This blog gets hits daily from people who think it's about shoes, but as I've said many times before, "This blog is not about shoes." Nonetheless, sometimes I can't resist an intriguing shoe photo. Today, it's a great picture of the succulent actor Idris Elba that his fan page shared on Facebook.
The photo is a three-for-one prize because it features first, Elba, and second, he is holding what appears to be a cute, white Pomeranian dog in an apartment, and behind him, third, is a rack of women's shoes, mostly sexy shoes.
Elba, newly nominated for an Emmy Award, may be on set the of the new movie he's now shooting. Responding to his Emmy nomination, he issued this statement:
”Thank you everyone. I'm completely ecstatic for this nomination. It’s a great accomplishment for my team, BBC and as well as myself. I'm currently filming in South Africa but can’t wait to see everyone in September. Also congrats to everyone in my category as well, and a special thank you to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Cheers!“
According to IMDb, Elba is rumored to be playing the role of Nelson Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom. The Tomboy Films blog says it's not a rumor; it's true. So, although the ladies on Facebook express (tongue-in-cheek) concern about the sexy shoes in Elba's photo, more than likely the pumps and stilettos belong to a movie character. Maybe . . . *clears throat* . . . I'm not TMZ, but that decor in the photo is dated.
I also thought it could be from the set of his hit show Luther, but I don't think that's in production right now. In any event, all you Idris Elba fans out there, enjoy! And here he is with Jill Scott from last year's BET Awards.
The advertising brains behind the latest SmartWater bottled water campaign selected the sizzling Black BritIdris Elba to be the product's new spokesman.
That choice may be the best visible proof that the SmartWater people are indeed smart. Elba definitely drew my eyes to the SmartWater ad when I visited TheRoot.com today. The company is sponsoring The Root's Luxe List.
Is this controversy with boycott the same as objections to The Last Airbender casting? As Rosanna Rosanna Danna would say, "It's always something!"
I just read at The Root and the U.K. Guardian that a white supremacist group in the U.S.A. is boycotting the superhero movie Thor because British black actor Idris Elba has been cast as the Norse god Heimdall. Wikipedia says Heimdall is called "the white god." An older Guardian article describes Heimdall in Thor as "guardian of the burning rainbow bridge between the world of men and the world of gods."
I must add here that if that designation is in spiritual language, the description "white" most likely signifies a non-physical, positive nature and character, but we can't escape that Vikings are generally white. This website constructed by a University of Idaho class discusses the role of Odin worship or Norse mythology among some white supremacist groups:
"The page is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis of all modern Odin worship beliefs and practices (see that here). Nor is it an examination of current understandings on Norse mythology. Its focus is on how Odin worship in understood, manipulated, and employed by modern white supremacist groups, both in America and in the United Kingdom. Germany will also be included, since that is where much of the white power music scene started. I also want to make it clear that plenty of Odinists are not white supremacists. There are a number of people who truly want to return to their ancestors’ religious beliefs without any political agenda. This is a distinction that seems blurred in much of the current research. ... Why is this topic important? First, understanding the views of those in the white supremacy movement is vital to putting a stop to it. And we cannot understand their views without understanding the reasoning behind them."
British director Kenneth Branagh cast Elba in the role most likely because the actor has name recognition and is talented. Readers will remember him from HBO's The Wire, the husband in Obsessed which also starred Beyoncé, the father role in Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, as the soon-to-die Tango in American Gangster with Denzel Washington, and from guest appearances on Showtime's The Big C as the main character (Laura Linney) Cathy's love interest. I thought he was pretty hot in The Reaping in 2007 with Hillary Swank as well. In addition, he's the star of a British detective show, Luther. So, we're not talking light-weight nobody here.
Nevertheless, the Council of Conservative Citizens belittles Elba's work, ignoring his acting career and only referencing his DJ experience. The group also calls Marvel Comics, creators of the superhero comic book Thor, an advocate of leftwing ideologies that has attacked the Tea Party (Does the Tea Party welcome their support right now? In 2009 the Roanoke Tea Party disavowed the CCC.). And it's not just the CCC that's unhappy with Elba as Heimdall. Baddass Nerd says that when news spread that Elba had been cast as a Norse god, quite a few geeks had fits.
The writer at The Root says of the CCC:
"We guess they're really pissed that Jewish Natalie Portman is playing love interest Jane Foster. Too bad she and Elba won't be kissing. That would probably send the white supremacists into a frenzy."
Ah, echoes of the infamous "near" kissing scene between Captain James T. Kirk and Uhura in the original Star Trek. Many television stations in the integration-resistant American South refused to air the episode in 1968.
I think The Root writer, speaking of Jane Foster, means Thor's love interest. In the movie, by the way, Portman's character will not be a nurse, as Foster is in the original comic book, but she'll play a doctor instead. I don't think anyone's protesting that change.
The very Aryan-looking Chris Hemsworth stars as Thor; so, there's something the CCC and Geeks can rejoice about. The Marvel website says:
"The epic adventure "Thor" spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard.At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth."
"There has been a big debate about it: can a black man play a Nordic character?" he told TV Times. "Hang about, Thor's mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That's OK, but the colour of my skin is wrong?
"I was cast in Thor and I'm cast as a Nordic god," he said. "If you know anything about the Nords, they don't look like me but there you go. I think that's a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that's good."
In that same Guardian article, comic book fans are reported to have said:
"This PC crap has gone too far!" wailed one. (Another said) "At the risk of sounding like a bigot, I think this is nuts! ... Asgard is home to the Norse Gods!!! Not too many un-fair complexion types roaming the frigid waste lands up there. I wouldn't expect to see many Brad Pitt types walking around in the [first mainstream black superhero] Black Panther's Wakanda Palace!""
The question that's ripping through my mind is this: How is this protests and boycott different or similar to the ones against M. Knight Shymalan's casting of The Last Airbender? Shymalan cast white actors in roles the series creator had written as people of color, and he said he did it for marketing purposes.
I've got my own answer to the question, but it's very long with scholarly documentation and history notes, and so, I'll leave it to others to say what they think about this topic with more passion. For the record, to me the The Last Airbender and the Thor issues are not quite the same thing when we consider prevailing hegemony and power distribution in movies and reality over the years. It's sad that some white men, given all the power that white males have amassed and still have, continue to to feel supremely insecure and easily threatened.
My son, 20, who can't wait to see this movie in May 2011, says he can see how his fellow superhero geeks could arrive at this objection (he won't even address the white supremacists thinking) but also says, "It's Norse mythology. I don't care."
Below an injured Elba's interviewed on a British talk show, Jonathan Ross. He talks about the difficulty with doing the American accent, his role on Luther, his time as a D.J., and in Part 2, he discusses Thor.
Part 2: Ross says Elba is so good looking that Ross considers kissing a black man.
Beyoncé Knowles's new movie Obsessed with Ali Larter of Heroes and Idris Elba, who I remember most from The Reaping, has only been in my peripheral vision. I lived through the hoopla over Fatal Attraction in the 1980s starring Glen Close. It's the movie that men used to watch and say it convinced them not to cheat on their wives for awhile.
However, I did see Beyoncé's interview with David Letterman last night in which she discussed why she doesn't tweet or hang out at Twitter. She also talked about her relationship with her sister and how she's not domestic as in doesn't cook or clean.
I have YouTube clips below, but please keep in mind CBS may make YouTube take the clips down for copyright violations. In case that happens, here's a link to a shorter clip of the interview at Letterman's site.
The first video is about Solange, of whom Beyonce says she's protective and how in Beyonce's opinion her sister tweets too much (Solange's Twitter page). Beyonce prefers the phone but says Solange is trying to recruit her to Twitter, which is quickly becoming a promotional tool for celebrities.
This part has Letterman flirting, kept saying Beyonce had two beautiful earrings when he was looking at her breast, and also Beyonce talking about her upcoming tour.
Regarding the movie Obsessed, the singer, who's been in at least three movies now says the fight scenes with Larter helped her release some rage. Rotten Tomatoes has a story/early review. Part of the analsis:
... this blandly-titled film is centered around a love triangle but the casting allows for a new twist with a white woman invading the sanctity of a black couple's marriage. Sony should see a strong turnout from females and from African American moviegoers, but male appeal is solid too so the date crowd will be key here. (Rotten Tomatoes)
The first time I saw the trailer in a movie theater, I thought the producers went with the black man chased by the white woman angle because they want the biggest box office take they can get, but probably all producers want that.
Obsession is also reminiscent of Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever, 1991, which was about what Lee described as an unhealthy attraction between two people of different races. However, in Jungle Fever the white female who was attracted to the married African-American male in her office, played by Wesley Snipes, was not insane, and in that movie the injured wife thought the husband was obsessed with light skin. I don't know if Obsessed will address the topic of some black men acting like fools over white women or just focus on Larter's character being the obsessed party.
