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\n Photo-Illustration: By The Cut; Photos: Getty Images and Universal Pictures\n <\/p>\n
Much of the discourse surrounding Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey<\/a> has been racist, boring, and peddled by right-wing freaks<\/a>. Earlier this week, however, the conversation finally got kind of fun when Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate Homer\u2019s epic into English, panned the movie. It got even more fun on Wednesday, when author and prolific poster<\/a> Joyce Carol Oates got on X to pan Wilson\u2019s pan.<\/p>\n On Monday, Wilson published an essay about the film in the London Review of Books<\/a>, in which she\u00a0wrote that The Odyssey features Nolan\u2019s \u201cusual combination of grandiosity and superficiality.\u201d The classicist slammed his\u00a0race-neutral casting, not for the inclusion of people of color but because they all \u201cplay versions of the Black best friend, whose only role in the drama is to provide aid to the white protagonist.\u201d (She later walked back this argument, saying<\/a> that she \u201cframed it badly.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cNolan\u2019s Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great,\u201d Wilson wrote, adding that the film \u201chas nothing convincing to say\u201d and that the writing is \u201cabysmal.\u201d She also took umbrage with Nolan removing some of the sensory delights from the poem. \u201cThere are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible,\u201d she wrote. Whether or not you agree with her, you must admit that she\u2019s firing on all cylinders here.<\/p>\n Oates entered the mix on Wednesday, writing on X<\/a> that Wilson\u2019s \u201ctone of dismissal & haughty superiority strike a sour note.\u201d \u201cRather than disagreeing with interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner, this person, who has benefited enormously from Nolan\u2019s film, speaks in the crude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers,\u201d Oates continued. \u201cOne would expect a translator, of all people, beholden to a text, in service to a text, to be just a wee bit more thoughtful & respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is.\u201d Shots fired.<\/p>\n What\u2019s funny about this whole thing is that Oates doesn\u2019t even ride for the movie like that. The four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist seemingly prefers the 1997 Hallmark Channel version of the story. Last week, she quote-tweeted<\/a> a clip of Bernadette Peters\u2019s Circe and wrote that it was a \u201cmuch more interesting interpretation than Nolan\u201d and that \u201cthe Circe episode was not very dramatic or engaging in Nolan.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, none of this is that deep. Oates is incredibly online and likely to share her opinion on just about anything that crosses her desk, and this week it was Wilson\u2019s LRB piece. When The Guardian published two articles about her posts, Oates wrote<\/a> that they were \u201crummaging through the online Dumpster for something to reprint.\u201d She\u2019s just saying whatever!\u00a0Moving forward, I\u2019d like all of my discourse to arrive courtesy of brilliant, eloquent women with well-written (if not necessarily strongly held) opinions.\u00a0I think that would be good for all of us.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n The latest in style, self, culture, and power in your inbox.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n