Unless you live under a rock, the upcoming Hollywood production of THE ODYSSEY has caused a lot of controversy, certainly after it was revealed that many characters were cast according to Oscars' guideline for eligibility. To be eligible for any Oscar nomination, the production of a film has to follow certain criteria or quotas, including have characters of a visible minority be cast, regardless of historical accuracy. The issue went viral all over social media platforms, including X (aka Twitter).
The studio went into damage control for the $250 million production. The director has appeared on the cover of TIME magazine promoting the movie and there was a segment on him and THE ODYSSEY on 60 Minutes.
The pros and cons usually fall on political spectrum. One of the funniest arguments is 'Who cares? It's just a movie.' But if they had done is exactly like it should have been done, the same people would complain that it's not reflective of diversity. There's no winning this argument. I think it's all just a ploy to drum up interest for the movie and many of those who critique it will most likely say that it wasn't as bad as expected. It's all a game.
Personally, I won't be watching it. Just the casting of Matt Damon, who's not a favourite actor, was enough for me to realize that this movie won't live up to expectations. I saw the trailer and the costumes look bland and the general outlook looks boring. I'd rather watch THE TROJAN HORSE (1961), with Steve Reeves or FURY OF ACHILLES (1962) with Gordon Mitchell. Or ULYSSES (1954) with Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano or the 1968 ODYSSEY TV miniseries starring Bekim Fehmiu and Irene Papas.
