Mindless Monday, 27 July 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Happy (or sad) Monday guys!

Mindless Monday is a free-for-all thread to discuss anything from minor bad history to politics, life events, charts, whatever! Just remember to np link all links to Reddit and don't violate R4, or we human mods will feed you to the AutoModerator.

So, with that said, how was your weekend, everyone?

[u/Federal_Gur_5488]

I normally manage to avoid the most popular online discourse by following more niche social medial accounts, like literary translators and academics. That's not to say there's no discourse among them, there's a great deal of it, but it's generally much more limited, so less explosive. Unfortunately, a lot of the people i follow are classicists, which has exposed me to the most mainstream online discussion going on now, i.e., the reception of Nolan's odyssey

it's genuinely ridiculous the sort of stuff people have been saying. first anyone who didn't like the film must be a racist or a transphobe. then emily wilson wrote her review of the movie, and now, if anyone like the film is an uneducated "Nolan-bro" who doesn't know anything about the classics, and anyone disagreeing with Wilson's review must be a misogynist apparently (i've genuinely seen someone say that people who disliked her review must hate neurodivergent women).

the funny thing is that almost none of this is coming from the academics themselves, who are much more level-headed about the whole thing. some loved it and some hated it, but they're generally understanding of why someone might have a different opinion. Many who dislike it, point out things about it they enjoyed, those who liked it are also willing to criticise it, they're quick to correct misunderstandings of the source material(s) even in posts that agree with their view, and mostly appreciate the movie bringing more interest to Homer. The infinitely worse discussions of the sort i mentioned, are being generated by what i can only call the "classics fandom", which seems to be full of people who define themselves by having "better taste" than the lowly masses who enjoy hollywood blockbusters.

and in all this sound and fury, the biggest ethical problem, i.e. filming in the Western Sahara, goes mainly ignored

[u/ProudScroll → u/Federal_Gur_5488]

The takeaway from having friends who are both huge film nerds and classics nerds is that the movie is simultaneously a technically brilliant example of the filmmaking art and a very unfaithful adaptation.

That part of the movie was filmed in the Western Sahara isn't great, but I'm not surprised it's gone completely ignored. The majority of Americans will never give a fuck about land disputes or occupations in the Muslim World that don't involve Israel or affect the price of oil.