Why Christopher Nolan and why The Odyssey???
👁 9
https://blenderdumbass.org/search?text=Odyssey&title=on&author=on&post=on&description=on&comments=on&tags=on : 👁 1
![[avatar]](/pictures/favicon.png)
by Blender Dumbass
Aka: J.Y. Amihud. A Jewish by blood, multifaceted artist with experience in film-making, visual effects, programming, game development, music and more. A philosopher at heart. An activist for freedom and privacy. Anti-Paternalist. A user of Libre Software. Speaking at least 3 human languages. The writer and director of the 2023 film "Moria's Race" and the lead developer of it's game sequel "Dani's Race".
On the surface it seems like The Odyssey is a vanity project. Like if Christopher Nolan after getting an Oscar for Oppenheimer ( which I still didn't review for some stupid reason ), decided that he is big enough, of a filmmaker, to take on a project of epic proportions, or something. Like he can tell Homer himself, how to properly tell a story, or whatever. But then you watch the movie. ↩ Reply
I went to see The Odyssey somewhat reluctantly. I don't particularly like these kinds of movies, about heroes in sandals. Frankly I was way more exited about Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day a month or so ago. But I went, not because of the hype, but because it was Christopher Nolan. And I already had an experience when I went to a Christopher Nolan film reluctantly and was pleasantly surprised. The last time it happened, it was Dunkirk. ↩ Reply
Dunkirk took a story that was straight forward, and added a Christopher Nolan spin on it, making it a complicated puzzle of non-linear storytelling. Like you would expect. He did the same with Oppenheimer, where a pretty straight forward story of: Man builds bomb, man regrets building bomb, is told in such a complex manner that you have layered unanswered mysteries all through-out the film, waiting to be resolved. While the entire thing feels like an investigation, where puzzle pieces fall on your from every corner. ↩ Reply
Don't worry about it, Christopher Nolan did the same thing here too. The entire thing is told in a very Nolan-esque manner. The whole ordeal feels like a puzzle to solve. But I don't think the plot structure is what makes this movie so important. I don't think Christopher Nolan simply wanted to play with an old story a little bit. There seems to be more to it. ↩ Reply
Take for example, how the movie is designed, almost intentionally to piss off right-leaning people. ↩ Reply
I'm serious. It feels like Nolan wanted to piss off a certain half of the population intentionally. Back when he did Dunkirk right-leaning people held Nolan as an example of the "right kind" of director. He made a movie about white men. And stood there and won the arguments that this was a movie about white men, because it was a story where only white men were actually involved. ↩ Reply
But no. This time he casts Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy. If you scroll through the wikipedia article about this character, you don't see a single image of her being black. While Lupita Nyong'o is not just black. She is like the darkest shade of black there is. c:0 ↩ Reply
He also casts Zendaya as Athena. The goddess of wisdom. Who is not just depicted as a white woman everywhere else. But who is depicted as her standard white depiction in this movie specifically too. There is a statue of Athena in the film. And the statue is white. While the actress playing her is Zendaya. A black/white person. ↩ Reply
Take the casting of Elliot Page as Sinon. A lot of the right-wing people were very upset about Sinon being played by an actor that used to be a different gender some time ago. ↩ Reply
Eumaeus, the blind servant guy, is played by John Leguizamo. A Latin American. A type of person that a lot of people on the right want to violently deport from the United States. Eurylochus is played by Himesh Patel a half Indian, half African man. And Agamemnon, a huge, important king personality, is played by Benny Safdie. A Jewish man. ↩ Reply
Every single casting decision is there to piss off the right. ↩ Reply
And not just that. The story itself seems to be chosen not out of the blue either. ↩ Reply
Ouuu... here is my theory. I gonna shove my hand down my ass and pull on it, till I get this theory, fully birthed. Ready? ↩ Reply
Well... It is known that Christopher Nolan doesn't have a smart-phone. He doesn't have an account on any of the social media sites. He is avoiding technology like a plague. Some might even argue that him shooting on film and avoiding CGI where he can, is an extension of the same idea. Why though? ↩ Reply
If you look through his filmography you may get an opinion that Christopher Nolan thinks on a similar wavelength about technology as someone like Richard Stallman, or maybe Cory Doctorow, if you don't want this to be too controversial. ↩ Reply
Take for example the entire premise of the climax of The Dark Knight. It is showing, without any hesitation, the exact problem with mass surveillance. And it calls this mass surveillance evil in plain language. This was the message of the movie. c:1 ↩ Reply
In this film, for example, there is a metaphorical depiction of death of wisdom itself. The destruction of the statue of Athena, mid-murder of a woman that becomes a manifestation of her in Odysseus's mind. When does it happen? During the Trojan Horse attack! ↩ Reply
Nolan is literally putting the story of the Trojan Horse up there on the big screen for all of us to see. For all of us to think about. In computers the words "Trojan Horse" have a meaning. It represents a type of attack when the user is lured into installing something they think is good for them. But ends up being malware. ↩ Reply
Trojan Horse is Paternalism. ↩ Reply
There is plenty of Trojan Horses in tech today. From stupid laws about encryption to AI to proprietary software. Nolan not using a smartphone, and making a movie about a Trojan Horse is not a coincidence. ↩ Reply
He doesn't like big tech. And therefor he probably is, at least, sometimes, looking to find small-tech alternatives. I believe he definitely heard of things like Mastodon. And probably of other things like LBRY. Or ... you know... Odysee. ↩ Reply
So he comes across this brilliant idea to decentralize publication. But realizes quite quickly that it's both shitty in practice and not just that, it swarms with the most appalling types of people. So this thought keeps lingering in him mind, through Tenet through Oppenheimer, until he can't hold it no longer. ↩ Reply
He must attack Odysee.com directly. ↩ Reply
Think about it. The Odyssey is weirdly a horror film. Yes. Christopher Nolan made a horror film. For everybody else, it is just a great horror ride. But for the right-wing, Odysee.com users, it is torture. ↩ Reply
And not just that. The closest representation of the ideals of those right-wing Odysee.com users comes in a form Antinous. A suitor of Penelope. Or in other words: a simp. A simp played by Robert Pattinson. Robert Pattinson, the vampire guy from The Twilight Saga Movies. What a takedown. ↩ Reply
Dunkirk first and then Odysee.com, made Nolan realize that people that like him are pigs. Literally. His men are fucking pigs. I won't spoil it any longer, but Samantha Morton ( you know, the precog Agatha from Minority Report ) is great in that scene. c:2 ↩ Reply
Happy Hacking!!! ↩ Reply
Find this post on Mastodon
![[avatar]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/55NKGQKE7IRKMLHV.png)
Troler
c:0 July 22, 2026 But no. This time he casts Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy. If you scroll through the wikipedia article about this character, you don't see a single image of her being black. While Lupita Nyong'o is not just black. She is like the darkest shade of black there is.
⤴ ViewI would say quite the opposite. The movie white-washes Mediterranean. There was no Greek looking person in the entirety of the film. the closes we got was Tom Holland with his black curly hair.
And then there were Norse longboats. This whole movie feels like a XIXth century reimagining of how Bronze Age Greece was like. The whole movie feels like 'twas created through Eurocentrist lens.
Not my idea, I took it from Farya Faraji.
Troler
c:1 July 22, 2026 Take for example the entire premise of the climax of The Dark Knight. It is showing, without any hesitation, the exact problem with mass surveillance. And it calls this mass surveillance evil in plain language. This was the message of the movie.
⤴ ViewAs does Steven Spielberg's film Minority Report
Troler
c:2 July 22, 2026 Dunkirk first and then Odysee.com, made Nolan realize that people that like him are pigs. Literally. His men are fucking pigs. I won't spoil it any longer, but Samantha Morton ( you know, the precog Agatha from Minority Report ) is great in that scene.
⤴ ViewThey're swines not pigs.
... replies ( 1 )
Troler
c:3 July 22, 2026https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-hogs-boars-swine-and-pigs
Troler
c:3 July 22, 2026... c:2
Troler c:2 July 22, 2026 Dunkirk first and then Odysee.com, made Nolan realize that people that like him are pigs. Literally. His men are fucking pigs. I won't spoil it any longer, but Samantha Morton ( you know, the precog Agatha from Minority Report ) is great in that scene.
⤴ ViewThey're swines not pigs.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-hogs-boars-swine-and-pigs
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/YVK9X1UWS9TUUQWG.png)
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Disclosure_Day_poster.jpg)
![[thumbnail]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cf/Driveaway_dolls_poster.png/250px-Driveaway_dolls_poster.png)