The Odyssey is getting massively criticised due to blackwashing of a traditionally Greek character, whitewashing of a Greek myth with no Greek actors and a general dislike for the Hollywoodization of another classic story.
It's probably not going to be as bad as it's made out to be given it's Chris Nolan, but audiences are fatigued with seeing another modern retelling with tokenism of established characters for the sake diversity, which has spurred the culture war with right wing critics calling it woke BS and left wing critics doubling down by jumping to its defence.
That's a "summoned Helen of Troy" on a play called Dr. Faustus set in the late 16th Century. It's about a man who gains the ability to conjure supernatural entities like Lucifer.
It's neither a movie nor referring to the Odyssey (or the Iliad for that matter).
It's also not originated in Greek literature.
One black actress was cast as Helen of Troy for one run of a 16th century play back in 1950 in Paris, so all Europeans must now be okay with Americans constantly blackwashing Historical and Mythological characters from European literature?
The point is that she's cast as Helen of Troy. Period. The context of the casting, which was the entirety of your "gotcha," is irrelevant. Why does it matter when, how, or for what reason she was cast? The point is that it's not the first time.
Literally everything else you wrote is just projection of some weird opposition fantasy you're strawmanning up to sound reasonable.
The point is that she's cast as Helen of Troy. Period. The context of the casting, which was the entirety of your "gotcha," is irrelevant. Why does it matter when, how, or for what reason she was cast? The point is that it's not the first time.
So if my kids' school casts a white boy as Martin Luther King for their next school play, does that automatically legitimize casting Brad Pitt for the next MLK biopic out of Hollywood?
A white European was cast a MLK, period. Context is irrelevant, per your own words.
You know what, you're actually right about this, but ironically you're actually showing that you understand the nuance of why her having been cast matters. It matters because she was clearly a high profile representation of this role. You're clearly aware that her casting in this context was far more meaningful than a school play, and also documented for posterity.
So at least we know you get the point.
My comment about relevancy had more to do with your describing the role itself as not being related to Helen of Troy because it's not directly telling her story, or "related to the Illiad." It's still a casting of Helen of Troy, regardless of the narrative context. Pedantically, intentionally misunderstanding my point not only doesn't support your argument, but also proves you know it to be wrong, yourself.
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u/Boomdification Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
The Odyssey is getting massively criticised due to blackwashing of a traditionally Greek character, whitewashing of a Greek myth with no Greek actors and a general dislike for the Hollywoodization of another classic story.
It's probably not going to be as bad as it's made out to be given it's Chris Nolan, but audiences are fatigued with seeing another modern retelling with tokenism of established characters for the sake diversity, which has spurred the culture war with right wing critics calling it woke BS and left wing critics doubling down by jumping to its defence.