Notes from Nowhere

here it says: TSWMT

„they say who murdered three“ like in the movie

but in the book it says

„they say murdered three“

Epic is an interesting case because it’s both adapting incredibly famous events in Greek mythology and telling its own tragedy, the impact of which is felt such that even the bittersweet happy ending makes everyone cry.

Epic the Musical is NOT called “The Odyssey: The Musical.” Because it’s not The Odyssey: The Musical. It does adapt the tale of the Odyssey, but the overarching plot arc and moral tale come from the mind of Jorge Rivera-Herrans, and the events and characters of the Odyssey are adapted in a way that is faithful enough to feel representative of the tale but ultimately are adjusted to serve that larger story goal, which Jorge never pretended was something he took from the original Odyssey.

Epic works because it’s adapting the Odyssey without claiming to tell the story of the Odyssey. It tells the story of Epic through the legendary tales of the Odyssey, which is a subtle difference, but one that was executed very well.

Nolan’s Odyssey movie, on the other hand, feels from the way it is set up as though it should be portraying the story of the Odyssey, and then it doesn’t.

Here’s the thing, though: I actually do like the tale told through Nolan’s Odyssey. I think the way it’s filmed, the way it’s set up, and the way the motifs pull together is very well done. The centrality of the invented Zeus’ law and the way Athena’s character was handled (which is completely antithetical to the original story, but impactful in its own way) were executed well. But at the same time, it just comes with this feeling of claiming to be something it isn’t. If the film wasn’t the Odyssey, I’d enjoy it better, because it is a good story, it just deeply is not the story it claims to be. In fact, I’d say Epic the Musical actually tiptoes closer to the Odyssey story than a movie called the Odyssey.

But this Zeus‘ Law is not made up or at least it is not as I have understood from googling the context of it in the film for two minutes. The ancient greeks in the tales did have a rule that structured all their lives that was connected to Zeus (and Athena apparently): breaking it would offend the king of gods personally.

The concept is called xenia, from the greek word for stranger or foreigner. Xenia stipulates that any stranger coming into your home and asking for rest or food needs to be treated like a guest. This is (one of) the reason why Telemachus cannot drive out the suitors on his own or why Penelope couldn’t have turned them down at her doorstep. It is an institutionalised, politicised concept and to not adhere by it is heresy and politically unwise.

Every plot point in all of Homer‘s Odyssey revolve around xenia: the suitors overstaying their welcome, Telemachus offering a disguised Athena and later Odysseus shelter, Nestor helping Telemachus, Odysseus misusing xenia in Polymephus‘ home (and being cursed immediately after).

2020:

The jeans problem was the favorite lecture one of my philosophy professors in college gave about the history of jeans and how it ties into capitalism/mainstream culture absorbing and monetizing any counterculture it encounters. So prior to the 1950s jeans were mostly an item of work-wear that you wore on the job as a farmer or factory worker or miner because they were cheap, durable, and hard-wearing. If you were off the job you'd wear what we'd call now dress pants or slacks. This changes in the 1950s when youth culture start wearing jeans as regular clothing, again because they're cheap, durable, and hard-wearing. But then jeans get absorbed by the culture and we start getting designer jeans, acid-washed jeans, pre-ripped jeans, and now we got people shelling out hundreds of dollars for "povertycore" aesthetic. And now jeans aren't even cheap, durable, and hard-wearing.

recently saw this screenshot in the wild and lost my mind because i knew it wasnt supposed to say girl. its ladykins. its get off the cross ladykins. i know this because ladykins is not something my brain could make up and i remember ladykins. and i was sincerely wondering if someone put in the work to censor ladykins for some inscrutable purposes but then i looked it up and

Here's how that works:

say you get a text from your internet provider, let's say it's Comcast (whom i hate). So you have this text that says it's from Comcast about your bill with a contact number and a clickable link -- could be real, could be a scam.

Don't touch anything about this text. Open a web browser and look up the customer service number for Comcast. Or get the number from the bill they send you. However you do it, get the contact info for Comcast from a trusted source, like an official phone directory or the Comcast website itself.

Get in touch with them using that information.

So. Let's run the example both ways it could go.

If it IS a scam: you reach out to Comcast and tell them you were contacted about a problem with your bill, they look you up in their customer database, and they tell you there is no problem with your bill.

If it's NOT a scam, you do the same thing, they look you up, and they explain the problem. In this case, neither Comcast nor the employees involved give a single shit whether or not you clicked the link in the text vs. going through their official website.

This works the same for the your bank, the IRS, Amazon, political causes, charities, everything.

GO OFF BESTIE

Nala looking concerned about Simba hiding something about his past, a comparison: