Hello and welcome to In Too Deep, where I over-analyse a certain section of pop culture.
Well I wrote this for one of my classes and since I liked the argument well enough, I thought I might as well post it up here as well. It’s a standard Socratic dialogue, but with a modern twist on it. So without further ado, enjoy.
The Characters: Stan, Joe
The Setting: The Android’s Dungeon Comic Book Shop
JOE: Have you heard the news? Thor’s now a woman.
STAN: That is at least a month old at this point, I’d hardly say it was current news.
JOE: Considering it’s the biggest thing to happen in the comic book world for the last few months, features a very important character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will no doubt have a big impact on the industry as a whole if it’s a success; I think that makes it more than current.
STAN: What about it, then?
JOE: I don’t like it.
STAN: No surprise there. So why don’t you like it?
JOE: It’s a sin against the original mythology.
STAN: The original mythology has Loki turn into a mare and give birth to an eight-legged horse. Why is it when Thor loses a Y-chromosome you’re suddenly so upset about it?
JOE: Well it’s an insult to the mythos.
STAN: Are you an ancient Norseman?
JOE: No.
STAN: Do you worship the ancient Norse Gods?
JOE: No, I’m atheist. You know that.
STAN: Then you have no right to be offended if they decide to make a change in an already bastardized mythology, do you? It’s like if you got offended because in Disney’s Hercules Herc didn’t kill his wife or that Zeus didn’t turn into a goose to have sex with a woman. No, don’t ask, ancient mythology is very confusing like that. But it’s a simple fact that the only people can be offended by this change are those who actually worship these gods in the first place, and since they’ve been insulted for the last forty years this is the least of their worries.
JOE: Well only Thor can pick up the hammer. That’s the point of it.
STAN: No, only the worthy can pick up Mjolnir. It says so right there on the hammer: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
JOE: Ah, you see, it says ‘he’. Only a man can pick it up, otherwise it’s not believable.
STAN: So when an alien with orange skin and a horse-like face picks it up, that’s more believable than when a woman does it?
JOE: Yes, well-
STAN: What about when Wonder Woman picked it up in the DC/Marvel crossover in the nineties. She’s most certainly a woman.
JOE: Yeah but that’s not canon because she’s from another universe.
STAN: Storm isn’t. She once wielded it in the nineties. So can you accept that only Thor hasn’t wielded the hammer and that the ‘he’ in the description is merely a product of its time and doesn’t reflect current twenty-first century thinking?
JOE: Yes, but-
STAN: But what? The character of Thor isn’t going anywhere, he’s just wielding a different weapon. A female wielding the hammer is not anything that’s new. The original mythology has been tampered with enough at this point that a change in a good direction doesn’t matter. So what exactly is the problem?
JOE: I just don’t like it, that’s all.
STAN: Well come back to me when you have an argument worth listening to. Until then good day.
So there you have it. My defence of Thor being a woman by pointing out why some of the haters arguments are very easily refuted. If you disagree with anything, or have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Till next time.
