Remember not too long ago when a bunch of prickly, thin-skinned haters got all mad about Santa sometimes being played by black and brown people? Okay – he is, in fact, not connected in any real way to real Christmas, and the Santa we all have known over the last two hundred years is based on a mythological Nordic/Germanic gnome/demi-god. And the original St. Nicholas, pictured with this thought, was actually from Turkey (Turkiye?), and was often depicted as a brown skin man – until he got white-washed (like Jesus). In fact, people being people, we often depict famous real and mythological humans, so they look like us – we like to be able to relate. Jesus wasn’t white, although he can be seen as such in most European and N. American stained-glass windows. He was from Israel and had many different kinds of people in his ancestry, including some folks from Africa.
Which leads me to the blockbuster movie, “The Odyssey.” I have not seen it – and I really want to – but it has been a monstrous success at the box-office. It has also brought out the racists, filled with ignorant anger about the actresses playing Helen of Troy (portrayed by the incredible Lupita Nyong’o) and Athena (the equally amazing Zendaya). The problem, it seems, is the idea that Greeks were – are – white, so all the characters in this Greek epic poem should also be white. I have never been to Greece, but I have met a fair number of Greek natives, and they are a mixture of different hues, from very light to very dark skin. And – this is the point of my title – IT’S FICTION! And yes – Helen of Troy is probably based on a real person but was a demigod – a mythological child of Zeus (a god) and Leda, a fictional Aetolian princess. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare – also – I know, this is crazy – a myth!
Historical characters should be played accurately (except for the musical, “Hamilton!”, of course – that’s just fun), and I get why people are bothered by that kind of revisionist history. But fictional characters? Mythological gods and goddesses and people? Some people are so hopelessly racist that this kind of casting is enough to send them over the edge, and it just shows us – again – that America has a race problem. If people can’t live with fictional characters being portrayed in ways they hadn’t thought of before, they should probably start reading real books (some history, maybe?) and thinking deeper thoughts. Variety and imagination are gifts of God – Diversity is the way God rolls, creatively. If you are offended by darker skinned fictional characters, you need to grow up. It is the portrayal, not the color, of the actor that matters. Because it’s fiction, not fact.
Prayer – Forgive us, God, when we behave ignorantly and with malice – heal our broken hearts and minds. Amen.
Today’s art is a Russian icon (date unknown) depicting St. Nicholas.