So, there is apparently
a kerfuffle over Idris Elba's being cast to play a Norse deity in Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptation of
Thor. Now, I understand lots of religious traditions portray their gods as looking like them. But as a nominally-practicing Jew, I'm pretty sure we have no idea what deities actually look like. For all we know, God is like the aliens in
Contact, and shows up in whatever form we'll be able to relate to. But I'm down with the Sufi idea that seventy thousand veils separate us from the real thing. So who cares if the character is a god worshipped by the Norse? Idris Elba looks superhuman to me.