Does Disney 'own' Loki?

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This week will be more of a meme roundup, but first I want to talk about Marvel.

What happens if your god is owned by the Walt Disney Company?

Sorry for the provocative headline, I know Loki is technically in the public domain, but as reported by Religion News Service, Disney has become extra-litigious about this particular character since the release of their show Loki on Disney+.

But it does open up a question for Pagans that their deities often appear in popular culture. If it were other religions, it would be much more controversial. A DC/Vertigo comic that used Jesus as a significant character caused an outcry and was pulled from publication (although it later found a new publisher).

But for Pagans (or as Norse-god-honouring folk prefer: Heathens) it’s a little more complex.

Although harking back to pre-Christian faiths of old, contemporary Paganism is thoroughly modern. A true expert can give a more nuanced picture, but I’ll go out on a limb and say contemporary Paganism began as a fledgling spiritual practise in the late 19th century, but didn’t become relatively mainstream until about the 1960s: the same time Marvel began using Loki and Thor as characters in its comics on a regular basis (1962).

That’s not to undermine the legitimacy or question the sincerity of this tradition, but it’s entirely possible that Marvel’s use of Thor and Loki as characters in their comics played a role in making these gods known in American households, thereby mainstreaming their worship.

That possibility notwithstanding, Disney has enormous cultural power, and these shows do change how these deities are thought of in the broader culture. What Loki the character does in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will alter how punters imagine the god (some) Heathens worship.

So, do they have responsibility towards these gods, or to those who worship them?

Religion For Breakfast did a video asking “Is Marvel’s Loki Accurate?” which gives a really thorough history of the deity.

While we’re talking about Marvel…

Tyler Huckabee has yet again brought the goods: Kathryn Hahn, of Wandavision fame, got her acting start in church playing a gender-bent Psalty the Singing Songbook.

If you don’t know who Psalty is, here’s a taster. He’s the blue box thing, not the freakish dog. It’s nightmare fuel, tbh:

Ok on to the memes

If you’re from Ethiopia, why are you of ambiguous ethnicity?

Identity in anything but Christ

There was a controversy in the conservative Presbyterian Church of America (not to be confused with the more mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) ) where they said that self-identifying gay or same-sex attracted men are not eligible for ministry even if they are celibate and follow the denomination’s sexual ethic.

Anyway, here’s some tweets that made me laugh:

When you give the wrong guy the aux cord

It was recently the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul

Milo’s back at it again with the reformed sodomy

Ok here’s another one that needs context: Milo Yiannopoulos (who I have written about before) did an interview with right-wing Catholic website Church Militant. The strap describes him as a “reformed sodomite”.

Here’s the tweet I really found funny though:

Presented without comment

Everyone (specifically my mother) has been doing emails

My mum (hi mum!) emailed me to point out that Relevant recently covered a Christian game I didn’t mention in the last edition. Here’s their article: Yes, ‘Church Tycoon’ is a Real Game Where You Build Church Empires

Anyone played it? It looks a bit like a pay-to-win mobile game and it’s not clear if it’s made by Christians or if it’s another attempt to exploit the Christian market similar to Wisdom Tree, which I wrote about last edition.

More posts:

• Tag yourself angel edition (tweet)
• Today’s teens (tweet)
• Australia’s Prime Minister has a public Spotify account and - shock! - he listens to Hillsong and Jesus Culture (article $)
• A good memento mori (tweet)

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If you have noticed a mistake or omission, or you have a post I should see - especially about a religion you don’t hear about all that often - please email me: rohansalmond@gmail.com. Also, follow me on Twitter: @RJSalmond.

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