Is ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ A Subversive Takedown Of White Supremacy?
If the plot of the new Thor movie sounds familiar, perhaps it’s because you know the history of colonialism.
Spoilers ahead! You’ve been warned.
Full disclosure: Despite the almost overwhelming physical appeal of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, I dislike the Thor movies. The first had potential, but that unnecessarily compressed timeline killed it dead. Thor 2 was just a vehicle to introduce the Infinity Stone of Reality, turning the characters into a senseless backdrop to achieve that goal. It was wretched, and I don’t care if I never see it again.
But the trailers for Thor: Ragnarok were promising. The film wouldn’t be set in Asgard. Hulk was there. Mjölnir was destroyed. Valkyrie was Black. And the trailers were funny — really funny. Not to mention how bad-ass Hela seemed to be. I mean, she shattered Mjölnir and it wasn’t a dream sequence. I was in.
Happily, I found the film to be as fun as advertised. More importantly — and…
