Why was the Vision able to lift Thor’s Hammer?

I’ve heard the founded argument that, since the Vision is an artificial being, he has no more soul than your average coffee table and therefore is able to lift the hammer.  However that doesn’t quiet check out…

I think in order to riddle this one out, one has to examine what is defined by the term “lift”.  Does it mean, within the context of Odin’s decree, the simple act of raising up from one location to another, or rather is it closer to the terms “wield”, “carry”, or “move”?  Let’s look at the early scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron:  We see various heroic characters attempting to lift the hammer off the table, none are able to do it.  The closest that comes to it is Steve Rogers, who barely budges it.  Why?

The simple answer is “they are not worthy?”  I think it goes into the motivation of moving the hammer.  They were attempting to prove something.  It was, for lack of a better term, a pissing contest.  Banner didn’t engage in the contest because he probably suspected that the frustration from being unable to lift the hammer would cause him to have “an episode”.  Everyone else wanted to prove they were just as cool as Thor.

Let’s rewind just a bit, back to the climax of “Thor”, where in Thor has Loki on the ropes, has knocked him down, and lays his hammer down on Loki’s chest.  What happens?

Loki is unable to move because he’s not worthy to lift the hammer…but then why didn’t his chest cave in?  See, for those of you totally unaware of the biological functions that keep you moving, breathing works by way of expanding and contracting the chest cavity to allow air to pass in and out of the lungs.  If Thor’s hammer is so heavy that only the worthy can lift it, then Loki’s chest should have caved in as the hammer would have sunk to the lowest point, but it didn’t.  Loki was still able to breath, he just wasn’t able to move the hammer out of his way.

Fast forward to the battle on the helicarrier in Avengers:  The Hulk desparately tries to move the hammer, causing him so much strain that he digs his feet into the metal floor.  But the helicarrier still flies.  Why didn’t it instantly go crashing to the ground?  Was the helicarrier worthy to lift the mighty Mjolnir (and you thought I didn’t know the hammer’s name)?  No more than say, an elevator.

Late in the film, Capt. America and Iron-Man briefly quip that an elevator could lift Mjolnir, ergo the elevator must be worthy, but I think they misinterpret what Odin’s motives were when he placed the limitation on the weapon.

He didn’t anyone but the worthy using the hammer, ergo it would not be moved, lifted from its resting spot unless that person was worthy.  It rested on the ground and Thor could not move it.  It rested on Loki’s chest and he could not move it.  It rested on the helicarrier floor and Hulk could not move it.  It rested on a coffee table and 99% of the Avengers could not move it.  If Thor left it there for a million years, it would rest, unable to be moved by any thinking force unless that force was worthy.

But what makes someone worthy?  This should be easy…intent.

What was Thor’s intention to move the hammer early in the film?  He wanted his god-hood back, it was selfish intent.  What would Loki’s intent be to move the hammer?  To stop Thor from stopping him, again a selfish intent.  The Hulk couldn’t move it because he would have caused more damage and killed hundreds of people in his rage…safe to say that’s a selfish intent.  The men of the Avengers can’t move it because, survey says “selfish intent”.  Even Capt. America, probably the most selfless character in all of Marvel wasn’t able to truly move it because his intent to move it was selfish.

So why was Vision able to move it from its resting spot?  It comes down to his intent.  He didn’t want to prove anything, he wasn’t showing off.  His intent is show during that very scene…he was giving it back to its owner.  It was selfless intent in its purest form.  I would wager that if it came to saving lives, the Vision could have used that hammer to stop the threat, because that’s a selfless act.  To put yourself in harm’s way for no other reason than to save someone else is a purely selfless act.

Now, I’ll address two more arguments before I close up shop for this blog:

1)      Mjolnir is biometrically coded to only respond to Thor.

No, this cannot be the case because if it were, Thor would always be able to lift the hammer.  There are times, even after he regains his god-hood, seen in Avengers, where the hammer doesn’t respond to him because he’s at a low, selfish point, making himself unworthy.

2)      The Vision fooled the hammer by mimicking Thor’s “worthiness”.

Again, no, as the Vision would have no motivation for it.  Yes, the Vision by way of J.A.R.V.I.S. would have scans of Thor and know how to biometrically fool advanced computer systems, but why?  It would have taken far less processing power, been far more economical to a soulless machine to say “Thor, your hammer is over there.” than it would have been to mimic Thor on a cellular level just to pick up the hammer.

 

Well, that’s my two cents, for what it’s worth.

Thanks for reading.

Superheroes and Faith

In the recently released trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, there is a brief clip that features a massive statue of Superman with the words “False God” scrawled across his chest.  Now obviously the character of Superman would never present himself as God, or even “a god”, but it does raise an interesting question; how do you handle faith in a world with superheroes?

First, I want to clear up some definitions:  Faith as defined by Merriam-Webster is “strong belief or trust in someone or something: belief in the existence of God: strong religious feelings or beliefs: a system of religious beliefs.”  The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Yet in, say superhero films, you “see” the amazing all the time.  You see the things that shouldn’t be possible fly all over the world.  How do you deal with a question of faith in a world that has Thor and Loki and the Hulk, in a world that has the King of Atlantis working alongside a man who can run faster than the speed of sound and the last survivors of alien races?

Just yesterday I saw a meme that featured Captain America, pointed out “Met two gods, still a Christian.”  This drew a line of dialog from the Avengers film; where in Captain America was in pursuit of Thor, Loki, and Iron-Man.  Black Widow states “Might want to sit this one out, those guys are basically gods.” To which the Star Spangled hero replies “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”

When that line was spoken in the film, my wife and I fist pumped and laughed, but now thinking about it, it probably shows the most well rounded opinion of the fantastic things going on, and speaks to just how people of that universe approach faith.

Steve Rogers sees Thor and Loki not as they have been perceived by mythology, but for who they are.  They are another race, another species, and not celestial beings.  He treats aliens and their fantastic abilities and powers no different than he would the Tony Stark, because to him, they really aren’t any different.

It’s a problem we see in our own culture.  We see men and women with amazing talents, namely actors and athletes, and we hold them up on high and attribute to them special qualities, and hold them to a higher moral standard.  When they fail to meet our lofty standards we demonize them.

This is paralleled in the trailer for Batman v. Superman.  Clearly society, or at least a group of society, has lifted Superman above the rest, holding him either to a higher moral standard or even deifying him, and when he either refuses or fails to follow that path, they demonize him, decrying him as “a false god.”

But in Man of Steel, Superman never held himself above other people.  In fact, when faced with a difficult choice, he went to a pastor, he sought out a higher authority, he sought out God, he acted on…faith.

Yet, if you notice, the characters that ultimately lead to questions of faith aren’t technically human.  Thor, Loki, and Superman are all aliens.  Now I’ve heard it said that aliens would invalidate faith by proving that we, humans, are not God’s only creation…but if you go back to the Bible, it’s never stated that Earth was the only thing in the cosmos that God created life on.

Let’s take a look at what the Catholic Church as to say.  I go to them because they are considered the ultimate right-wing, ultimate conservative, ultimate nay-sayers and surely they would be the first to stand up and say aliens aren’t possible because they aren’t mentioned in the Bible…

Well, doing a quick Google search on the topic, you find officials with the Catholic Church; all the way to the Pope himself, when faced with the question “Do you think alien life exists?” shrug and say “Yeah, probably.”

While the Catholic Church could be considered the ultimate “creationists” they also admit that creation is a really big thing.  There is a lot to creation that we are discovering every day.  New species, impossible lifeforms are being found all the time, but that doesn’t make the church rip up Bibles, nor does it make them wave their finger saying “that’s just not real.”

Obviously in the universe contained within the films themselves, they are faced with the irrefutable fact of alien life, main characters are aliens after all, but their existence doesn’t immediately discredit God.

In fact, nothing discredits God.  Even the characters who have amazing powers to traverse impossible distances and venture into the dark unknown admit there is something more powerful out there, something they can’t understand.  It’s why they learn, why they study, because they are still amazed by a greater knowledge yet to be discovered.

So is there a place for Christian faith in, say the Marvel or DC movie universes?  There absolutely is, because even when you have a bunch of answers, they only lead to more questions.

Thanks for reading.