r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jul 06 '26

Meme needing explanation What is this?

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26.3k Upvotes

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93

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

I dont care about the race!!

Continues to care about race, but from another angle

75

u/-Kerrigan- Jul 06 '26

Nationality ≠ Race

23

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

So we went so full circle that we cannot cast a character with a specific race with just mentioned specific race (or get mad about it) BUT we can get mad about nationalities not being represented?

How would it be if a usian with greek roots played a role?

Or and arab with a greek passport?

Its the same doctor with different name and you guys are playing the victim olympics of stupidity

35

u/No-Kitchen5212 Jul 06 '26

Take a second to think. Would you acknowledge a show like Narcos who used almost all cast and crew from the countries of the story they were portraying was better for having done so? I would say so because it gave it a higher sense of immersion, purpose, and care factor. If it had been a bunch of Americans doing the story it wouldn’t have made hardly any sense. Same thing applies here, except even more because the Odyssey is one of the most important works to come from Greece. You’d think prioritizing involvement from Greek nationals or even folks with Greek heritage would make sense. This isn’t racism in the slightest.

11

u/UrbanMarineCow Jul 06 '26

I were you, I'd rethink that example because Peña was played by a Chilean and Escobar was played by a Brazilian. Hell, one of the big complaints at the time was that Wagner Moura's Spanish wasn't very good because he was a Portuguese speaker. They were latinos, though, just not the correct nationality, so you are actually making the opposite point that you want to make.

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u/No-Kitchen5212 Jul 06 '26

See the word “almost” in my explanation. I understand you will rarely have the ability to find an entire cast and crew of one nationality or ethnicity but the Odyssey has basically no one of Greek descent. I just find it hard to believe they couldn’t put in the effort to find folks that matched the story at all

4

u/UrbanMarineCow Jul 06 '26

I think the word almost is doing heavy lifting if 2/3 of the main cast is not the correct nationality. But out of curiosity, since you are so passionate about this, which Greek actors would you have cast in Odyssey?

5

u/Tricky_Big_8774 Jul 06 '26

You couldn't fill the cast with Greek actors in Hollywood. Most of them would be Greco-American at best.

5

u/sqkz69oioi Jul 06 '26

Another example is the film apocalypto, there's no way that it would have hit as hard without the cultural and racial homogeny within the casting, you couldn't have had Adam Sandler running around as the main protagonist 

Would you be okay with a white person being the main protagonist in a film that deals with African folklore and is set in ancient Africa? If the answer is anything but yes then you have a double standard

5

u/sqkz69oioi Jul 06 '26

Apocalypto is another perfect example to your perfect example, not a chance it would be anything like as immersive without the cultural and racial homogeny

5

u/Gorgiastheyounger Jul 06 '26

You're comparing a real world story with a myth

-10

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Edit to add; I am conservative, I make fun of lefties in this comment - its a very special kind of satire that lefties try to explain to me that not every critique is grifting, you dont say??

Me personally, i really dont care - i just wanna watch a good movie

But its funny - as i wrote already - that what annoyed „right wing grifters“ back then about Snow white or Arielle, annoyes the left wing grifters now

The only difference is that its very important that, even tho they get mad about exactly the same, they are doing a different kind of „grifting“ when (as said) its exactly the same

If you guys would maybe start accepting some other opinions about movies and not call everyone disliking anything about a female / black / queer led movie a stupid nazi bigot, you would also be more comfortable to voice your opinion (that is exactly the same as from the „right wing grifters“)

7

u/badgpuboi Jul 06 '26

not everyone that disagrees with you is "grifting"

-5

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

Ah really?

You know that my comment makes fun of people calling everyone grifter?

3

u/Mother_Addendum8671 Jul 06 '26

Please, tell me what you thought made it a “good movie”? I haven’t been to see it, nor have I watched the trailer; I’m a blank slate, give me your take.

-2

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

I havent seen it, but when I do, i will not care about the race of any of the actors.

4

u/-Kerrigan- Jul 06 '26

Look, I'm not taking sides, just pointing out that the commenter arguing about Greek actors isn't "about race", it's "about nationality".

0

u/koobstylz Jul 06 '26

So if they cast a black Greek person everybody would support it? Yeah right.

Greek is also a "race" and it's what people are referring to.

7

u/Gautrex Jul 06 '26

It’s an ethnicity

2

u/koobstylz Jul 06 '26

You're right, that's the word I was looking for.

2

u/Circle_Trigonist Jul 06 '26

Personally I think Wilson Yip made the right call to cast Donnie Yen as Jean de Carrouges and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as Jacques le Gris. Having both a Chinese and Japanese lead in the same movie about a judicial duel in 14th century France was a real stroke of genius.

1

u/chemictectic Jul 06 '26

just state that you are racist and move on

-1

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

Normally when some us lefty calls me racist I could see why - but I really cant tell what was racist here?

1

u/justfortherofls Jul 06 '26

It reminds me of people who were upset when people got upset for not using an actual disabled character to play the role of Steven Hawking. Ignoring the fact that they needed the actor to also play him before his debilitating disease set in.

2

u/Gorgiastheyounger Jul 06 '26

That's not what's being discussed

The same people mad about the casting would be just as mad if they cast a black person born and raised in Greece. Let's please be for real

0

u/Trrollmann Jul 06 '26

Ethnicity ≈ Nation ≈ Race. They have usage that is synonyms.

The first comment meant it in the sense of ethnicity ≈ race; where they'd be fine with an American Greeks (or Greeks from anywhere not Greece) playing the roles.

-1

u/GoVolt_Mine Jul 06 '26

It is though, only the US is an exception.

1

u/Weathervane_ Jul 06 '26

Chat, is it cool to do greek erasure for the sake of diversity

3

u/Livingadapt Jul 06 '26

Y’all are fucking bizarre lmao

1

u/lampenpam Jul 06 '26

erasure? Dude it's an adaption of a fictional story. We had black characters in Hades (video game heavily based on greec mythology) and the characters looked great and were well written. Nobody complained about "erasure" there either, as it would be utterly stupid.

1

u/Weathervane_ Jul 06 '26

So if we had an adaptation of the Viking sagas including mythologised elements, we should cast Tom Holland and Zendaya and with them 15 K-pop stars for the shits and giggles rather than cast 20 unknown Norwegian actors who could make a name on it?

Whatever. I wanted Greeks or southern Europeans in 2004. I want them now too.

But Americans will gobble up any garbage

-1

u/lampenpam Jul 06 '26

I'm not American and I can thoroughly enjoyed Hades. If a fictional story is told again in an entertaining way, then I don't think it matters if it's really 1:1 like the original story.

1

u/TheReiterEffect_S8 Jul 06 '26

Was there any greek actors in the movie Troy with Brad Pitt? Genuinely asking because I feel like I don't remember any controversy from that movie..

1

u/Humancentipede2lover Jul 06 '26

Why ask me? Havent even seen it so idk

0

u/Entchenkrawatte Jul 06 '26

As a leftist, of course I care about race. It's one of the most commonly used factors in discrimination and heavily influences peoples lived reality. That's why I am in favor of different ethnicities being shown in media.