Sunday 30 January 2011

Charles Saunders on the Heimdall Hullaballoo

You'll probably notice by my Facebook picture that my skin colour is in the single digits of the Von Luschan chromatic scale, and so my recent comments about Idris Elba as Heimdall are, obviously enough, from the perspective of a white dude.  How could they not be?  I can't exactly get a melanin transfusion, can I?  Even though I'd like to think I have some knowledge and experience of black culture, mythology, and history through contact with my aunt and a few other acquaintances, the fact of the matter is a white dude talking about a black dude playing a white dude is a very specific perspective on a subject with very different perspectives.

However, Charles Saunders, a man who can comment on racial matters from the black dude's point of view, has decided to leap into the fray regarding black Heimdall on his blog, with a very interesting observation regarding Amazons. I won't spoil it, because it's a revelation I'm somewhat stunned by: suffice to say, racebending was even in effect in the 1980s.

5 comments:

  1. I think that Mr. Saunders has perfectly encapsulated my own feelings.. but in a much better wording.. than I would have.

    That said, I'd LOVE to see a film based on his characters.. But if they are going to white wash it like they did to Earthsea.. I'd rather just have the stories.

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  2. maybe i'm confused on this one, but as far as I'm concerned this is a movie based on marvels thor, a superhero loosely based on norse mythology.which though my own interest in the marvel character ( not one of my faves) is very limited, I alway understood it to be inspired by and not an adaptation of the actual myths.I always figured they(marvels) are more 'aliens'than gods I could see the point a little clearer if the was a movie about the mythical norse gods and not marvels trademarked superhero version which like milius's and howard's conan i consider to be 2 separate things. I am probably wrong , I dont know enough to really assert this opinion but that's what comes to mind with me on the matter.-mario

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  3. As he so often does, Mr Saunders speaks much sense.

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  4. That said, I'd LOVE to see a film based on his characters.. But if they are going to white wash it like they did to Earthsea.. I'd rather just have the stories.

    I'm still raging about that. Don't we have enough fantasies with white characters without racelifting the ones that are different?

    An Imaro or Dossouye movie would be awesome, but despite Hollywood's sincere belief that they're over such things, I still don't think they have the guts to go for a fantasy movie consisting almost entirely of black people. They couldn't even handle darker skinned (Earthsea) or East Asian (The Last Airbender) protagonists, let alone black people. Still, there's always hope.

    maybe i'm confused on this one, but as far as I'm concerned this is a movie based on marvels thor, a superhero loosely based on norse mythology.

    No, those are my concerns too: I just don't see why comic-Heimdall should be black either.

    As he so often does, Mr Saunders speaks much sense.

    Naturally.

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  5. Just to clarify, the Norse gods as presented in the Marvel Thor comic are indeed supposed to be the actual gods. This was a lot more clear in the original Jack Kirby/Stan Lee concept, and in fact for many years there was a back-up feature in Thor called Tales of Asgard, which retold many of the Norse Myths with terrific Kirby illustrations. So yes, the Marvel Thor is the original Thunder god. Accept no substitutes.

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