The discourse might be proof that anti-intellectualism hasn\u2019t won<\/p>\n
While promoting his latest blockbuster, filmmaker Christopher Nolan listed scholar Emily Wilson\u2019s translation of \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d as one of his influences. Now, Wilson\u2019s scathing critique of Nolan\u2019s cinematic take on the epic poem has gone viral, inspiring additional backlash from critics and academics alike. Amid the heated controversy over one of the year\u2019s biggest films, there may be a silver lining to the discourse.<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s expertise in the classics is undeniable. She is also no stranger to backlash. In 2017, she became the first woman to translate \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d from ancient Greek into English, an interpretation \u201cwidely celebrated in academia and the literary world\u201d as \u201ccomprehensive, modern in sensibilities and faithful\u201d to Homer\u2019s almost 3,000-year-old classic, said The New York Times. Her translation departs from the \u201cmasculine framing used by her male predecessors,\u201d a move that has \u201csubjected her to online harassment and misogyny from men and far-right figures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Nolan\u2019s movie premiered, Wilson was \u201cpumped\u201d to see how the epic played out on the big screen, she said on The New York Times\u2019 The Daily podcast. However, after seeing Nolan\u2019s adaptation, Wilson said she would be \u201cashamed to have written any part of this script\u201d at The London Review of Books. The film had \u201cnothing convincing to say,\u201d it lacked \u201cpsychological, emotional, political and ethical depth,\u201d and the \u201cwriting is abysmal,\u201d Wilson added. It was a \u201cfamily-friendly audiovisual spectacle\u201d comparable to an \u201celaborate Fourth of July fireworks display.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Most of the nonwhite actors \u201cplay versions of the Black best friend, whose only role in the drama is to provide aid to the white protagonist,\u201d Wilson said in her LRB review. She has since expressed regret for this \u201cparagraph about the uses of the POC actors \u2014 who are all great, but IMO under-utilized,\u201d Wilson wrote on social media. She still thinks the film \u201clargely wastes its strong cast,\u201d but she \u201cframed it badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most prominent figures to come to Nolan\u2019s defense against Wilson was Joyce Carol Oates, a retired professor of the humanities and a prolific writer who has won a National Book Award. Wilson\u2019s \u201ctone of dismissal & haughty superiority strike a sour note,\u201d Oates said on X. Instead of \u201cdisagreeing with interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner,\u201d Wilson, who has \u201cbenefited enormously from Nolan\u2019s film,\u201d speaks in the \u201ccrude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers.\u201d Within the world of translators, Wilson\u2019s review \u201cseems all the more surprising since all translations are, presumably, subjective & not equivalent to the original text.\u201d One would expect a translator to be \u201cjust a wee bit more thoughtful & respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson used \u201cbaffling arguments\u201d to \u201cflay\u201d Nolan\u2019s adaptation of Homer\u2019s poem, classicist Theo Nash said at Slate. She criticizes Nolan for deviating from the text, \u201cas if the filmmaker\u2019s choices were not also an act of interpretation.\u201d The close attention that informs her translation is \u201clacking in her reading of the movie,\u201d and the \u201cidea that Nolan might have something new to say about \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 is denied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether or not you agree with Wilson\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s \u201calways exciting to read a particularly full-throated pan,\u201d said critic Kathryn VanArendonk at Vulture. Even if you don\u2019t believe Wilson did her job as a critic, she has \u201cdone her job as a writer,\u201d which is to \u201cbe a compelling read who makes her argument unmistakably clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figuring out \u201cwho is punching down here is really interesting,\u201d VanArendonk added. Since Wilson has \u201cacademic authority\u201d and is \u201cwriting with such vigor,\u201d it is \u201ceasy to forget that she has less power\u201d than Nolan, a Hollywood darling. That is also \u201cpart of the pleasure of the conversation.\u201d Wilson is not interested in \u201csoftening any of it.\u201d Still Nolan\u2019s the one who \u201cwalks away unscathed, no question.\u201d Of all the topics we could watch people fight about online, \u201chow someone adapted \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 is such a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.\u00a0<\/p>\n