windshield as he's crossing the rainbow bridge those people would be happy. All joking aside, in the mythology is basically a security guard, until Ragnarok takes place. Isn't hiring an Idris Elba for that role kind of overkill? Shouldn't he get a real part? PS Comparing the unfortunate victims of sexually transmitted diseases to the CCC is horribly insensitive to those poor souls. Attributing the CCC's ideology to genetics (as in inbreeding) is unfortunately similar to attributing supposed criminality of African Americans to their genetics. The CCC is exactly what it says it it, a group of conservatives who cling to what they learned as children.
Filing this under things I don't care about and wouldn't stop me from seeing the movie. That being said, it is a bit silly to have a Norse God (yes, I know they're aliens in the movie) be black just as it would be silly to have a White Zulu God. Whatever.....Thor's never been one of my favorite characters and I'll sacrifice some of the original stories background if it means better talent in the roles.
I think that's my main issue with this movie. I'm going to spend the whole time comparing it to SG-1!
I honestly don't care what colour skin the actor playing a character based on a Norse god is. As long as he can act, that's what's important. He could have blue skin with ten arms and legs, but if he performed an Oscar-worthy performance I'd gladly overlook that his appearance is different to that of everyone else's perception of what a Norse god should be. In other words, get with the fucking times (directed towards this "council of consertive citizens").
Even if the characters in the movie were Gods and not aliens, I still don't think I would care. The comic book always played fast and loose with the myths. A blonde Thor and a raven haired Sif arent exactly true to the myths either. No big deal. Any way we can ship these CCC idiots back to the 19th Century?
IIRC, when I used to read Thor, Heimdall was basically a bit character. Thor, on his way to Asgard or Midgard, would say something like "Hail Heimdall!" and get a "Hail Thor"...maybe a line or two and that's it. Also, when were Marvel's Asgardians retconned to be aliens?....because that's NOT how they were orginally conceived and written by Lee and Kirby. They were the actual gods. Asgard was a cyclic thing ending with Ragnarok and then there was a "reboot". That's why Thor looked more "superhero-y". I recall a story where he met or saw a version of himself from an earlier cycle and he looked much truer to Norse mythology.
Haven't seen the Wire, I've seen him in Luther and he was dull on a stick. As for his casting, sorry, Norse mythology, to the best of my knowledge, was exclusively white. Not because they didn't like black people, but because they never saw any, at least until Vikings journeyed a long way south in the10th Century, well after the pantheon was established. But in reality, I don't care. If he's good in the role, really, who cares? Also, I get the feeling the people boycotting the film aren't that big on superhero films anyway.