White God's Burden

You may have heard of the Conservative Citizens Council (CCC) before now. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour created a bit of a stir on the lefty blogs yesterday when he favorably mentioned them although he called them by a different name. It turns out that, if you look these guys up on Wikipedia, you get redirected to this page. Before 1956, they were called the White Citizens Council, an organization that came into being when the Supreme Court desegregated public schools. When former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was accused of being a racist, one piece of evidence supposedly proving this was that he had spoken to the CCC on five separate occasions. I had no idea until last week what they'd been up to since their name was used to end Lott's political career. Until last week, that is.

It turns out the CCC isn't just well monied racists who like to get together to bitch about their granddaughters dating black guys or how the kids these days all listen to that crazy rap music. Now we find out that they're also passionate fans of movies and comic books. They're such huge fans they insist that actors starring in movie version of their favorite comics not deviate in appearance from the way they are drawn. This is nothing new. It happened when Jessica Alba was cast as Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movie although that tempest in a teapot died down when she dyed her hair blond. There are always nerds who don't understand the concept that the comic book and the movie are two different art forms and that what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. It's why superhero costumes in movies these days are usually leather instead of spandex tights like they almost always are in the comic books.

Anyway, it turns out that the CCC has decided to take a break from whatever the hell it is they do all day to stand up for the artistic integrity of their favorite comic book. They are really cheesed over the upcoming movie adaptation of Marvel Comics Thor. What are they complaining about? Maybe they don't like that Thor has a beard because they prefer the 1960s Jack Kirby version in which he's clean shaven. It could be that they don't like that the movie will include Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Thor's love interest who was written out of the story years ago. But no, it's none of those things. Should I say what it is or bury the lede some more?

The CCC is upset over the character Heimdall. Heimdall is the Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, the link between Earth and Asgard, home of Thor and the other Norse gods. What has the CCC up in arms is that Heimdall in the movie will be played by Idris Elba. Idris Elba is an excellent British actor who distinguished himself in shows like The Wire and Luther. He's also of African descent. Meaning he's black. This has caused the totally non-racist the CCC to collectively crap their pants and at least throw their support behind this totally non-racist web site that's calling on everyone to boycott the Thor movie NOT AT ALL because they're a group of racist dickholes who think too much melanin in the skin makes one unqualified to play a fictional deity but because this is just another example of Marvel's liberal agenda.

Marvel has a history of advocating for the left-wing. In early 2010 they even used their Captain America comic to attack the TEA Party movement. Marvel front man Stan "Lee" Lieber personally funds left-wing political candidates. Now Marvel has inserted left-wing social engineering into European mythology, casting a black man to play a Norse deity.

The way the writer helpfully lets us know that Thor creator Stan Lee is actually a Jew named Stan Lieber is proof positive that they're not racist. A true racist would have denounced Lee for being Jewish while the writer never goes that far. He just puts up menacing square quotes around the author's pen name and lets us decide for ourselves whether or not he drinks the blood of Christian babies.

For some reason, the CCC and Boycott-Thor.com don't feel the need to complain about other changes the movie has made. For instance, Anthony Hopkins' Odin should have a much bigger beard than he does in the movie. Hell, Thor himself shouldn't be blond. In Norse mythology, he had red hair yet no one at the CCC has felt the need to get pissed off over that. And what about other superheroes? Why has there been no mention of the fact that the Hulk was gray when he first appeared and then turned green later? Why didn't Peter Parker have to get teleported to an alien world by the Beyonder to find the alien called Venom that he wore as a costume instead of it just landing on Earth? What non-racist reasons are there for not noticing any of this?

I'm sure all these questions will be answered soon. Let's just hope that the CCC doesn't notice that Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson in Iron Man 2, was significantly changed when taken from the page and put on screen. Yes, that's right. Nick Fury fought in World War II. He should be over 90 by now yet Jackson is in his 50s. Let loose your rage, CCC.