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Representation Matters in Movies, Right Up Until It Doesn't

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 13, 2026 5:30 PM

With a little less than a week to go before Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' hits theaters, the media and Hollywood have done a great job of alienating filmgoers like me from seeing the film. Not only is it based on a 'modern' translation of Homer's epic by Emily Wilson, who put a feminist bent on the work, but Nolan's casting choices have also left a sour taste in many fans' mouths, including my own.

It's not just that he didn't bother to cast a single Greek actor in the movie, or that Lupita Nyong'o plays Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra, or that Ellen ('Elliot') Page is being obviously shoehorned into the story for 'trans representation,' but that Matt Damon — a fine actor — is also miscast as Odysseus. He hasn't been leading man material since 'The Bourne Identity' movies, and certainly doesn't have the gravitas to play a battle-worn warrior. For a performance that captures the weight of Odysseus's journey, I recommend 'The Return,' the 2024 film starring Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as his interminably patient wife, Penelope.

As always, the Leftist media and Hollywood went to bat for the casting choices, pointing out that The Odyssey is a work of fiction, so diverse casting shouldn't matter. 

It's the same tiresome song and dance they play every single time they take a classic work or a beloved IP and remake it for 'modern audiences.'

"Why does it matter so much to you?" they sneer. "It's just a movie."

Except when it's a movie they like, that is.

Ah. So I see how this is. Moana, a fictitious story that takes place in Polynesia, must have accurate and honorable representation.

Those Greeks, on the other hand? Screw 'em. 'The Odyssey' isn't real, anyway.

And that this came from Variety Magazine is just the chef's kiss.

Here are all the times, by the way, that Variety attacked critics of 'The Odyssey' for objecting to its casting.

All of those properties, by the way, have been unmitigated disasters.

If all those Oscar winners meet the diversity requirements, why did the Academy institute them in the first place?

'Racist backlash.' How it must've pleased the hacks at variety to write about that.

Yes. And Nolan will probably get the awards, even if the film underperforms.

But it's of vital importance that Polynesia culture be accurately represented in 'Moana.'

That's (D)ifferent.

So is 'Moana' and yet Variety's office would need to bring in counselors if Hollywood cast white actors in the film. Remember, these same people wouldn't let their daughters dress as Moana for Halloween because it was 'cultural appropriation.'

Once again, if diversity was already ingrained in Academy Award-nominated films, why do the quotas and rules exist? Is Variety denying that they do? Is Variety saying they're just performative and don't actually influence which films are nominated and win?

If cultural representation, accurate cultural representation, matters, then why are Greeks iced out of 'The Odyssey' — probably one of the most notable works of Greek culture, and one of the foundational texts of Western literature? The answer is simple, and in my previous question: Western culture. 

Who would be the target audience for a well-made epic about war, masculinity, and heroism? Red state audiences and conservatives like me. To the Left, that's a bad thing. The foundational texts of Western civilization must be destroyed or remade for 'modern audiences.' The cultural fabric that holds us together must be unwoven, because when there's no shared cultural foundation — in either movies, literature, or religion — it's easier for the communists to tear down the nation and rebuild it in their image.

I've seen 95 movies this year, ranging from classics starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn on TCM to the smash horror success 'Obsession,' which has made more than $425 million on a budget of $750,000. 'The Return,' the movie I mentioned earlier, was one that I saw while in North Dakota on a college campus visit with my eldest.

I love movies. I love going to movies.

I will not see 'The Odyssey,' and that's entirely the fault of Christopher Nolan, Lupita Nyong'o, and outlets like Variety. And I'll repeat my prediction: 'The Odyssey' won't flop, but it will maybe break even. It needs at least $750 million at the box office to do that, and given how off-putting the publicity has been, I don't see that happening.

If cultural representation matters, it matters in every film, not just in the ones Variety thinks are adequately diverse enough. And until Hollywood learns that lesson, they'll continue to alienate audiences.