A professor and a student walk out of a movie theater
Everyone’s talking about the latest Odyssey adaptation, and I’m here with the established Professor Squidward as well as Alex: aged 15, part-time high school student, full-time weightlifter, and 2023 national League of Legends semifinalist.
Spoilers included.
So, first question: How well does the movie adapt the source material?
Professor S: It’s… not a good adaptation of The Odyssey. Nolan uses the text like using a car as a skateboard. Nolan takes the text to new places, but he interprets the material in a significantly limited way.
Alex: How does he change the source material?
Professor S: Well, for example, Circe. In the epic, Odysseus spends a year with Circe, and she’s portrayed as an equally complex counterpart. In Nolan’s movie, Circe is just… meh. The moment Odysseus comes to save his men, her character’s complexity just collapses into what I can only call a poor imitation of true feminist portrayals of Circe, which actually emphasize her wit and power. In the actual Odyssey, Circe gives no such “men are terrible” justification and Odysseus isn’t so direct. It’s much more subtle.
Alex: Who was Circe again? Was she the one in fishnets?
What did you think of the cyclops scene?
Alex: It was totally gross and definitely awesome. I totally could have gotten out of there without the cyclops realizing, though. I feel like it couldn’t have been that hard.
Professor S: I thought it was really interesting that Nolan introduced a language barrier to the interaction. It could have created a commentary on how people are dehumanized for speaking foreign languages, tying into themes of colonization. I wish Polyphemus had more scenes where he looked thoughtful or more intelligent. At the very least, Nolan could have shown that despite speaking and looking differently, both Polyphemus and Odysseus are intelligent beings able to communicate and trick each other. Instead, the foreigners are wholly monstrous with freaky eyes.
Was the movie missing anything?
Professor S: I was really happy with the inclusion of parts of The Iliad. The Odyssey is very much a sequel to the Iliad, and the fact that the story continues from after the Trojan War is very significant because scenes in The Odyssey relate directly back to The Iliad and refute things in it.
Alex: Wait, there was a prequel?
A lot of people online are discussing the inclusion of “Zeus’ Law” and Xenia. How does the online discourse impact your viewing of the film?
Alex: Not at all, because I’m way too busy downing creatine and taking names to get involved in online discourse.
Professor S: I wouldn’t have minded Nolan’s adaptation of Xenia into Zeus’ Law if Nolan hadn’t used the literal kindergarten definition of empathy throughout the whole movie. We’re not back in kindergarten. Find a better way to say it! “Act as if anyone is a god in disguise. Act as if gods are among you.” Something that sounds cooler!
Alex: I totally agree with you, Professor Squidward. This Zeus guy sounds like a nerd.