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Emily Wilson, whose acclaimed 2017 translation of 'The Odyssey' influenced Christopher Nolan during the development of his film adaptation, has intensified her criticism of the director's blockbuster, describing it as "emotionally empty" and arguing that audiences "need art that is truthful" about compassion.
As per Variety, Wilson recently expanded on the concerns she first raised in her review for the London Review of Books, where she sharply criticised Nolan's screenplay, writing, "I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script." Wilson's latest essay focuses on the film's interpretation of "Zeus' law," a recurring phrase in Nolan's adaptation that reflects the principle of extending kindness to strangers because "they could be gods in disguise." She argues that the film incorrectly frames the Trojan Horse as the ultimate violation of this law. "The horse is presented as the ultimate violation of the law of Zeus, because it entails wielding a weapon of mass destruction disguised as a gift," Wilson wrote. She questioned the logic behind this interpretation, adding that the Trojans "are not their hosts but their enemies in war," as quoted by Variety. According to Wilson, if the war itself is morally troubling, "it is nonsensical to suggest that the most important turning point is the use of the horse rather than Agamemnon's choice to invade Troy in the first place and Odysseus's choice to yield to the empire's demands." Wilson also criticised the film's visual storytelling, arguing that it prioritises spectacle over human emotion. "The script grandly insists on the importance of human kindness, while the camera shows us an entirely different set of values," she wrote in her piece, as per Variety. Instead of focusing on characters, she said, the film is primarily interested in "the mechanical challenge of moving objects through space," from the Trojan Horse to ships and city gates. Doubling down on her criticism, Wilson concluded, "Nolan's Odyssey is itself a kind of Trojan horse." She added, "In these times of hatred and misinformation, we need more than the 'apparent magic' of deceptive images. We need art that is truthful about the costs and the necessity of compassion... These lessons are legible in Homer and Virgil, but are elided by Nolan's visually stunning, emotionally empty film." Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, had earlier argued that Nolan's adaptation lacked "psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth" and "has nothing convincing to say" about themes central to Homer's epic, as per Variety. Despite the criticism, audiences have embraced the film. The Odyssey earned an "A" CinemaScore during its opening weekend and has become one of the year's biggest box office successes, collecting USD 405 million domestically and USD 922 million worldwide in its first three weeks, as per Variety. Wilson's remarks also drew criticism from author Joyce Carol Oates, who defended Nolan on X. Oates wrote that, rather than engaging with differing interpretations of Homer "in a collegial manner," Wilson used "the crude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers," adding that she expected "a translator, of all people... to be just a wee bit more thoughtful & respectful of others who are acting in good faith." (ANI)
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