I bit the bullet and clicked the Daily Mail link (with adblocker on). Theyâve essentially reposted an article from the Telegraph, except subtly changed things here and then.
The key takeaway from the original article:
The Russo brothers told him they had reinvented the character of Thor all over again, something that took Hemsworth a while to embrace.
âI was like âno, no, noâ and I was really protective of what Iâd created with Taika,â Hemsworth said.
âThey then said, âNo this is a whole different thing; Thorâs never faced something like this, never been a part of this large and ensemble.â
âI think for our characters it was difficult but for me a hugely exciting adventure.â
So Hemsworth had a couple of doubts which were soon more or less put to rest. Compare that with what the Mail has to say about it:
âI came into this and called Joe and Anthony and said, âLook, donât write me the old Thor, weâve got a new Thor now,ââ Chris said.
He was referencing the highly acclaimed shift towards a comedic, self-referential tone he and Taika made with Ragnarok.
But instead of observing his request to keep the characterâs newfound mojo alive, the Russo brothers reportedly told him theyâd âreinventedâ the character once again.
Thorâs⌠knife? According to a report published Saturday, Infinity War writers (Joe and Anthony Russo) ignored Chrisâ requests for them to observe the dramatic changes made to the character in Ragnarok
This means (infinity) war! Chris recalled his response: âI was like âno, no, noâ and I was really protective of what Iâd created with Taikaâ
Check out that emotive language! This wasnât a chat between collaborators, it was an argument, they ignored him, it meant WAR! The Mail is not subtle about who it wants you to sympathize with here. Check out the headlines even, the original article from the Telegraph:
Chris Hemsworthâs big worry with new âAvengersâ movie
'I felt stuckâ: Chris Hemsworth argued with Avengers Infinity War writers after they 'reinventedâ Thor against his will for the upcoming sequel
Does the quote âI felt stuckâ appear anywhere in the article, apart from in the dramatic clickbaity headline and one of the photo captions? It does not.
Because, if you click if the original Telegraph interview, you will see that he is not talking about âfeeling stuckâ in regards to the Infinity War script, but rather in regards to the first two Avengers movies:
Hemsworth felt he hadnât given his best performances in the past two Avengers movies, but his experience on Ragnarok gave him the self-assurance to make his voice heard.
âI felt stuck about what I was giving there and felt like I probably wasnât bringing my portion to it as much as I could have,â Hemsworth said.
So the Mail are outright misrepresenting what he said in order to get you to click. And it worked!
Okay. This is a tiny thing. Fundamentally, it does not really matter that Thor, a fairly standard white male superhero, might be written ever so slightly differently (but still as a superhero!) in a film that has 20+ characters vying for attention. But why am I bothering to write all this then?
Because this is how the Daily Mail operates. This is, in the bluntest possible terms, how theyâve managed to keep their hate-spewing empire running for so long. They adjust the facts just enough to get you angry, angry enough to click and read and pass the article along. How dare those writers disrespect my favourite actor, fuck the Russo brothers, and so on! They thrive on your outrage and weaponise it. Click, click, click. More ads, more money.
The Daily Mail is not a legitimate news source, and itâs to the extreme detriment of everyone that people seem to think they are. If you havenât heard the story of what they did to Lucy Meadows and her wife, I urge you to drop by and read it now. [tw transphobia, suicide] If you havenât heard how the Mail tried to needle Lilly Wachowski when she came out, insisting how someone was obviously gonna out her so it might as well be them, read that too. The story of how one of their columnists used the death of a gay pop star to fuel homophobia? It happened a while ago, but itâs also a good look at how they operate - of course their story is the right one, canât they be trusted over the words of those trained medical professionals whoâre âspinningâ a different story? When in doubt, misrepresent.
Even longer ago but still important - the details of their infamous pro-Nazi agenda during World War 2? Yeah, thatâs a thing, too. âA beauty contest aimed at finding Britainâs prettiest woman fascist.â Wouldnât that be a thing to see.
Guys, what Iâm basically saying is⌠in the world we live in today (we all know whatâs been going on around here recently) weâve gotta be so careful with these things. Obviously a huge amount of the people round here donât know what the Daily Mail actually is, donât live in the same country even, Iâm not really blaming anyone. Itâs just, you know - thatâs how they get you. âWell, I was angry about the writers for a upcoming superhero movie, and the Mail validated that anger by making them seem like arrogant villains. What elseâve they got?â Click, click, click. Outrage, outrage, outrage. Most popular English-language news website in the world.
Iâm sure Infinity War will be just fine.