Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so what does Mr. Nolan do? Plans to make an ‘Odyssey’ that will make RL even more so.
What is the biggest beef of people with the ‘Odyssey-2026’
(upcoming?). The American accents of the characters/cast and the contemporary
language. Mr. Nolan openly refers such pieces of modern movie history as MCU
and DCEU, (the latter is somewhat defunct now) as his role models. Pause.
MCU, in particular, tried to ground itself in
realism, especially the first three phases, but it was ‘realism’, not ‘reality’-
Pause. Stop.
Let us look at the trailer again. What do we see? For
example, Antinous, treating Telemachus how Jaime Lannister could be treating
Jon Snow (in the opening episodes of GoT). The problem here is not in Antinous
treating Telemachus badly, but that it was already done in this style, Mr.
Nolan is not creating something original, but borrowing someone else’s ideas.
Look at Mr. Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’-related interview. He
is referring to Ms. Emily Wilson’s version of the ‘Odyssey’ as his source
material. Stop.
Ms. Haynes – remember her – claimed to re-tell some
original myths from a supposedly more woman-friendly approaches, but she did it
in a manner that was inoffensive and intellectual. Yes, in her novels, (non-fiction is somewhat
different) women are good (with exceptions), and men are bad (with exceptions),
but those exceptions undercut her entire narrative on one hand, and on the
other by offending no one, she is winning no one’s approval either. People,
especially literary critics, are singing her praises, but pretty words butter
no parsnips and all.
…Ms. Wilson’s re-telling/translation of the ‘Odyssey’
feels a lot like a sister project to Ms. Haynes’ novels – it allegedly might be
more gender-equal, woman-friendly, but in reality, it is just another
re-telling/translation of the ‘Odyssey’, as a translation/re-telling isn’t the
same as writing an original work; Hollywood might be struggling with original
works, but so does literature, it seems.
Moreover, just because Mr. Nolan is reading Ms.
Wilson’s version of the ‘Odyssey’ does not mean that he will adapt it directly –
since his characters are already talking like an average American does – he will
not. In translations of the ‘Odyssey’, the characters – and the narrator – do
not talk as modern people do; that is the epic’s charm. Well, a part of it anyhow.
In Mr. Nolan’s film this will not happen – people are talking in modern
American English, referring to the modern American culture (i.e. GoT), to begin
with. Huzzah.
Pause. Aside from the language, my main problem are
the Lestrygonians – what did they do to them? Listen, if for Homer the
Phaeacians were the elves, the Seelie court, then the Lestrygonians were their
opposite, the orcs/the Unseelie – and Mr. Nolan is ignoring it; his take on the
‘Odyssey’ already feels ‘inoffensive’ – just like Ms. Haynes’ novels, just like
Mr. Serkis’s ‘Animal Farm’, (you didn’t think that I’ll forget it this soon?),
despite his words and his allegedly politically progressive opinions, he isn’t
trying to convert/convince anyone to join the party; he just wants to make a
buck.
No, seriously, the books, the TV series, the movies,
the mass media of the centuries past tended to be opinionated if not
controversial; each work of fiction, (or non-fiction) tended to push/promote
the views of the author (and their cohorts, sometimes), and now this isn’t
happening. In the past, mass media often stirred the pot on purpose, and now it
does not. Instead, it stirs the pot unintentionally – just look at the Lestrygonians.
Just who was the idiotic genius who came up with the medieval knight/Robocop™
idea here?
Alternatively, look at Mr. Nolan’s Scylla. It is supposedly
a cephalopod-crustacean creature, according to him. Right, well, the
crustaceans – crabs, lobsters, crayfish, and woodlice – are arthropods; they
are related to spiders, scorpions, and insects. The cephalopods, on the other
hand – octopi, squids, and cuttlefish – are mollusks; their relatives are
snails and oysters, (broadly speaking). ‘A cephalopod-crustacean’ creature is
just as unreal and mythical as the centaur or a harpy is. (Not the harpy eagle,
ok?). Mr. Nolan is trying to be original. He is failing.
What else? No, this is pretty much it. Just as Ms.
Haynes, Mr. Nolan is trying to be inoffensive, just as Mr. Serkis tried with
the ‘Animal Farm’. The latter was a tire fire that everyone is ignoring, unlike
‘Prada-2’, because ‘Prada-2’ is actually well made from a technical angle; so
are Ms. Haynes’ novels. Only, because ‘Prada-2’ is also much more visible than
Ms. Haynes’ novels are, it is being discussed more than the latter…
In addition, consequently, will be Mr. Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’
– already people are divided about it, and that is just the trailers. Of
course, there is also the final trailer for the latest ‘Minions’ movie, and for
the love of Zeus, why would anyone release this abomination on the screen? By now,
it is the minions vs. the monsters based on Howard Lovecraft’s works, and this
is just wrong. When the Western cinematograph tries to come up with something original,
this is the best they can come up with? Maybe they should adapt Ms. Haynes’
novels instead – they’re just bland, the ‘Minions’ are worse… That is real life,
however. It sucks.
Well, this is it for now. See you all soon.
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