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The Odyssey was ... Fine (Patreon)

Published:
2026-08-11 12:00:14
Imported:
2026-11
Tags:

Content

The Odyssey didn't live up to my expectations, but the discourse made it even worse.

Sources & References:

The World of Odysseus by M.I. Finley

Talking Classics by Mary Beard

Penelope's Bones by Emily Hauser

Emily Wilson "An Uncomplicated Man" https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n14/emily-wilson/an-uncomplicated-man

Files

The Odyssey Is ... Fine [Patreon]

The Odyssey didn't live up to my expectations, but the discourse made it even worse. Sources & References: The World of Odysseus by M.I. Finley Talking Classics by Mary Beard Penelope's Bones by Emily Hauser Emily Wilson "An Uncomplicated Man" https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n14/emily-wilson/an-uncomplicated-man

Comments

MK

I’ve been waiting for your thoughts! I loved the movie despite agreeing with both you and Wilson that it’s a bit of an odd duck, sort self-serious and feels like it’s missing the gods and more magical aspects of the story. I think the film clicked for me once I understood Nolan was remaking the Odyssey as Oppenheimer. I was like I see the Trojan Horse is the Atomic Bomb, brilliant! It’s funny that you mentioned that Zendaya was perhaps misused and I can’t say I disagree. She’s barely in the film. Still, I feel like her last scene with Matt Damon really paid off her extremely minimal screen time and brought me to tears. That said, I remain somewhat ambivalent about her, Elliot Page and Lupita being the face of the hate campaign and then getting such small roles in the actual film. Combined it’s probably 7 -8 minutes total in a 3 hour production. They’re all in the film so little, that I can’t help but feel like what was it all for? At least Elliot Page and Zendaya get a scene or two that pay off their characters or are connected to reveals. But Lupita doesn’t even get that, and it just feels sort of icky to me. There was endless anti -blackness and nothing really came of it. I think for me if we’re going to put an actor in the line of fire, we can at least give them something to chew on performance-wise.

og.monstr

To be entirely frank, I haven't watched it, and I've not had any interest to watch it either. As soon as I heard about Nolan collaborating with the Moroccan occupiers of West Sahara, however, I've come to genuinely dislike the man. All the controversy surrounding the flick stemming from anti-Black racism/misogynoir is completely true, of course, but it's the fact that oppressed indigenous people are largely being ignored in the (online) discourse which bothers me just as much.

Este

I went in with very low expectations of liking it because Odysseus is probably my least favorite character and the idea of Nolan taking out the fantasy mythological elements of the story made me feel even less interested so…i actually enjoyed the movie for what it was if i disregarded the largely american accents in the movie 😭

Art History Prof K

I enjoyed the movie, but had to think of it just as a Nolan epic- in which I could enjoy the cinematic, the music, the scope and performances, but with an understanding that this is not the Odyssey or better yet, the Odysseus of the original epic- even Emily Wilson’s translation. I completely agree- It wasn’t colorful enough and the Gods’ absence really did take away.

Jazz R

I work for the publisher of Emily Wilson's novel and had the privilege of watching the movie in IMAX with her in the theatre. Emily gave a great speech before the movie began where she had a hilarious bit about her and Nolan being parallel universe versions of one another. She also made great jokes about Zendaya basically being a goddess in her own right. Anyway, Emily was mad cool and I hoped the movie would live up to her expectations. It wasn't until I watched this video that I learned how many issues she had with it, so thanks for putting me on! Gonna go read the full article now.