Nolan's adaptation has been a punching bag for many moviegoers, myself included, in the months leading up to its much-anticipated release.The criticism has largely centered on the race-swapping of Helen of Troy by casting Lupita Nyong'o, as well as the inclusion of 5-foot-nothing biological female Elliot (formerly Ellen) Page as the Greek warrior Sinon.
Other complaints include the modernized dialogue and the film's apparent inspiration from Emily Wilson's liberal translation of the Greek Epic.Now Nolan is gaslighting critics who are rightfully upset or simply questioning the film's clear liberal creative decisions by calling their concerns "irrelevant."CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S 'THE ODYSSEY' GETS OVERWHELMINGLY NEGATIVE REACTIONS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL CASTING CHOICESChristopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' is a movie based on a very long poem you had to read in high school, and it just dropped one unwieldy popcorn vessel.(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)While speaking with The Telegraph, Nolan said that the backlash the film has received "comes with the territory."Nolan added, "These conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet."It's true that it's premature to make a final judgment about a film that 99.9% of the world hasn't seen yet, aside from a handful of traditional film critics and members of the press, who have done nothing but praise it.
(What a coincidence.) The problem, though, is that Nolan seems to believe legitimate criticism carries no weight simply because the film hasn't been released to the general public.BELOVED 'LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE' FACES WAGONLOAD OF 'WOKE' ALLEGATIONS OVER NETFLIX REBOOTIs race-swapping characters an issue with the majority of moviegoers? Yes, for the most part.Audiences have been subjected to White characters portrayed by Black actors and actresses many times over the past decade or so.
Those decisions are rooted in a specifi...