Persephone

i'm sorry- one of the most popular directors of our time just butchered a mythological epic visually and characteristically.

nolan, with his brand name alone, could've brought in millions of viewers to a film that had accurate armor. he could've hired a cast of entirely greek actors. he could've made it colorful. he could've hired artisans and historians. he could've enlisted academic institutions who study bronze-age greece. he has the money to. HE HAS THE CLOUT TO. but he didn't. he dumbed down a piece of historic literature to something grey and tried to say it was just supposed to be "realistic".

this is like if someone tried to make an adaptation of the gospels in the bible and thomas-jeffersoned it (removed all of the miracles/"magic") and turned it into a movie. it's not the fucking bible anymore. WE ARE NOT OVERREACTING BY SAYING THAT IT MISUNDERSTANDS THE ODYSSEY.

and when people are going "YOU DUMBASSES ARE SAYING EPIC IS BETTER?????" YES. YES I AM. because epic understands what it is. it is a tiktok musical. it does not demand people to take it 100% seriously. hermes has 80s synth in his songs. it's a good time. it makes changes to the odyssey but fundamentally understands the characters. it was not made by a director with a 250 million dollar budget. it was made by a bunch of nerds for nerds. nolan acts like the odyssey is an adaptation while it is really just a work by it's creator. epic is an adaptation. nolan's odyssey is not.

you can acknowledge this movie has it's moments. I WILL RIGHT HERE. THERE WAS COOL STUFF. the building horror of the sack of troy, nolan's circe & her pig transformations, the reveal and explanation of athena's form, and the cramped and terrifying portrayal of being inside trojan horse were unique takes- i thought they were well done.

but to people whining to "not think too deeply about this" and "ohhh look at all the people complaining on the mythology website- WELL I had a good time and didn't think any deeper about this" -

i really really loved how the supergirl 2026 movie subverted the 'if you kill them ur no better then them' trope, i loved that the conflict was not that he doesnt deserve to die but rather that ruthye deserves to not have to kill him, that she is just a child and should not have to carry that burden along with everything she had already been through. i really loved how kara killing him recontextulizes her actions leading up to that moment, how it becomes clear that it was never her intention to let him live, but to keep ruthye safely away from the fight.

The mirror replied "To whom?"

"The miller who made the flour for my bread," the queen would say, or "Whoever spun the thread my shawl was made of".

The second time, she says "To the King," and she is pleased to see herself once more.

The third time, she says "To the Royal Advisor," and is once more satisfied to see herself.

The fourth time, she says "To the scribe who takes the King's letters." She is shown the man's wife. And she seethes, but quiets herself, for it is only right that a man loves his wife.

The fifth time, she says "To the Court Wizard," and is shown the man's departed mother as he remembers her from his youth, radiant and smiling and warm and larger than life.

The tenth time, she says "To the Stable Master," and is shown the fastest horse in the stable, majestic and free as the wind even in captivity

"To the baker," she is shown the man's daughter, young and adorable and full of joy and laughter.

"To the artist who did my portrait," she is shown a painting of a woman done by the man's teacher, who he still looks up to now that he is well established himself.

"To the Royal Knight," she is surprised but not displeased to see the castle's entire guard force in the middle of doing drills.

The one hundredth time she asks the mirror, and it asks her "to whom?" she once again says, "To me." And she does the same the one hundred and second, and again and again and again.