Racists boycott Idris Elba as a Guardian in Thor

I've being trying to convince my husband to take me to see Thor.  It's totally my kind of movie.  When I started thinking about it, the thought hit me, isn't Thor mostly a white male movie?  I paused and then thought, "I won't be able to write about the movie on my blog." I was wrong. Just search Idris Elba Thor on Google and look at the ka-zillion hits surrounding the controversy of Idris Elba playing a role that isn't traditionally cast with a person of color. It's ridiculous!

 Another one of my blog topics became heated on Angel Coulby's role as Gwen in Merlin.  The point was brought up that white actresses played the role of Cleopatra by putting on dark make-up.  I'm wondering if it's ok for white actors/actresses to play roles of a person of color but completely out of the question for a person of color to play a role that has been traditonal white or European. 

One of those Hollywood things that makes me scratch my head and think hmm.  In the case of Thor, apparently, race does matter and people are quite angry about this casting decision. White supremacists have decided to boycott Thor. Go figure.  I'm thinking that maybe this makes the case of focusing on race and SciFi even stronger. I'm going to keep blogging about these things.

Of all the articles, I was most impressed by this one by J.K. Melki Russell.  Although the article is lengthy, he's done a wonderful job of looking at the contemporary issue and setting the historical foundation of the possibility that an African descendant man could play this role. He even looks at the religious aspects. 

I've decided that I'm going to see Thor but if you've seen it, what did you think about Elba's portrayal? Did you find that his race mattered or was his acting ability sufficient? I'd like to see some discussions about the Racists boycotting Thor. What's up with that?  Show me some love. Tell me what you're thinking about this whole thing.

Check out Loki as Hitler: