star fires

John Cho and Karen Gillan in Selfie (2014)

From the producer of Worth the Wait:

"They gave me a list of white guys we could cast. If we could give one of the roles to them, we could get funded." The investors held the belief that, except for genres such as martial arts, Asian male characters are not bankable, with little appeal for Western audiences.

Hollywood, put more Asian men in romantic lead roles.

Ancient myths were told by travelling bard. They were sung to please an audience. To praise a king, to teach children lessons, to entertain the people of the time.

The ancient versions were not written for us. They do not match up to our societal expectations. They do not teach lessons that we consider useful. They tell tall tales rather than histories.

Which is why adaptations very much can and should change things.

It's not a book from a few years ago that they're remaking into a new medium. It's an ancient and well-known story that they're recrafting for a new audience.

Medusa is the perfect example. The original story is a warning of the dangers of messing with gods (The even earlier original has her born a monster with no backstory at all). Today we switch the perspective of the narrative, and she is a victim of higher powers treating her as an object, as many women are today.

It is for the same reason that while in the original Odyssey Odysseus spends a year with Circe and has 2 children with her, in almost any modern adaptation he refuses her advances. Because Odysseus and Penelope's loyalty to each other is a consistent theme of the story, so we adapt it to fit our definition of loyalty.

These myths are meant to be passed down, shared and changed for a new audience to enjoy and learn from.