The latest football in the culture war? It is The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan.
Not by Homer? No. Nobody is sure. Homer is the author of The Iliad. He is either that or he is nothing. But even the ancients knew that The Odyssey was a bit different, perhaps written by someone else.
Why is Nolan’s Odyssey the latest Trionda in the culture war? Because Elon Musk thinks it is too “woke,” i.e., transy and colourful. Too sweet. Whereas Dame Mary Beard thinks it wasn’t “sexy” and “elusive” enough, i.e., too blokeish. Not sweet enough.
No one is happy. Homer’s Odyssey is a girlie book. Nolan has made it a bit more boyish, a bit more like The Iliad. For some, this goes too far. For some, it goes not far enough.
In the meantime, £$£$£$£$£$£$£, and probably an Oscar or two.
Well done, Nolan. You accurately speared the culture war just as Odysseus speared the eye of the Cyclops. Not: Go woke, go broke. Instead: Go half-woke, bitch, get ve-ry rich. (Excuse my vulgarity: but the rhyme demanded it, and perhaps you’ll think I am a rapper like Travis Scott, who spoilt the first scene in the film by unclearly unenunciating his keywords. Next time, Nolan, get an AI Richard Burton to do the job.)
Before explanation of my claim, let us summarise the press.
Nolan. The Odyssey. Homer. Damon. Hathaway. Theron. The Odyssey. Cyclops. Calypso. Penelope. Telemachus. Pardon me, Telemakhos. Exciting times. Big movie. No,
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Interesting piece, but –
That trust is misplaced. I never go to cinemas nowadays and probably wouldn’t watch this if it were available on one of the BBC-avoiding channels that offer such fare (and hope you don’t mind the interspersed adverts for stuff you don’t want).
“Elon Musk has gone to town on the Black Helen and the Trans Soldier, but these are almost trivial.” Trivial? Really?
I wonder whether the professor would consider “trivial” a trans Prophet Mohammad and a black Aisha. No? (I thought so, one has to consider one’s career, nay, one’s own life).
Not trivial at all. It’s a big no from me. Sick of being preached to by people who want to destroy my way of life.
Why does everything in history have to be reinterpreted through a modern progressive lens?
it’s almost as though there is a fear that if it’s not explained convincingly, people might actually think for themselves!
I love both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The odyssey when I was younger because there were more exotic characters.
i bet you anything that the people of those stories spent absolutely no time whatsoever working out where their true selves were and demanding everyone else comply.
Ovid’s metamorphosis is another book that I used to love. Yes, that is an allegorical representation of the human experience. I’m surprised the trans lot haven’t claimed that it’s the first book to write about transgender issues !
Ripe for the idiots in Hollywood or Disney though.
all these books take you on a personal journey through what it is to be human an should have a different perspective for each person reading.
Its very sophisticated for nowadays as it reaches past the in group and out group, victim and perpetrator groupings of today’s sad world.
as for Mary Beard, she’s like that awful sister Wendy, the nun who liked pictures.
They both should be put in the stocks… Read more »
Mary Beard, like that awful sister Wendy, is eminently avoidable by the simple expedient of not watching television.
Putting them in the stocks would only give them an excuse to write a book each and enjoy another 15 minutes of fame.
I haven’t seen it and I don’t intend to see it. So I can’t comment on the production, but the description above leads me to think I’ve made the right decision.
A black Helen …. nope, not acceptable.
Me too, also he is notorious for mumbled dialogue that is hard to follow, life is too short.
Meh. It’s a story of people going around ‘stealing’ desirable women and getting violent in the process. Who’s to say where Helen was first nicked from?
If there’s a description of Helen included in the writings and if our translation is accurate then maybe we’d have something to go on. If the translation is that she was ‘fair’ I’d expect beautiful – not necessarily pale or blonde.
I’m reminded of the Kathy Burke sketch where Waynetta Slob (Kathy) explains why she wants a brown baby: It’s exotic!
Haven’t watched it, not going to watch it, not really interested in it, im sure im not the only one!
I prefer my reenactments to be accurate to history, I find it more educational that way, for instance, a few headline Greek actors would be helpful im sure!
I don’t intend to watch it either. Just back from Athens and the locals are not thrilled with this film either.