The thing about the Asagardian people being more important than the land struck me as similar to the Rabbinic response to the destruction of the Second Temple, which eventually converted Judaism from a land-based religion to a universalist religion. Yes, there is the whole "If I forget thee Oh Jerusalem..." language in Jewish Rabbinic lore, but, over centuries, the Rabbinic universalist interpretations of the Hebrew Bible became much more definitive of Judaism than being a people of a particular piece of land.
This helps explain why most of the so-called orthodox refused to accept the 19th Century European nationalism reflected within Zionism, as the so-called orthodox said only with the destruction of the world in the midst of the Messiah would Jews return to the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They saw Ben-Gurion and Weitzmann as false prophets.* The irony may be that, in their reactionary, twisted way, the so-called orthodox may yet be proven correct, as the so-called orthodox--now wanting to define Israel as land based and the Palestinians become the Canaanites to be played or pushed off the God-given land**--take over more and more of Israeli power corridors, and backward, fascistic elements prevail more and more in the political economy of Israel.
The twist at the end of the Thor film, which should have gotten Netanyahu fans and assorted Israel Firsters very nervous, was Thor's decision to allow the evil to destroy the land forever, and maintain the people elsewhere.
And then Thor, like Moses, leads his people out of instead of into the land. Thor as Rabbinic Jewish leader.
What an interesting set of ironies...
* Of course, quite a few of the nationalist Jews who were the pioneers of Zionism, starting with Herzl, were fine with East Africa for at least a temporary (practically speaking, this would never have been temporary) homeland for Jews (the so-called Uganda proposal, but really in parts of the land of modern Kenya), and, as for Ben-Gurion, when he arrived in Palestine, he thought very little and was largely contemptuous toward Jerusalem. He saw a port city such as Tel Aviv as much more emblematic for a new nation. Ben-Gurion biographer Tom Segev is a most recent source for this point. Oh, such ironies abound...
** Or, as I call the Palestinians, the Least Sympathetic Oppressed people on the planet. For the Palestinians act like they are the majority and too often their leaders act like they should just slay the Jews rather than live in peace. It is the Deutscher Conundrum, which is why I, and even Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein (!), have long supported the Two State Solution, a solution less and less of the participants on either side appear to endorse.
And now for the direct film critique: This was by far the best and most watchable Thor film. It was funny, and relatively well-paced. The sibling rivalry and feudalism narrative, however, continues to make Thor films more Star Wars-y than Star Trek-y. See science fiction writer and astrophysicist David Brin for his long-held, and I think, proper criticism of the entire Star Wars franchise as an inverted dystopia and reactionary, feudal glorification. Technological advancement does not automatically revert us to feudalism and war, Brin says, but also liberates us and allows for different species to learn to work and live together.
But let's note the Star Wars overlaps, such as Odin acting like Obi-Won-Kanobi, coming back from the dead to give the secret to the hero, and Hela saying, essentially, like the Darth Vader character she is, in transgender guise, "I am your Sister?" Still, this was a really fun film. You know, like Star Wars? :)
But, also really, the question we viewers should ask is why did the film allow Thor to speak throughout in Star Trek-oriented society language about not wanting to take the throne, showing respect for the Valkyrie female warrior, etc., at the end, blink and accept the throne? The Avengers (Marvel) and Justice League (DC) are teams of gods and men acting together, equally, and with the tension and sometimes inefficiencies that come with democratic or popular sovereignty. As Holly Hunter's Senator Finch says in the continually abused but actually brilliant Batman v. Superman, film, "Democracy is a conversation...."
I think Thor's ending would have been better had he not taken the throne and created instead his team as they seek the new land where there are no promises, and no more land-based definition of what makes people Asgardian. But, at least this Thor film was watchable and delightful overall.
UPDATE: The Daughter informs me the film's director, Taika David Waititi (Cohen) is Jewish-Maori. The Daughter says that means he has land taker heritage and land taken heritage, both ways, and with religious reasons included in at least part of those ways. The Daughter thinks the Jewish angle of the film is obvious, and said, "What, Dad, you think that people don't see this?" Gotta love youth. Most people I know who saw the film never mentioned it and most corporate media reviewers I doubt even thought of it. When looking on the web, all I found was this, which at least is from Jewish Currents magazine. Glad I'm not quite alone out there, but it is not so obvious to most people, I don't think...:)
