Hiya!

We’re just a few days away from the opening of Christopher Nolan‘s latest “epic” film, The Odyssey. I guess I’ve been living under a rock because, although I have been anticipating this movie, I didn’t really know anything about the controversy revolving around it. Then again, that’s mostly due to the fact I have intentionally been avoiding a lot of spoilers. As a self-professed Greek mythology geek, I wanted to fully experience the “sequel” to the Trojan War/Iliad on its own merits, so to speak. Also, I have loved Christopher Nolan’s movies ever since he put together the Dark Knight trilogy. So, I have always given him the benefit of the doubt whenever he makes some, shall we say, peculiar choices in his films.

So, imagine my surprise to see how much online discussion is revolving around Christopher Nolan’s decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy. As I said, I haven’t been following much the news regarding the production of The Odyssey, so I didn’t even learn about her casting until recently when I decided to look up the screening times of the movie here in the Philippines. The backlash has been really harsh and there are even some people calling for fans to boycott the film when it does come out.

I then got to thinking about the controversy this casting choice has stirred up. Is this really a big deal? As someone who is both fascinated by Greek mythology and movies in general, I do believe I have a unique perspective on the topic on all of this broughaha and I actually understand both sides of the argument. So, I decided to do what I always do and debate with myself to see if all of this online hate is really warranted in my opinion.

First off, I think the biggest issue have with Lupita Nyong’o is, frankly, her skin color. Now, is some of the hate racially motivated? I would have to say yes but you do have a question if they have a point. What I’m saying is, historically, speaking, was dark skin considered the height of beauty during the time of the Iliad and The Odyssey. After all, Lupita Nyong’o was described to be incredibly beautiful. So, is her having darker skin really helping drive that point across regarding how drop dead gorgeous she was?

Actually, historically speaking, no.

Regarding female beauty standards during when the film supposedly takes place, women were said to be more aesthetically pleasing if they had pale skin (like me!). In fact, in most of her depictions, Helen of Troy was also supposed to be a redhead. Not to sound insensitive (based on your region) but doesn’t that sound like what a “ginger” would be? Now, while I may be a fan of Greek mythology, I’m not too big on human evolution and whatnot. What I do get from my limited understanding on this is people with natural red hair cannot have dark skin because of a genetic mutation. So, if were supposed to be taking The Odyssey to be historically accurate, then Lupita Nyong’o does seem to be incredibly miscast as she doesn’t meet the beauty standards of the time, least of all Helen of Troy, the woman with a face that launched a thousand ships.

Then again, to be fair, even during ancient Greek times, there were tricks women did to make themselves look more beautiful. Much like how we would apply makeup today, women would also do things like apply something like a coating on their skin. Essentially, they would have literally painted their skin white in order to look more attractive. Now, I haven’t seen The Odyssey yet so maybe there are scenes where Lupita Nyong’o’s Helen of Troy will be doing the same, becoming historically accurate. There’s also an argument to be made how Lupita Nyong’o actually does have some features which would have been beautiful during the time and region. Specifically, she has a round face, which the ancient Greeks found very attractive. So, that’s actually a point in her favor.

There’s also the fact that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. In 2014, Lupita Nyong’o was actually named People‘s Most Beautiful Woman in the World. I’ve also looked online to see how other people, who didn’t even know who she was, reacts to her attractiveness and there are indeed some people who were gob smacked with how gorgeous she is in their eyes. So, to those people, I do believe they do see her as the face that can launch a thousand ships.

Still, while I cannot account for other people’s tastes, I can certainly be certain of my own. In my own opinion, I don’t really find Lupita Nyong’o that attractive the same way I don’t find Sydney Sweeney all that pretty. I can see why others do but I just don’t. They’re just not my type and that’s just me. I actually find Zendaya and Anne Hathaway, her co-stars in The Odyssey, better looking that her. I also think Tessa Thompson and Zoe Saldana, another couple of female actresses Lupita Nyong’o has connections with, specifically with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, prettier than her. It’s just my personal preference. However, I do see the potential of this personal preference hindering my enjoyment of The Odyssey as, if I won’t be able to picture Lupita Nyong’o as someone hot enough to ignite the Trojan War, then my suspension of disbelief might be affected.

Then again, I don’t really think she’ll be in the film for all that long. As someone who is familiar with Greek mythology and the source material, I actually don’t understand why Helen of Troy is even in The Odyssey movie. Sure, she factors heavily in the Iliad because that story was focused on the Trojan War and how she essentially caused it. The Odyssey, however, is all about Odysseus, one of the heroes from the Iliad, and his journey home after the events of The Iliad. So, why did Christoper Nolan decide to insert Helen of Troy in the movie? It’s probably because she appears very briefly in The Odyssey as she mentions how, during the events of The Iliad, she recognized Odysseus when he disguised himself as a beggar in the city of Troy. That’s pretty much it and it doesn’t really push the story forward. It does give closure to what happened to her after The Iliad. Even so, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to do so since we never did get Christopher Nolan’s version of The Iliad, did we? Still, her role in The Odyssey is so small, it would be so easy to cut out.

Ultimately, I do not agree with Christopher Nolan’s casting choice for Helen of Troy. I just don’t think Lupita Nyong’o is gorgeous enough to have caused the Trojan War. However, I do believe all this controversy is overblown as, if my knowledge of Greek mythology is spot on, Helen of Troy won’t really be in The Odyssey for that long. Helen of Troy was not a big player in the original story of The Odyssey so I don’t think she’ll be in the film for that long, also. Essentially, there’s a whole lot of people getting bent out of shape for nothing more than a glorified cameo. They’re getting all upset for someone who’s probably going to wind up having only something like 5 minutes of screen time.

I mean, c’mon! Don’t you guys have nothing better to do?

Byee!

What’s your take on Lupita Nyong’o’s casting as Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey? Is it a big deal or not? Let me know in the comments section below!