Several months ago, I started what I thought would be a regular mini-series of my thoughts on movies (originally titled The Magic and Miracles in the Movies - yeah, way too long) and what Christianity have to do with them. Although my first and last post was about Harry Potter, I intended to continue with movies like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix. Well, all of this hasn't happened yet. But eventually.
An interesting connection I have found though is that these movies are mostly in the genre of sci-fi and fantasy. I think it might be rooted in our many stories within many cultures, these stories that talks about courage, salvation, bravery, and valor.
Instead of writing about all that I intended to write about, I thought I would write about Thor or specifically his brother Loki, since I just saw it not too long ago and there was an interesting "something" that I caught...
The Struggle with Loki
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| Loki in Thor, the Movies |
In traditional myths, Thor was the god of thunder. His name is the namesake of the day "Thursday". Honestly, I haven't studies any Norse/Scadanavian mythology, so beyond his name and what it means and what he did, I have no clue of any details of the actual stories.
The movie Thor (based on Marvel Comics) is about the sons of the king of Asgard, which the sons are Thor and Loki. Thor is the heir to the throne and at the first few scenes of the movie, he was about to be crowned King of Asgard and guardian of the Nine Realms (one of the Realms is Earth). During the ceremony, the Frost Giants came and tried to steal a blue box, which interrupted the ceremony. And because of his immaturity, Thor, Loki and his friends went to the planet of the Frost Giants to stop or kill them. (Of course, Odin, King of Asgard, came to rescue them.)
During the fight with the Frost Giants, Loki discovered he wasn't like his brother Thor and the rest of his friends. He was punctured by a Frost Giant but quickly recovered, where most people would just freeze. I think he always knew, though, that he can perform illusions.
The movie was quite entertaining. Now, you might think because it has Chris Hemsworth (Thor) that this appealed to me because of his physique. However, I am not easily attracted to a long hair blond guy with ripping muscles. My mind is of the intelligent side of things.
Which brings me to study Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston (he's actually not so scary looking in real life). Now, also in Norse mythology, Loki is a shift-changer, one who can change their appearance. He is also named as a "she" as well but for the sake of the movie, he was a he. Male. Good.
Loki, in the movie, I can tell, is a sound, reasonable, and intellectual person. But once he realized he was adopted (and actually, he was the son of Laufey, a Frost Giant), he flippin' freaked out. Well, okay, I'm exaggerating. But he was not happy that Odin, his adoptive father, never told him the truth. His quest to search for his identity begins where he wrestles with the life he knew growing up and his real self of being something different. Throughout the first movie, he does things to have the approval of his father Odin but defeats himself everytime when he believes he hasn't done what Odin will approve of.
In many instances of the movie, Odin, Odin's wife Frigga, and Thor reassure to Loki that they all love him, that he was accepted into their family, and that, even though adopted, Loki is son and brother to the royalty of Asgard. Loki fought this, and in this first movie, choose not to accept what was given to him.
This sounds all too familiar to me, as I myself struggle with my identity at times. And for some reason, this story of Loki actually points to the story of Moses in the Bible. Moses was adopted by Pharoah. Moses knew he was different. He ran away. But God called him out and set him on a journey and a mission to bring the Hebrews back to Israel.
Well, having seen the second Thor movie before the first, I knew what happened to Loki, a different outcome of Moses.
Sometimes we don't always know that we are adopted to God's family. Once we do realize that, we can go into an identity crisis mode. However, God already forgave us and loves us for who we are. We only need to accept that we are adopted into His family and in doing so, we start to learn the identity of Christ, of God and of ourselves. I think we all struggle for approval from God, but we don't need to do so. He already loves us for who we are; He made us in the image of Him.
I'm sure it would be an interesting twist and outcome if Loki truly accepted the family that adopted him. Would he be free of his thoughts, accept his identity and use his unique powers for good?
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." ~Romans 8:14-17~
