The Odyssey is a story I love to teach, and I was excited for a new adaptation. However, the complaints started before the first trailer was even released. I tried to avoid talking about it because it is the same ol’ internet bros who complain any time a Black person is in a movie.
However, I stumbled across a Piers Morgan video in which he gave 45 minutes to a discussion that focused on the race of a minor character. I am tired of large platforms giving these grifters an audience as if they are serious. I’ll try to keep this short, but I want to show that these clowns are ridiculous.
Helen of Troy
Lupita Nyong’o is playing Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships. I’m biased because I think Lupita is one of the most beautiful actresses. It is an easy choice if she comes to read for the part, but white guys across the world were horrified. How could a Black woman play Helen in this piece of fiction that has been reproduced multiple times over the centuries?
Anyone who knows the story of The Odyssey knows this is a minor role. In the Morgan interview, someone finally points this out deep into the discussion. He saw an advanced screening and said Helen was only in the movie for 45 seconds. This is probably a bit of hyperbole, but if she has more than ten minutes of screen time, I will be shocked.
So, one of two things is going on here. These professionals who are being paid to sit on Piers Morgan’s show either know very little about The Odyssey or they are drumming up controversy and hate to line their own pockets. If either is true, why are they being treated like professionals?
Let’s take a look at some of their asinine remarks.
“Something like The Odyssey is this epic fantasy story, but it is fantasy grounded in the real world. It is set in a very specific geographical location and time; like any geographical location and time, it has demographics of people that are believable in that time and people that are not.”
I’ll never understand why these people will be so okay with gods, magic, and monsters, but will come unglued at the sight of a Black person in their story. Later in this discussion, another panelist randomly starts complaining about Black dwarves and elves from another show.
More importantly, Black people did exist in Homer’s stories. Yes, this includes The Odyssey. Aethiopia was used to refer to the skin color of some people from Africa, and the earliest mention of this term is in Homer’s work.
Now, did Homer picture Helen as Black? Probably not unless he had really good taste, but there is nothing in the text that disputes it either. From what I’ve seen, there are two lines these grifters like to point out as evidence of Helen’s whiteness.
She is described as “white-armed,” which is a weird way to explain that someone has a white skin tone. It is strange because it was just a common idiom to describe someone who doesn’t go into the sun often because of their high status. It isn’t specifically about race.
The other is about Helen’s “fair” hair. This is even a deeper stretch. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Most of us know this quote from Snow White, and we hopefully all know this is about beauty, not about pale skin or pale hair.
In truth, none of this matters. Helen is known for her beauty. Lupita is beautiful. Next.
“This is coming off the back of a period of Hollywood where there have been a lot of bizarre race-swaps of characters. I mean, if you go back to things produced over here in the UK, we’ve had an Asian Sir Isaac Newton; we’ve had a Black Ann Boleyn. These are real historical characters, and we are now supposed to pretend they are a different race.
So, this is a common talking point that usually goes hand in hand with a comment that comes later: what would happen if we had a white person play Martin Luther King or Malcolm X?
First, we discuss race-swaps as if they have not always been a part of acting and film. As a Black man, minstrel shows come to mind immediately. White people would paint their faces Black and act out all the Black stereotypes.
These people who complain now wouldn’t complain about those roles. Do you know how I know? White characters are still playing minority characters in modern movies, but these guys never complain about it.
Johnny Depp was playing a Native American character as recently as 2013 in a big Hollywood movie. 21 is based on a true story about a group of Asian Americans who used card counting to obtain millions in Las Vegas. The movie replaces every Asian person with a white person.
These people are so comfortable in their whiteness that they never even think to complain unless it somehow supports their argument against Black people. They may mention the lack of Greek people in The Odyssey, but only as a way to exclude Black people.
Furthermore, they completely miss the point when trying to say there will be a problem if Martin Luther King were played by a white man. For better or worse, MLK’s story revolves around his race. Now, I could see some commentary where MLK is race-swapped, but these bros aren’t talking about that.
It is the same thing with fictional characters. They love to bring up Black Panther. Their race is central to the character. In truth, it is so hard for them to think of a Black character outside of this mode because whiteness is such a default that most Black characters are forced to have race as a central focus to justify their existence. This, of course, isn’t always the case.
For example, if they wanted to raceswap the protagonist from the new Backrooms movie, no one would care. Although his race makes for an interesting wrinkle in the narrative, it is not important to who he is as a character. Despite Black protagonists still being a rarity, no one would really care if they race-swapped a neutral Black character.
“Lupita Nyong’o…if I’m mispronouncing her name, I apologize…”
He went on Morgan’s show to specifically talk about Nyong’o, and he has been talking about her for months. When people talk about microaggressions, we mean stuff like this. He knows how to say her name. This is clown behavior.
“If she’s only in it for a little bit, it can still be good.”
This comment reveals two things.
One, this guy knows nothing about The Odyssey.
Two, Black people distract him so much that he can’t enjoy a movie when they are on screen. Nyong’o is one of the best actresses going right now. It isn’t about her talent. It isn’t about being best for the job, although these guys will pretend that has something to do with it. It is because her skin infuriates them. We live rent-free.
Truly, I planned on responding to more of the video, but listening to them cycle through the same talking points is extremely draining. I agree that it would be very cool to have an all-Greek cast, but Christopher Nolan was never going to do that and probably wouldn’t have received the money he wanted to create his vision. When it comes down to it, this is his vision. This isn’t the one true telling of this piece of fiction, and no adaptation is one-to-one… and let’s be honest, the ones that are are usually frowned upon. (I’m looking at you, Psycho 1998.)
I really hope people who question Lupita’s place in this film take a second to ask why they are angry. If you just hate seeing Black people, thank you for being honest. You can move on. If you do have questions about some of the claims in the video, please feel free to ask questions in the comments. I’m all for a genuine discussion.