Heavy As A Feather

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.

A) resource guarding

And

B) Harry Potter

So naturally, every time someone didn’t have a pencil she would charge them 10 house points (which, even in schools where there is an actual house point system, probably doesn’t fucking happen). She openly held the belief that she had to ascribe value to these precious writing implements or else no one would appreciate them, a concept evidenced by, i kid you not, how when homeless people are given houses for free they let them fall into disarray, because they didn’t pay for the house and therefore didn’t care about it. I, a pissed off 13 year old with a vendetta against power hungry teachers and also JK Rowling, brought a 100 pack of pencils to school so that whenever someone had to ask for one, instead of being charged a fictional currency and upsetting their fellow, deeply competitive students, i would just give them one. If the pencil didn’t come from the teacher, she couldn’t charge points for it.

This upset her. She couldn’t assert her power over the 1st period Advanced 8th Grade Math Class anymore. For i, The Pencil Liberator, had come to put an end to her tyrannous behavior.

*checks wiki*

This is what Roerich's paintings look like:

In the US, there is no meaningful legal definition for educational/academic neglect in any of the 50 states or federally. What this means is that a child can be "homeschooled" and exclusively be taught how to cook and clean, reach the age of 18 being unable to read, write, or count, and this alone is not considered neglect. That 18yo, should they even have the knowledge that suing exists, has no legal grounds to sue their parents for denying them an education.

In over 40 US states, a convicted child abuser can homeschool their children. So someone who has done time for child abuse and somehow regains access to their child(ren) can decide upon returning home that they want to "homeschool" their kids. Those children are now locked in a home with their abuser where nobody can see them.

There are no welfare checks.

There are no routine assessments.

There aren't even databases — state or federal — keeping track of how many homeschooled kids there actually are.

Meaning a child can be locked in their home for their entire life with their convicted abuser, learn absolutely nothing, never go to the doctor, and so long as that child is fed, clothed, and the abuse isn't physical or sexual, that child has almost no chance of rescue and no legal ground to seek restitution if/when they escape.

The only way homeschooled children get rescued is if they're beaten, starved, or physically neglected and they're able to get the right person to see that. Otherwise? They have to wait until someone finds out they were murdered as a result of their parents "homeschooling".

And feral homeschool parents love to jump down my throat about this, and then get even more pissed when I tell them I'm a homeschool alumni.

Because I know it's not all homeschoolers. But even one is too many, and the lack of protections should scare everyone. If you're a good homeschool parent, nothing will change. If not, you deserve whatever comes your way as a result of adequate oversight.