To continue with superhero month, I wanted to talk about gods in pop culture today. With the MCU becoming so popular Norse gods seem to be everywhere, and are now probably the most popular pagan gods in pop culture after the classical deities that remain household names. While I firmly believe some gods are more than willing to sneak in through a back door *cough* Odin *cough* Loki *cough* cough* as cool as the MCU is, it is not lore.
First, the Good
I personally think the reason why the Norse sagas have remained popular is simple: they are good stories. Yes they are lore, but the tales are fun things to tell around a campfire. The Greek stories that remain popular like the Odyssey and the Iliad are good stories as well. However, they do come from oral tradition, which is a different method of storytelling. Audiences also had different expectations in the days when the tales were written down than now.
I like Pagan gods to be popular. I like when there is a representation that leaves me going “I love this”. Odin and Anansi in American Gods were awesome. The Percy Jackson novels showed the Greek Gods appearing in ways that felt modern but authentic at the same time. I personally never read Thor comics as a kid, but I know people who say it was a first step to Paganism. If it causes people to read the lore and decide to go deeper, I see it as a good thing.
The problem is when people don’t research beyond pop culture and stay stuck.
Pop Culture is Meant to Entertain
Currently, modern novels with new takes on old stories are popular. I enjoy the genre, I reviewed Circe and The Witch’s Heart, and when these stories are told well it can be hard to remember they are modern works for a modern audience. While there are modern authors who do identify as pagan (and a couple of authors I highly suspect are being touched by the gods if they realize it or not), I suspect they are a minority. These stories are written to entertain a modern audience, not as an act of devotion.
With how many people it takes to make a movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a pagan or two inserting small pieces here or there, or perhaps a pagan curious might slip in real bits of lore, or even gods themselves might sneak in something genuine. But at the end of the day, the person who decides what makes the final cut is the producer that is bank rolling the film and is aiming to make money by appealing to a mass audience. If what is thought to be a good story or good marketing overrides lore, the lore is going to lose.
Pagans are not considered a big enough audience to be profitable to market to. Work that may include pagan imagery usually not made by pagans for pagans. We also aren’t considered a big enough group for most people to care about pissing off. I have been charitable to makers motivations in the previous paragraphs, but yes there are people who use pagan imagery and equate it with the devil or turn it all into evil either out of ignorance or malice.
Movies Are Not Lore
It is easy to dismiss “its just a movie, no one will believe that about this pagan god”. The problem is, that isn’t true. Too many people have mistaken beliefs and when questioned it turns out it is the plot point of a novel or movie that seeped into the culture and the person didn’t do their research to see where it comes from. (Morgan Daimler has made the same comment about Fairy Lore.) Hollywood is very influential, and the images on screen are ones we see now, and we give more weight to a movie than a statue or abstract story. This does go back to the issue of doing good research. Not every source is a good source.
I personally have mixed feelings about many horror movies. I actually love a good horror movie (although I have grown wary of torture porn) and they often include pagan ideas or themes. But horror movies can just as often include crap. The Ouija board was considered a party game until the Exorcist came out. Unfortunately, way too often the crap is what people remember, while the useful nuggets are buried.
While I do think its good for people to learn about the existence of pagan gods through pop culture, an MCU fan who becomes a heathen will have to face unlearning the MCU version as they explore their religion. Because I don’t have nostalgia for Thor comics, I think I have an easier time enjoying MCU movies and seeing it as completely separate from my religion.
Fandom is Not religion
I personally keep a firewall between my fandoms and my religion. Just because a fictional character may have qualities like a god, does not mean they are a representation of that god. I would much prefer to buy art from a pagan practitioner and support them as well as getting something for my altar.
That being said, context is everything. A MCU figure on an altar can totally work, if surrounded by objects that make it an altar. Gods do come to us through what ways are available to them, and I am well aware many have used pop culture representations for their own ends.
I do though want to emphasize I don’t see anything wrong with being inspired by pop culture or being lead to paganism through fiction. Inspiration is a spark that leads one to take a first step. But that is the start of a journey, and should never be considered an endpoint. Take the time then to research and do rituals and find what works.