‘The Odyssey’: Why Elon Musk and His Troll Army’s Attacks Aren’t Just Silly but Wildly Inaccurate

From the team that brought you “Why is Snow White Latina?,” “Why are there Black people in ‘The Rings of Power?,’” and “Star Wars has gone woke,” comes the latest online onslaught against an anticipated Hollywood project that committed the unfathomable sin of having a diverse cast.

In recent days, Twitter trolls have formed a phalanx and pointed their sarissas squarely at “The Odyssey,” Christopher Nolan’s $250 million adaptation of Homer’s epic scheduled to hit cinemas July 17. They have not actually seen the film yet, mind you, but have nevertheless managed to work themselves into a lather over a pair of castings (though Page’s character isn’t even confirmed yet): Elliot Page as Achilles’ Ghost and Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy.

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Forget that Achilles and Helen of Troy are both fictional characters navigating a mythological fable replete with a giant Cyclops, six-headed Scylla, and assorted other gods and monsters, or that these are just two actors in a giant cast that includes mostly white folks. In Homer’s telling, these two characters were white and with golden hair, so according to these apparent literary purists, they must be so in each and every adaptation. Why can’t Nolan’s film be more like “Troy,” Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 big-screen version of “The Iliad,” with its blindingly blond Achilles (played by Brad Pitt) and its Aryan Helen of Troy (Diane Kruger), they argue:

(That the latter tweet comes courtesy of the actor Kevin Sorbo, who played Hercules in the comically inconsistent with Greek mythology — and astoundingly bad — television series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” is *chef’s kiss*.)

These culture warriors have been led to battle by their own personal Agamemnon, Elon Musk, who’s never found a transgender person that hasn’t driven him mad (even his own daughter).

Musk, who owns Twitter, reportedly manipulates its algorithm to drive eyeballs to his account, frequently signal-boosts white grievance campaigns attacking diversity, and, according to a Guardian analysis, “made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January,” has posted dozens of times in recent days attacking “The Odyssey” over its inclusion of Page and Nyong’o, while extolling “Troy.”

He has agreed with right-wing troll Matt Walsh’s argument that those on the left would be driven to “murderous violence” if Sydney Sweeney was cast as “the most beautiful woman in Africa,” laughed at an AI-generated photo of Elliot Page (in Greek warrior garb) struggling to open a pickle jar, and accused Nolan of dancing on Homer’s grave:

Musk has also boosted claims that Nolan chose to cast Black and trans people to satisfy the Academy’s representation and inclusion standards for Oscar eligibility, which were announced back in 2020 and went into effect starting in 2024:

We do know that Musk is a fan of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” having professed this numerous times on his platform, including the following reply to venture capitalist (and Trump advisor) Marc Andreessen in 2024, after Andreessen tweeted about how there were “so much alpha in books from 1870 to 1930, its unreal”:

Let’s start with the trolls’ praise for “Troy,” and work our way toward their misinterpretation of Oscar rules, shall we?

For anyone who’s a fan of “The Iliad,” as Musk has purported to be, it’s almost impossible to like “Troy,” which bastardizes Homer’s tale beyond belief. It casts Menelaus (played by Brendan Gleeson) as one of the villains of its story; has Hector (Eric Bana) kill Menelaus to save Paris (Orlando Bloom), completely negating Menelaus’s appearance in “The Odyssey”; makes Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund) Achilles’ cousin, instead of his companion (and, according to Aeschylus, lover); allows Hector’s wife, Andromache (Saffron Burrows), and son, Astyanax, to escape Troy through a tunnel system, whereas subsequent Greek texts depict her as being taken captured and her son as being hurled from the walls of Troy by Achilles’ son; makes the Trojan War seem like it took a matter of weeks, instead of a decade; completely excises the Greek gods; and, most infuriatingly, has Briseis (Rose Byrne) kill Agamemnon, thus erasing one of the great Greek tragedies, Aeschylus’s “The Oresteia”:

It’s worth stressing, too, that both Helen of Troy and Achilles are relative afterthoughts in “The Odyssey.” The former pops up briefly in Book 4 as the Queen of Sparta and wife to Menelaus, cunningly recognizing Telemachus as Odysseus’s son, while the latter is encountered by Odysseus in Book 11 as a spirit in the Underworld.

Now to the Oscar rules.

Musk and his acolytes have repeatedly accused Nolan of opting for a diverse cast in “The Odyssey” to meet Academy-mandated quotas for Oscar consideration — or, as Musk so succinctly tweeted, “He wants the awards.”

That is not necessarily the case. To meet the Academy’s representation and inclusion standards for Oscar eligibility, you have to meet two of the following standards:

-Standard A: On-Screen Representation, Themes and Narratives

• At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
• At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two underrepresented groups.
• The main storyline(s), theme or narrative of the film is centered on an underrepresented group.

-Standard B: Creative Leadership and Project Team

• At least two of the following creative leadership positions and department heads — Casting Director, Cinematographer, Composer, Costume Designer, Director, Editor, Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Sound, VFX Supervisor, Writer — are from an underrepresented group.
• At least six other crew/team and technical positions (excluding Production Assistants) are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. These positions include but are not limited to First AD, Gaffer, Script Supervisor, etc.
• At least 30% of the film’s crew is from an underrepresented group.

-Standard C: Industry Access and Opportunities

• The film’s distribution or financing company has paid apprenticeships or internships that are from underrepresented groups.
• The film’s production, distribution and/or financing company offers training and/or work opportunities for below-the-line skill development to people from underrepresented groups.

-Standard D: Audience Development

• The studio and/or film company has multiple in-house senior executives from a underrepresented groups (must include individuals from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups) on their marketing, publicity, and/or distribution teams.

The “underrepresented groups” in question include:

• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

Again, two of these standards need to be satisfied for Oscar eligibility. So, you can still have an all-white cast and win Oscars if you satisfy other standards. And for an example of this, Musk and Co. can look no further than Nolan’s previous film, “Oppenheimer,” which had an all-white cast and took home seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Nolan. The film satisfied Standard B by having women as its costume designer, production designer, editor, and head of makeup; satisfied Standard C due to Universal Studios’ in-house apprenticeship programs; and satisfied Standard D because Universal has a woman as its chairman (Donna Langley), a woman as its president of international distribution (Veronika Kwan Vandenberg), and a Black person as its president of domestic marketing (Dwight Caines), along with other women on its leadership team.

As you can plainly see, the arguments levied by Musk and his fellow trolls do not hold water — or, as another bard once said, they are nothing more than “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”