At first I was like "wait, what?", but then I read the article. Don't you mean they got their panties in a twist because Heimdall is played by a black man?
While I don't agree on their view on it and the whole "rawr, boycott!" thing, there is a certain irony to casting Heimdall of all the Norse gods as black. Heimdall is also known as "the White God" (though that could arguably be due to the Ram being his representative animal).
That said, the movie isn't really either historically or mythologically accurate. It, like 300 is at least once removed, with a comic book/graphic novel in between, which means it's basically a caricature of a caricature. For example, Thor isn't blond, but a fiery red-head. Oh, and he and Sif are actually married. And I don't think he was ever cast out of Asgard (and considering he's the God of Thunder, that's probably a good thing).
Personally, though, as a Heathen/Asatruar, I thought the movie looks pretty good, and will be seeing it when it comes out, despite the historical/mythological inaccuracies.
But then, maybe I was just too distracted laughing at the fact that they casted Anthony Hopkins (of all people!) as Odin. :D
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While I don't agree on their view on it and the whole "rawr, boycott!" thing, there is a certain irony to casting Heimdall of all the Norse gods as black. Heimdall is also known as "the White God" (though that could arguably be due to the Ram being his representative animal).
That said, the movie isn't really either historically or mythologically accurate. It, like 300 is at least once removed, with a comic book/graphic novel in between, which means it's basically a caricature of a caricature. For example, Thor isn't blond, but a fiery red-head. Oh, and he and Sif are actually married. And I don't think he was ever cast out of Asgard (and considering he's the God of Thunder, that's probably a good thing).
Personally, though, as a Heathen/Asatruar, I thought the movie looks pretty good, and will be seeing it when it comes out, despite the historical/mythological inaccuracies.
But then, maybe I was just too distracted laughing at the fact that they casted Anthony Hopkins (of all people!) as Odin. :D