A Cultural Observation

Just to end the week with a cultural observation.  I went and saw Thor the other day – which is pretty much what you’d think it would be, an amusing superhero diversion for those who are into amusing superhero diversions.  In the story, based on the Marvel comic – inspired by Norse mythology – Thor comes to earth to learn to be a less aggressive and arrogant modern dude so he’s worthy to be king of mythical Asgard.  Now, of course, me, I was wondering:  Why?  I mean, he’s the God of Thunder.  Can’t he just hit bad guys over the head with a hammer?  But the point is that the mixing of orotund Norse gods with laid back, ironic modern American folk is the running joke of the movie.

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And what’s interesting about this is that the theme of classical stories bleeding into the modern world seems to be going around like… a theme that’s going around.  It’s featured in at least two TV series due to begin in September:  Grimm – in which a descendant of the famous brothers becomes a Big Bad Wolf hunter in the present day – and Once Upon a Time, in which a lady bounty hunter discovers a town in which banished fairy tale characters live.

Not to make too much of this, but just as something to think about:  I wonder if the hankering to bring the great old stories forward into the ironic, above-it-all modern era is a reaction against our anemic and increasingly secular culture…  or to put it another way:  I wonder if it’s a further sign of a rebellion against the leftist monopoly of Hollywood and publishing that has brought that cultural anemia about.

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