Thor's Adventures in Babysitting.

As cultural champions of the Norse Lore & the 1980s, we're surprised to have never noticed this clip from 1987's Adventures in Babysitting, where the director sets up a young Vincent D'Onofrio as an avatar of Marvel Thor! The joke here is that mechanic Dawson apparently isn't Thor, but the strongly presented visual diegesis of the film, along with how he, at the end of the exchange, acknowledges that perhaps he is Thor.

Within that there's a lesson in Heathen Worldview in looking at how future Harry Potter director Chris Columbus sets up the majesty of Dawson's entrance. Sarah, a true believer in Thor, sees Thor when no one else can, or they're at least too secularized by non-belief and adulthood to perceive Thor, who actually has three kids and takes on two more as servants during one of his journeys to Jotunheim, and his begrudging change due to Sarah's persistence suits his role as a father. Dawson's temper at an implied effeminateness by angrily grabbing Brad by his shirtfront also is in-line with Thor's discomfort at having to cross-dress as Freyja to get his hammer back. Dawson's hammer is an unlikely automotive tool, so it's a manifestation of Mjolnir. And Thor is one of the few Aesir who uses a wheeled vehicle to get around and/or battle giants, so the idea that he'd have to know how to maintain a goat cart/cars fits the modern context. Dawson admission that he already has a winged helmet allows him to passively confirm what Sarah plainly sees without actively revealing it to the others who'd never see it, despite it being right in front of them. Such is the disguising of the Gods.

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

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