Thor

[EyeofOdin]

I've always liked PIE mythologies and beliefs, so I watched Thor and The Avengers and thought that it was very interesting how The Gods come into contact with humans in that way.

There was one thing I didn't appreciate however. When Thor was in disagreement with Iron Man and Captain America, he had huge troubles fighting them and eventually they had to call it off to keep from destroying everything around them because all of their power was too equal. This, I found, was highly offensive. Thor, God of thunder and lightning, God who regularly fights the serpent larger than the known universe, can't overpower a couple of comic book heroes?

Then, in Thor II, they decided to clear up some misconceptions. Odin looks and Loki and says "we are NOT gods. We live, fight and die like humans".

If the same things were said about Jehovah, where he descends to save the world and can't seem to handle a couple of Marvel characters, then clears things up saying that he's not a God, the movie would have millions of people outraged.

I think that the polytheistic community tends to be too understanding when it comes to people talking about our gods. We have people within our community having family members die and it's blamed on our beliefs and practices. We are not easily offended, and at times it comes to be a vice. Some made our gods mortal superheroes, who say more than once that they're not gods. Some people look at us in the face and say "if you were Christian, your daughter wouldn't have died", and we are overly kind to that. How are more people not offended?

 

[Sees]

This is a pretty good article

The Norse Mythology Blog: THE THOR MOVIES AND NORSE MYTHOLOGY | Articles & Interviews on Myth & Relgion

I don't take offense because the people don't know any better. It's half innocent entertainment inspired by traditions and half carried away from many centuries of being fed that the Gods, myths, practices were childish imagination, demonic, ignorant explanation of natural phenomena, etc.

I enjoy the movies in their own way and got them all on blu ray they will add more heathens to the family than I ever will, encouraging people to look up stories about Thor. I've seen a few online mention investigating Ásatrú/Heathenry and other traditions after seeing the first Thor film.

 

[EyeofOdin]

This is a pretty good article

The Norse Mythology Blog: THE THOR MOVIES AND NORSE MYTHOLOGY | Articles & Interviews on Myth & Relgion

I don't take offense because the people don't know any better. It's half innocent entertainment inspired by traditions and half carried away from many centuries of being fed that the Gods, myths, practices were childish imagination, demonic, ignorant explanation of natural phenomena, etc.

I enjoy the movies in their own way and got them all on blu ray they will add more heathens to the family than I ever will, encouraging people to look up stories about Thor. I've seen a few online mention investigating Ásatrú/Heathenry and other traditions after seeing the first Thor film.

They can't possibly know better if they're not told otherwise.

I also enjoy the movies and I think they represent a modern interest in Northern European roots. One quote I found sums it all up "Your ANCESTORS called it Magic. You call it science. I come from a land where they are one in the same".

There seems to be a genuine interest in how our ancestors believed, and I think that with the New Age of Aquarius, we're going to see people not only becoming more Liberal and open minded, but also we're going to see people becoming more interested in history, knowledge, evolution and people are going to be looking for a sense of self-identification, culture and heritage. We're seeing this today, as Indigenous Religions are some of the fastest growing religious movements.

 

[Quintessence]

It doesn't bother me in the least. Well, it bothers me a tad when I forget to keep the following in mind: pop culture mythology that happens to feature things inspired by classical Pagan gods has only as much bearing on my practice as I allow it to.

In all cases that I'm aware of, the intent of pop culture mythology when it picks up classical Pagan gods for inspiration is never religious. It is never the equivalent of the "Christian fiction" genre that is crafted in an overtly religious context that is intrinsically respectful of and true to the form of the religions the ideas come out of. Pop culture mythology always decontextualizes, and it always reworks the religious element in way that operates as they want it to within their non-religious narrative context. There is no reason, as an author, to constrain yourself to a religious interpretation of a religious figure if you have no intention of being representative of that religion.

In the case of Stan Lee's Thor, it was never his intention that his stories be religious, speak for, or represent Nordic Paganism in any fashion. It was the inspiration. A choice of window dressing. As contemporary Pagans, I think we'd be mistaken to criticize his work and others like it on grounds it never intended to cater to in the first place. Pop culture and modern mythological renditions of religious icons are one thing; the actual religious icons various honored by that respective religion is entirely something else. Only the ignorant and illiterate will mistake the one for the other or expect the one to represent the other with any accuracy. If someone actually thinks that Greek mythos is as depicted in the Percy Jackson novels for example, they're either an idiot or in need of some education.

None of this is to say it doesn't bother me at all, but instead of getting upset about depictions of Paganism by popular culture, I look at it for what it is. I also recognize that without these crude renditions of Pagan ideas, there would be far fewer contemporary Pagans in the world today. At least some of us got our inspiration to follow these paths by seeing pop culture mythology renditions of old gods and stories. We'd later learn they're not exactly accurate to history, but without the popular variety, the old gods may well have faded out of our collective awareness. I'm glad for the popularity of Marvel's Thor. The depiction at least generally resembles the spirit of the source material, and it makes people aware Norse mythology it is actually a thing.

 

[Poeticus]

I've always liked PIE mythologies and beliefs, so I watched Thor and The Avengers and thought that it was very interesting how The Gods come into contact with humans in that way.

There was one thing I didn't appreciate however. When Thor was in disagreement with Iron Man and Captain America, he had huge troubles fighting them and eventually they had to call it off to keep from destroying everything around them because all of their power was too equal. This, I found, was highly offensive. Thor, God of thunder and lightning, God who regularly fights the serpent larger than the known universe, can't overpower a couple of comic book heroes?

Then, in Thor II, they decided to clear up some misconceptions. Odin looks and Loki and says "we are NOT gods. We live, fight and die like humans".

If the same things were said about Jehovah, where he descends to save the world and can't seem to handle a couple of Marvel characters, then clears things up saying that he's not a God, the movie would have millions of people outraged.

I think that the polytheistic community tends to be too understanding when it comes to people talking about our gods. We have people within our community having family members die and it's blamed on our beliefs and practices. We are not easily offended, and at times it comes to be a vice. Some made our gods mortal superheroes, who say more than once that they're not gods. Some people look at us in the face and say "if you were Christian, your daughter wouldn't have died", and we are overly kind to that. How are more people not offended?

The following has to be stated:

The frustration detailed above is completely understandable,
completely warranted, and is quite reasonable in application.

I recall a scene from one of the Thor movies, wherein Natasha
tells Captain America to be careful because these "guys" are
"practically like gods" (paraphrased; "g" lowercased to show or
highlight the context of the scene). To which Captain America
replies, "There's only One God, Ma'am."

There were two more scenes that exemplify these recalcitrances:

1. Hulk; "puny god" comment
2. Thor getting slapped in the face by Foster

At first, I was quite taken aback, nay, almost felt insulted. Then,
I realized that scenes such as these are directed at various
audiences for socio-economic-cultural reasons. However, one
must keep in mind that these are mediums that will rarely be
utilized as depictions of real Norse mysticism, religiosity, spirituality,
traditions, and customs, even if they may enable the development
and establishment of a certain stereotype of Norse Paganism.
​

 

[Jainarayan]

This is a pretty good article

The Norse Mythology Blog: THE THOR MOVIES AND NORSE MYTHOLOGY | Articles & Interviews on Myth & Relgion

I don't take offense because the people don't know any better. It's half innocent entertainment inspired by traditions and half carried away from many centuries of being fed that the Gods, myths, practices were childish imagination, demonic, ignorant explanation of natural phenomena, etc.

I enjoy the movies in their own way and got them all on blu ray they will add more heathens to the family than I ever will, encouraging people to look up stories about Thor. I've seen a few online mention investigating Ásatrú/Heathenry and other traditions after seeing the first Thor film.

I'm in complete agreement. I take them for what they are... fun. Even in the first Thor movie, it was made clear they are not immortal, and not all-powerful. Fandral says "It's not like a journey to Earth where you summon a little lightning, and the mortals worship you as a god" (no I did not copy that from internet dialogue, it shows that I must get out more ); Thor reminds Volstagg of the time he [Volstagg] thought he died and went to Valhalla; Lady Sif says she will die a warrior's death. I freely admit that my interest and attraction to Thor, the Aesir and the Vanir from childhood has been rekindled. So much so that you know of my latest acquisition and my plans for it.

 

[Jainarayan]

I recall a scene from one of the Thor movies, wherein Natasha
tells Captain America to be careful because these "guys" are
"practically like gods" (paraphrased; "g" lowercased to show or
highlight the context of the scene). To which Captain America
replies, "There's only One God, Ma'am."

"I'd sit this one out Cap, these guys are from legend and are basically gods."

"There's only one God ma'am, and I'm sure he doesn't dress like that."

Joss Whedon (screenwriter and director) is an avowed atheist, but thought it was a good line to use.

Thor getting slapped in the face by Foster

I found that quite amusing because it showed his benevolent and tolerant side, not to mention being a typical guy getting slapped by his lady-love and taking it... twice. Chris Hemsworth said they had to do the take over and over because they were laughing so hard, Natalie Portman was actually slapping him; his jaw was quite sore at the end of the day.

 

[Poeticus]

Spoiler: a small contradiction

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I agree with the frustrations of the OP. I enjoyed those movies, but it's still deeply insulting.