Philosophy of Identity: Lady Thor or Just Thor?

The long anticipated first trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder dropped yesterday, thereby reigniting the 2014 fury over the appearance of a female Thor in Marvel Comics. Reactions at the time – as they are now – range from “A woman can’t be Thor” to “Feminism is ruing everything” without ever having read the storyline. Basically, the great controversy revolves around whether a woman possessing the powers of the original, well-known Thor can be called Thor. In effect, what’s being asked is whether ‘Thor’ is a name of a particular person or a title. One critic wrote in 2014, “Get your own identity. Thor’s a dude. One of the last manly dudes left.” Many comic book fans were as upset by a female being Thor as they were a black man becoming Captain America.

 

First, why does this even matter? Why are people so upset over some fictional characters? For one thing, once people are beset by tradition it’s difficult for them to see through any other lens. For the Marvel comic book hero traditionally known as Thor, he has particular characteristics and a particular personality. The traditional Thor possesses the traditional attributes of what is considered masculine, so to buck that trend is bound to make misogynists upset. The other reasons for disliking the idea of a female Thor are non-existent. When Eric Masterson of Earth-616 became Thor no one had a problem with this, though supposedly because Masterson was faking it best he could and himself knew he wasn’t the ‘other’ Thor. But when Dargo of Earth-8710 was called Thor despite not being the ‘real’ Thor, still no one cared. A controversy over Thor’s name only came about when a female became involved.

 

So, Thor is indeed a name. However, the well-known fictional comic character’s full name is Thor Odinson. Last time I checked there are many people in the real world whose name is Thor and bear absolutely nothing in common with the fictional hero. But, you don’t see anyone complaining about this. It’s not like Jane Foster upon becoming Thor called herself Thor Odinson. She never did that. Keep in mind that during the original storyline in which Jane becomes Thor and worthy of wielding Mjolnir, Thor himself was unworthy of holding Mjolnir. If we take into account that the inscription on Mjolnir says, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the powers of Thor.” Being that many people have wielded Mjolnir, Squirrel Girl among them, the pronoun ‘he’ doesn’t seem to be of particular importance. What’s important is that they be worthy. Considering Thor Odinson becomes unworthy, regardless of the reason, he fails to be the super-powered Thor, meaning ‘Thor’ must be a title and not referring to a particular person. For the time Thor Odinson was not worthy of Mjolnir, he was not really ‘Thor.’ It appears someone can be called Thor without being Thor Odinson, just like it makes sense that someone can be called Iron Man without being Tony Stark, which is exactly what happened in the comics when Stark’s bodyguard Rhodey stood in as Iron Man when Stark wasn’t capable. And as Jane did not, no one else in the comics ever referred to themselves as Thor Odinson when possessing the powers of Thor. For Pete’s sake, even Thor Odinson calls Jane ‘Thor’ during the original storyline knowing he’s unworthy of the title.

 

It might be worth noting that, yes, traditionally Thor is a man’s name, but that’s simply tradition and a lot of traditions don’t exactly have objective origins. There’s no reason Thor can’t be either a male or female’s name, as is the case with names like Pat or Sam. In the comics, when Jane tells other characters to call her Thor (not Lady Thor) it shouldn’t be a big deal. She’s referring to the title, not to being Thor Odinson. Of course that would be ridiculous. Or would it? In another Marvel comic universe, if Jane Foster had been more of Donald Blake type figure who didn’t know she was Thor Odinson until becoming worthy of Mjolnir again, would all the fan-boys still be upset? I would like to think not, but it’d be foolish to underestimate misogynists.

 

And misogyny is the problem here. As comic books have long been the domain of little boys struggling mightily to be ‘men’ (until the last decade when women started reading them) said ‘men’ will fight tooth-and-nail to hold on to what vestiges of culture they think belong to them. So, logic or reason is not going to easily be found among such fanboys. None of them are going to stop and think, “Hmm, can Thor be a title like Captain America, Iron Man, or Batman?” Honestly, so many damn people have been Batman in the comics and some never bothered to correct other characters when called ‘Bruce’ while they were wearing the cowl. But a woman going by the name of Thor, suddenly there’s a problem. GTFOH. 

(Some critics even went so far as to simply state turning Thor into a woman was crappy retconning but those same people didn't have shit to say about the reveal that Mjolnir was sentient during the same storyline.)

The Philosophy (and Review) of The Matrix Resurrections

The Matrix Resurrections will certainly go down as the weakest entry in the franchise, probably, for several reasons: There isn’t much philosophy (no wtf mindbenders), too much time is spent on Neo’s life dealing with suppressed memories, too much nostalgia, action sequences that are lacking and when they aren’t it’s actually too much, some rather large plot holes, and Agent Smith’s ultimately trivial role in Neo, Trinity, and Smith’s, um, trinity.

 

To make a long story short, the story revolves around Neo regaining his memories after having them suppressed after the machines resurrect him and Trinity (following the events of The Matrix Revolutions) in order to harvest the unique energy the two have together. Once Neo is free of the Matrix, he must re-enter the program to save Trinity. Lots of kung fu and gunfire ensues.

 

What does the movie get right? Neil Patrick Harris’ role is a delight and the fight between Neo and Smith in the basement is actual pretty good once Smith starts spewing the details. What the movie also gets right is in casting cynicism on the modern age. Whereas the previous movies took it as a given that a good percentage of enslaved human beings would rather subject themselves to the truth than live a comfortable lie, Resurrections does an about face, acknowledging the comfort our digital distractions have provided to make our enslaved live more tolerable. Whereas the previous iteration of Morpheus championed freedom of choice (which was acknowledged as a problem by the Architect), the new Morpheus highlights time and again that choice is an illusion. Interestingly, no one seems to mind. The movie doesn’t run with this theme though and chooses (!) to focus on the power of love in overcoming the powers-that-be. Thus, the spirit of the original trilogy is found wanting.

 

The Matrix Resurrection still makes a good point here, one that can been seen quite readily in American culture, from politics to entertainment. As the Analyst says in the new movie, “[People] don’t want freedom or empowerment. They want to be controlled. They crave the comfort of certainty.” He also says to Neo, “Do you know that hope and despair are nearly identical is code?” implying that a little bit of hope mixed with a little bit of despair is perfect for controlling people’s illusions. This is exactly the state of the U.S. right now as the furthest Left fringes of American culture battle the furthest elements of the Right. This culture war in the U.S. is all or nothing, fully binary, ones and zeros just like in the Matrix.

 

Neither side will admit to being controlled, though, as both fringes operate solely on emotion and cannot be reasoned with. When this is the case it is easy – with tools such as the internet – to trap people in an echo chamber from which they don’t want to escape because to do otherwise would be psychologically uncomfortable. Confirmation bias is a tool of control.

 

Another point made be Resurrections which goes hand-in-hand with the other message: So what if the Matrix isn’t real? Our realities are fictions we’ve created out of (faulty) memories. It doesn’t matter if we’re trapped in a fiction because we’re trapped in a fiction no matter what. Our minds are not capable of capturing all of reality. Nor are memories reliable, which is troubling since our behaviors are as largely derived from our history as our biology. In fact, every time we recall a memory it becomes destabilized within our wet-work and becomes prone to error. It should be alarming that eyewitness testimony is allowed in court knowing what we know about how memories work and how prone they are to influence. Being that we can’t trust our memories, we’re forced to make up narratives that provide the illusion of mental stability, because to admit you’re insane typically gets you physically restrained in some manner or at least cast out of society. So, you might as well choose a fiction that is most comforting to you so long as your basic freedom and social needs are met.

 

Even knowing all this, too many people insist on championing ‘the truth.’ Anyone peddling ‘the truth’ is either an egomaniac or trying to get something from you. Why did Neo want to know the truth? To quench his desire for special knowledge. Why did Morpheus need to point out the truth to Neo? Because Morpheus thought Neo could save humanity. Why are religious zealots always trying to convert you? Because they seek power and control. No religious zealot knocks on your door or flies planes into buildings for the sake of the truth. People pay a great deal of lip service to the truth but this often seems to be another tool of manipulation. It has to be because unless we’re talking mathematics there is no truth. All we have are interpretations of perceptions. Seriously ask yourself why the truth matters. It might matter whereas our actual survival is at stake (man-eating lion = dangerous) but how often is our literal survival threatened on a daily basis?

 

It appears large swaths of human civilization don’t want freedom and don’t want reality. If they wanted freedom, they wouldn’t suffer the constant and often successful attempts to control them. Even couples wouldn’t marry if they wanted freedom as long-term marriages (in the modern world) require compromise to be successful. People don’t want reality either, as evidenced by the acceptance of outright lies and love of fantastical stories. There are so many ways in which we are not free and so many ways in which we ignore reality. Question yourself as to why you’ve accepted this and only then can you begin to grasp the fundamentals, they only truths to be had.

 

The Matrix Resurrections won’t go down in cinematic history as one of the greatest movies ever, or maybe it will. It depends on what we want to believe.  If it is what we want to believe, it doesn’t really matter if its actually true or not. No one’s survival depends on it. In the case of the Matrix, the people enslaved in it are arguably better off staying where they are.

Ah, GOP Hypocrisy

 

If there is one thing humans are good at its being hypocrites. I know I’ve been guilty of it from time to time, though I would qualify that by saying my instances of hypocrisy are relatively minor. It’s not like I’m in charge of governmental policy that affects thousands to millions of people. When it comes to hypocrisy political parties take the cake, especially the GOP.

 

Yes, Democrats are guilty of hypocrisy from time to time – the further-Left elements are all for equality as long as you’re not white – but for the most part Democrats are not malicious when they do their about-faces. Remember that Democrats are merely dumb whereas the GOP is actually mean. For instance, the GOP went into an uproar over SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s supposed leniency on pedophiles yet the same people have absolutely nothing to say about Matt Gaetz, Roy Moore, Jim Jordan, Trump being on Epstein’s flight manifests, or the Tennessee bill currently being advanced that would legalize children getting married. As political analyst Brian Tyler Cohen put it on Twitter, "Literally the same week Republicans are desperately trying to label everyone else pedophiles and groomers the Tennessee GOP is advancing a bill that would literally legalize child marriage. Truly beyond parody.” I wish I could say it ends there but it does not.

 

Hunter Biden’s laptop is a hot topic with the GOP right now, the allegations being Hunter Biden used his father’s influence to land a cushy job with a foreign government, sold access to his father, made some questionable tax payments, and had salacious personal material on it. How is any of this a bigger deal than the Trump kids using government influence to rake in almost a billion dollars while government advisors, Trump’s missing tax returns (and proven instances of business and charity fraud), or Trump’s infidelities? “You know what wasn’t on Hunter’s laptop? 15 boxes of classified and top-secret documents. That shit was at Mar-A-Lago,” tweeted Andrea Junker in reference to the documents Trump stole when he left office.

 

The GOP also claims to be the party of ‘law-and-order,’ though that appears to not really mean anything. At last count, at least 11 Trump Administration advisors had been arrested in connection with criminal activity, to say nothing of the hundreds of QAnon supporters arrested during the J6 riot that was incited by the Trump Administration itself. Not coincidently, the father of the woman who stole Nancy Pelosi’s laptop on J6 has been arrested for – you guessed it – child pornography. The GOP doesn’t seem to realize if Joe Biden is guilty by association with his son, then…

 

Oh, and hey, remember when Moscow Mitch McConnell denied Obama a SCOTUS nominee because it was ten months before the next presidential election but then rammed conservative Amy Coney Barrett through less than a month before the 2020 election?

 

To be fair, the GOP isn’t always hypocritical. More and more they’ve been showing their true colors and being outright racist as in the case of Ohio Republican senate candidate JD Vance, the “Do you hate Mexicans?” candidate who apparently blames Mexicans for his mother’s opioid addiction, nevermind that the drugs were prescribed by American doctors. Oh, and remember how much the GOP hates ‘cancel culture’? But what are they doing but calling on Disney to be cancelled for opposing DeSantis’ attack on the LGBTQ community? They also want to cancel workers rights, voting rights, and marriage rights. The GOP also wants to protect children, by not doing anything about school shootings.

 

Again, I’m not going to say I’m not a hypocrite from time to time. We’re all hypocrites. It’s just that some people love it and are better at it than others. Why? The human animal isn’t exactly the most reasonable thing around. So, if you’re going to be a hypocrite, at least admit to it least you be a hypocrite about being a hypocrite. That’s a sign of a mental health problem, meaning you’re bat-shit crazy. It appears the GOP has no problem with that.