EricQelDroma
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 6, 2012
It's funny: what you call "backtrack[ing] from his defense of [Loki]" is exactly what I call "a slam about adoption in general."It was obvious the line was a reference to Loki and Thor was just trying to backtrack from his defense of him after being reminded that Loki was being extremely awful.
It was clearly not intended as a slam against adoption in general.
There are only three possible meanings to the line:
- Loki is bad. He can be bad while we (the "real" or biological family) are good because he's adopted.
- Loki isn't "really" my brother or part of my family because he's adopted.
- Adoption is different and inferior to blood relations.
It's a thoughtless line that is admittedly completely inconsistent with Thor's behavior toward Loki in both movies. It's not a deal-breaker for me with the movie, but having it in there is rude and insensitive. If it were about any other traditionally disadvantaged group (African Americans, women, gays, etc.) in this kind of context, it would have been widely and instantaneously disparaged and condemned. I'm sure that for Joss it was a throwaway line. For my daughter and for me, it's a comment on our family and our life.
I would have been perfectly okay with it if Stark had said it and Thor had reacted violently, saying, "Do Not. Presume. To Mock. My Family. Ever Again." or something like that. The "adoption" line from a thoughtless ego-maniac, coupled with that kind of reaction from Thor about his real (meaning "his forever-adoptive-whatever-positive") brother would have addressed the issue well and had the characters behave more consistently.