Thor is like a Shirley Temple film in that regard. Shirley never had a biological father in any of her films because any trouble she got into would then be easily fixed and there would be no story. She had to struggle and tap dance with Bojangles Robinson on her own, the plucky little thing.
In keeping with Hollywood's de rigueur requirement for diversity Thor's pals inexplicably number among them a black man and an Asian. (Did some Asgardian complain, "There goes the fjord?") And, of course, there's the inevitable warrior female. I suspect that if Hollywood were to do a remake of the 1922 Eskimo epic Nanook of the North, it, too, would now contain a black man, an Asian and a warrior female. Perhaps a Hispanic as well. There simply is no location far enough north to get away from multiculturalism, not even across the rainbow bridge to Asgard.
(Wait a minute... it just occurred to me. No Jews in Asgard? No, of course not - what am I thinking? They're in Florida, where the weather is nicer. Come to think of it, there were no Jews in Star Trek, either. Jews in Space would have to wait for Mel Brooks. But I digress.)
Why is this relentless diversity necessary? Look, I don't care if Kurosawa didn't include an Anglo-Saxon in any of his Japanese samurai films. And I'm not put out if somebody does, say, a film about Dynastic Egypt without WASPs. Or a Bollywood musical sans NASCAR types. I'm no advocate of racial purity, but warrior Vikings with soul, chi or a menstrual period is jarring.
I used to read Thor comics as a kid, back when reading D.C. and Marvel stories constituted my per-literate period, before I turned to books as a fourteen year-old. Stan Lee (who makes a predictable cameo appearance in Thor as a truck driver) always scripted Old High English speech patterns for the Thunder God. Sayest thou? Verily. I'm not sure if anyone in English history actually spoke that way, save perhaps 17th C. Quakers. Chaucer's language is more like French and Shakespeare's English is far more colloquial; I'm certain Vikings didn't sound like that. (They didn't even speak English!) But, hey, it sounded appropriately epic in a comic book setting.
(When I joined the Mormon church and received the discussions from the missionaries I was enjoined to use thees and thous in prayer, to show a proper respect for Diety. I had no problem at all with this usage, having grown up on Stan Lee's Old High English in Thor comics. Thou wilts and thees came easily to me. It's second nature, now, and when I hear an occasional familiar "you" in a public prayer it kind of clangs on the ear.)
I might also mention that when I used to draw my own comics as a kid I had a knock-off character for Thor; mine was named the Mighty Bore. He talked a lot and, like the other one, threw a hammer around. Come to think of it, so did I. A cardboard box wasn't safe from the reach of my mighty Sears Craftsman Mjolnir.
Last night I also watched the programmatic antithesis to fabled realms, rainbow bridges, ice demons, Old High English, gods and demigods: another Rick Sebak documentary, this time about farmer's markets. It's entitled To Market To Market To Buy a Fat Pig (2007). Not being an especial fan of fresh vegetables, I found this one somewhat less appealing than his amusement park, ice cream, flea market and hot dog features.
And there is also this: it becomes clear that along with serving up bok choy and rutabagas, the folks at these open air markets are also dispensing some sanctimony. Comments from one smug fellow - a Californian, naturally - gave me the impression that he'd rather die than take a bite from an apple found in a grocery store.
Watch enough Rick Sebak documentaries and you'll notice that his narration almost always includes a chortle when he comes in after a kid says something funny. He's the chortlingest man on PBS since Jack Horkheimer died.
That's all for today.
Henceforth I think I shall call the little snooze I take when I get home from work the Odin Sleep.
LATE ADDITION
I forgot to mention something in my assessment of "Thor" and its wonderful diversity: the one bonafide Scandanavian in all of it is the estimable Stellan Skarsgård, a certifiable real movie star from the Frigid North if ever there was one. (He was great as a flawed cop in the first "Insomnia," a Norwegian film.)
So what does he do in this? He has a minor role and gets drunk, unable to hold his liquor with Thor. Hmf.
Thor and Captain America cannot get drunk, apparently. It's probably better that way, don't you think?
7 comments:
I think you meant to say Shirley Temple never had a biological mother. She did have a dad in at least one movie--the one where she sings Good Ship Lollipop. Her dad was a pilot.
Nope! From the wikipedia entry for Bright Eyes (which gave rise to the song about the Good Ship Lollipop): "Shirley Blake (Shirley Temple) and her mother Mary (Lois Wilson), a maid, live in the home of her employers, the rich and mean-spirited Smythe family, Anita (Dorothy Christy), J. Wellington (Theodore von Eltz), and Joy (Jane Withers). Shirley's aviator father died in an airplane crash before the film opens..."
I know my Shirley Temple films!
When I saw the "LATE ADDITION" I thought you were announcing your new Grandson had arrived!
Best Wishes to you and yours at this exciting time.
Constant Reader,
Sherry K.
What Shirley Temple movie has her ALMOST seeing her Dad in the hospital?
Not to be TOO "diversity" minded, as I agree with the general principle of presenting Asgardians according to contemporary racial representation was WAY too self-conscious.
On the other hand, I can also see from the Hollywood producer's standpoint that the greater the diversity representation, the greater the market share. True, I think that most Hollywood types do this - or at least pretend to do this - out of liberal compassion. But, really, I think it's about the bottom line of milking every dollar possible out of a film project; especially given the palpable stench of filmmaking's increasingly narrowing profit margins and the faint stench of death of the industry in the air.
Having said all that, I kind of liked "Thor." Was it epic cinema, say, on the scale of "Cleopatra" (who, incidentally starred British, Anglo-Saxon Liz Taylor as a North-African Greek princess!!!). But, it was ponderous and dark; not too dissimilar in mood from a Wagnerian opera - especially the Asgard dramatic set pieces. Moreover, it was directed by the sometimes frustrating Kenneth Branagh - an actor/director who is simply INFAMOUS for hitting home runs or failing miserably. Here, to continue the baseball analogy, hit a rare two-RBI double. Pretty good. But not the best.
But with Branagh at the helm, the film was bound to be overly "poetic." I think the diversity and earth-set scenes were all out of the Hollywood producer's "Cut and Paste Film Manual." But the scenes in Asgard and Valhalla were pure Branagh, and also, in my opinion almost operatic. Which is obviously what he was trying to achieve.
I basically liked it. There have been far worse treatments of comic book films (I'm looking at you, Hulk). But, I think this was a pretty good day at a Wagnerian Opera; well, er, "operetta" maybe.
Liquid
"What Shirley Temple movie has her ALMOST seeing her Dad in the hospital?"
That was "the Little Princess," of course. Maddening. But it furthers my point - Dad was out of the loop in that one. He may have been alive, but he was not active in the plot development. Shirley was on her own.
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