I've said many times over the years that there is one thing just as sure as death and taxes. And it is that at any moment, about 1/3 of conservatives will fall into line with and support, endorse, excuse, or even agree with whatever the Left is doing or pushing. Not always the same ones about the same issues. But always about 1/3 can be counted on.
So Nolan's The Odyssey came out, and almost all was as predicted. Reviews have been mostly positive (mostly), and among more progressive or leftwing outlets, sometimes near gushing. A masterpiece, the greatest ever, a new epoch in filmmaking has begun. It's Christian and pagan and rightwing and leftwing and pigs have wings and so on. Meanwhile, many conservatives and those bothered mostly by the casting - or more importantly, why the casting - have either refused to see it, or did not like what they saw.
With our postmodern tendencies toward things like film reviews clouding the issue, I won't bother with different aspects of the movie and what was good or bad. That is ever and always a matter of taste and preferences anyway. And with so much riding on this movie's reputation, it will be tough to sift through how much of it was bona fide love of the product and how much was making sure the product would be loved despite itself. The opposite being true for its critics. Though from what I've heard, its various themes are pretty much every message you'd expect from an industry that has put fealty to the post-Western Left at the front and center of its priority list. As one reviewer said, Nolan's The Odyssey fails to tell us where we came from, but it sure as heck shows us where we're going.
Which brings us to my favorite group of conservatives. The ones who will always be there when the Left needs them. Especially, in this case, regarding the entire DEI mandate that Nolan was, in all likelihood, pandering to with his casting choices. And that is the big - I mean BIG - issue here.
Those who know me know that I define 'Woke' (a term I don't care for) as the Left basically saying 'you heard post-war liberalism insist our only hope is when we accept that all animals are equal? Well, we "woke" to how unjust and unfair that is, and now realize it's time to accept that some animals are more equal than others.'
We've seen that play out with 'never judge/you're the problem if you don't judge'; 'violence is never the answer/violence can be a darn good answer'; 'nothing is more sacred than free speech/sometimes we need some good old censorship', and on and on. But the biggest coup has been 'it's time to stop being bigots and be a color blind society and judge based on content of character/if you're not willing to judge based on ethnic identity or other group identities, you're the bigot.'
At which point we notice the Academy of Motion Picture's official declaration that henceforth, anyone wanting an Oscar nomination for Best Picture will make sure to cast actors and actresses according to group identity quotas (Bonus: Remember all those years when we were told Affirmative Action would never be about quotas?). And these quotas include, but are hardly confined to, ethnic identity, skin color, and other accidents of birth. What would have once been called bigotry or discrimination the way Goebbels used to bake it is now officially sanctioned. With no pushback from academia, the media, the Democrats, or even no small number of religious traditions.
It's purposefully eating away at the foundational values, principles, and even laws that have defined America and the trajectory of the overall Western Tradition for generations. It's serious. And nobody realizes this more than conservatives. Heck, one of their favorite shout-outs to President Trump during this most confusing of all presidential terms has been his push back against DEI mandates. And one of the most flagrant examples of these is the Motion Picture Academy's mandate to cast based on demographic quotas rather than, say, talent. Something that has been being pushed for years mind you, much to the chagrin of those to the right of center.
Yet despite this, what do we get with The Odyssey? Conservatives rushing out and giving a rousing thumbs up to the movie! I know, I know. So what if Sean Penn is a left of Lenin communist, the man can act! So what if Oliver Stone would rather the hammer and sickle than the stars and stripes? He's made some terrific movies. I get that.
But aside from every other stylistic, messaging, plot or film choices that some may or may not approve, the casting was, again, in line with the Academy's insistence that DEI is alive and well and living through officially sanctioned prejudice and discrimination by group identity. Including ethnicity. I mean, at what point do you stop saying 'messaging aside, I can't give a big enough thumbs up to Triumph of the Will'? Sure, you can point out that it is a masterclass in filmmaking, as has always been admitted. But must we endorse it or promote it or give it a rousing thumbs up?
All I can say is, if a thumbs up must be given, then let's admit DEI isn't that big of a deal. Already I've seen some on the Left point that out. I caught some podcast pop up on that FB podcast section with a young leftwing firebrand saying the same thing. For all the screams and protests and cheers for Trump's war on DEI, obviously it's not that big of an issue after all. Just like churches shutting down and banning worship services during Covid. Apparently not going to church is in no way a deal breaker. Something non-believers and critics were eager to point out. Just as I see them doing now about DEI being not so much. And you know what? They're right. And the next time DEI comes up, I'm sure they'll be there to remind us.
After being criticized for saying the Odyssey is "woke" (which I never said... anyway), why aren't people who love this film celebrating the fact that it is WOKE? Woke is good, right? Be proud that the film is woke and that we need more woke films!
ReplyDelete-Alan Ng on Twitter
It all calls back to something else said:
The required takeaway from the genetic differences video is that your enemies do not use words the way that you do. They are not instruments for conveying meaning. They do not illuminate a mapping from mental concepts to physical reality
They are spells, provided to them by wizards. The purpose of the spells is to make you do what they want. You may believe that you are having a conversation, but they know they are in a spell-casting contest. And their ignorance of everything that is real provides them with absolute immunity to your spells
And that's a real challenge - how do you even live with someone who doesn't see you as in a relationship or trying to work towards the truth, but rather spellcasters who are trying to shape each other's will? I would prefer some kind of harmony, but when someone declares disagreement as harm, it makes you wonder if there is any solution besides war...
I was having this debate over on FB. I said a condensed version of this. Not everyone agreed. But someone pointed out something. They said compare the conservatives rushing out to praise this movie with the MSM/Leftwing reviews of Young Washington. I've looked, and among those outlets that have bothered having reviews, they've been largely mixed to negative. I saw the old Ebert page gave it a somewhat positive review as a 'fable', but that's the closest I've gotten. Some who are full blown on the Left have not shockingly trashed it. Again, among those I've found to even bother. That's the thing about the Left. They maintain the phalanx. Something you can almost always count on conservatives not to do.
DeleteConsidering movie productions take years, this film was really made in the peak-woke era. I think the problem is more conservatives need to moderate their pre-outrage a bit on some things and sort out the details later. It's very easy for conservatives to get played with outrage bait. Movies that are just bad won't make money, like all the Oscar noms this last year. From what I can tell the DEI casting was silly, but minimal so it didn't completely derail the film. My son went to see it on IMAX with a few friends. They all bought their tickets last year. IMAX presales really boosted the initial take on the film.
ReplyDeleteI had personal objections to the Odyssey casting myself, specifically Matt Damon (who looks just like a baby face guy from Boston and not the King of Ithica, just my opinion), and I was uninterested in a feminist retelling, so I have no interest in ever seeing it.
Here's the thing about "getting played"...
DeleteIt doesn't matter.
If you want the in depth reasoning, I wrote about it here.
But let's look at it another way, let's even narrow the scope to make the numbers easier to digest. Say the country is 300 mil people. Let's even assume a 50/50 split (150m each).
Ok so the left does something - that means you must now get 150 mil "right" people to ALL agree to NOT do something. In this hypothetical example, not complain about something.
Go ahead. Try it.
Let's say by some insane luck, we're highly effect, and we get 149,999,999 mil conservatives to all agree to NOT complain about The Odyssey. You then have just 1 random guy who breaks from the group and goes to complain.
Well we have social media now. So the liberal media can find that 1 random guy who didn't get the memo, and blow it up to frame the whole debate: "conservatives whine about..."
If you want a real life example, dig into the "Obama Tan Suit" controversy sometime. One guy complaining became "Republicans controversy."
BUT we have a bonus round! Let us say we got all 150 mil people to march in total lockstep on the Right. It does NOT matter. Because the barrier and costs to entry are so low, the Left could just gin up controversy by have some of their members impersonate "conservatives" and then generate whatever headlines they want. It's a technique called "black propaganda" (as opposed to "white" or "grey" propaganda).
Want another real life example? The SPLC.
All this talk about "what the right should do" and "tactics" ignores the fundamental fact that it's a rigged game nobody can really play.
I think it comes down to just when are conservatives going to turn, plant the flag and fight. It's the DEI - something conservatives have made into a holy crusade, that is behind this. And we all know it. The Academy has said you will check the DEI boxes if you want and Oscar nod for Best Picture. Something conservatives blasted when they did so. And yet this, which has casting exactly in line with that mandate, has the same conservatives rushing out and saying 'OK, so not so big of a deal this time.' Which I'm seeing more and more on the Left note. After watching conservatism and what conservative have pledged to defend lose one year after another for decades, it does make you wonder. And just like still being reminded of churches that said church is not a deal breaker because the here and now is what matters, I'm sure they'll bring this up again when the time comes. And they'll be right.
DeleteWell, the obvious answer to both objections is the Right needs to fund its own artistic endeavors and set up its own rewards system to compete in the marketplace. Angel Studios has had some success working around the distribution issue, for instance, that often holds up more indie non-woke movies, but there needs to be more buy in from big money. I saw someone suggest Elon Musk should give Mel Gibson $100M to go make an Aenid adaptation, and I think that's actually a good idea.
DeleteI’m sorry, let me clarify… it’s “AN ANSWER “. I don’t actually think there is one specific answer.
DeleteI think the thing is that this transcends simply opposing the artistic choices or plot themes that are influenced by ideals we typically resist. It's that the Right has made DEI one of the holy crusades of the age - and rightly so. It is, in the end, simply sanctioning prejudice and discrimination based on group identity and accident of birth. Something post-war liberalism said was forever a no-no. And the Academy's official notice that to qualify for best picture Oscar, a film must satisfy this very form of discrimination was rightly called out by opponents of DEI as an egregious example of what they are objecting to. Yet this movie, which clearly casts in complete lockstep to that DEI demand, gets rounds of praise, and even some acting like 'DEI? Eh, it's a thing, but let's not go crazy.' As I said, I'm already seeing those on the Left grab that and put it in their pockets for later use. And rightly so.
DeleteIn America, a conservative is a liberal with some sentimental attachment to old ways. He isn't going to risk being excluded from the liberal consensus entirely, so he eventually folds. Reminds me of how a friend once described American Catholics as "Protestants who go to Mass". --- G. Poulin
ReplyDeleteSad but so often true. Sometimes I fear it's just because those who say they are conservative simply like some of the things the Left has to offer. Not all for the same things, which makes it even worse. But that goes back to the fact that 'conservatism' is merely the name we give to people who are resisting this global revolution we call 'The Left.' I wish there was a better name for it, but it is definitely a thing. Unlike conservatism, which is merely a loosely associated group of diverse interests whose main identity is that they don't like that 'thing.'
DeleteThe argument that Nolan made the casting decisions he did did to Academy considerations is wrong. Verifiably wrong. These changes went into effect before Oppenheimer was released and won the best picture Oscar. There were no non white actors of any significance. The guidelines have as much to who is in the crew and behind the scenes as who is front of the camera.
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie and simply disagree with the anger merchants. I suppose that just makes me someone who wants to appease the left. OR maybe it just makes me someone who can form independent judgement instead of relying on Matt Walah.
Technically, the push to mandate demographic quotas began in 2016 when Spike Lee protested the Oscars that year. By 2020 the Academy published what amounted to a declaration of where it was going with this. A couple years later I believe they began somehow putting that into practice. And by the 2024 Oscars, IIRC, it was officially mandated. I don't know when Nolan began casting for the Odyssey, but it would have had to be several years ago not to know what the Academy openly declared it was going to do. And given it's Nolan, it's almost impossible to believe that played no part in a movie whose cast is basically a progressive demographic checklist. But as I said, what one does or doesn't like about the movie is a matter of opinion. My argument is that conservatives rightly condemn the entire DEI framework, which is merely regressing back to officially sanctioned group identity bigotry and discrimination. But because they like a movie that at least toes the line, if not was purposefully produced to accommodate the DEI mandate, they suddenly say no big deal. Compare to those MSM or leftwing outlets that have bothered to review Young Washington. I've only seen a couple close to saying anything good, and then very measured in doing so. Most have overwhelmingly been mixed to negative. As I said, the Left holds the phalanx. Conservatives don't. That's just how it is. It's less a condemnation on my part as an unfortunate observation.
DeleteI have not watched the movie. But, I do follow Jonathan Pageau. He had an interesting take on the film: the film itself is a trojan horse. In order to get progressives to appreciate the deeper themes of the film (family, the father) Nolan needed to lure them in with surface level enticements (ahem, scandals to the traditionalist). Pageau contends that the use of Ellen Page was intentional (and undermining of that particular progressive virtue) because in the movie Page's character is used as a stand in for a man who should have battled, but backed out. In steps Page, and he/she failed in their effort to fill in for the role of that man.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying he's right.... I haven't seen the movie.
But it makes me think of something Peter Kreeft once said (in connection to the writings of Walker Percy). That Percy is like Plato, he can't come right out and say "Belief in God is important and the Catholic Church is the way to that relationship".... because his audience is antagonistic to that view. So, Walker (like Plato) needs to massage the message into what they're saying. They need to present the topic in a way that goes under the radar and can plant itself subtly in the mind of the antagonist.
Again, I haven't seen the movie. I trust Pageau.... and I think Kreeft makes a solid point.
I've seen that argument made on a couple forums. That Nolan is playing a sort of 4D Chess. Yes, it's a grand epic from a pagan day, but there is some stealth Christianity in there. Sort of like Tolkien and LoTR. But I've also seen some argue that he's in fact playing 8D Chess. Yes, it's an old pagan tale, but here are some Christian themes - but then the next level, here they are filtered through the prism of our post-Western, post-Christian, post-modern world. Again, I don't know personally. I’ve not seen it, and to be honest, probably won’t. For me, the DEI is the big issue, and it's almost impossible for me to note the very broad checklist of official demographic representation in the cast and conclude it wasn't influenced by the Academy's push to mandate such considerations. Which I agree with conservatives is a bad thing.
DeleteI am not going to see it either. I did think it very odd how Nolan scoffed at the idea of a soundtrack featuring orchestral music with his, "they didn't have orchestras back then". It struck me as a "cry for help" comment. So weird to focus on how out of sync an orchestra would be in that movie when you have a black woman as Helen of Troy and Ellen Page in the movie as a man.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched Nolan fumble the third Batman due to Heath Ledger's death, I figured he was not the type to stand up to difficult realities. That's why the easiest explanation for the check-box demographic casting that aligns to the Academy's demands is that he did it to align to the Academy's demands.
Delete