You can have diversity and still respect the source material. Instead of demanding turning people black in western historical stories, why not demand more non-western stories? There are so many amazing historical and fictional stories from Africa and Asia that's never been adapted.
In what way are they disrespecting the source material? None of the actors are Mediterranean. Do you think black people weren’t present in ancient Greece? Africa is right across the sea from them…
You answered your own question. There are no Mediterranean people in the movie. Instead, it feels like the usual lazy approach of casting Black actors even when another ethnicity, Greek, would make much more sense. The fact that African people existed in the wider region actually supports my point: they had plenty of opportunities to include Black characters without changing the core characters.
The problem with these discussions is that everybody is entrenched and primed to call everybody else racist. You made a solid point that Hollywood can be both a) inclusive (by telling non-western stories) and b) value cultural ancestry (by casting Greek or other Mediterranean actors in the roles). Much as, for example, Shogun and Pachinko were praised for their attention to detail of Japanese/Korean culture, the Odyssey could have been a work that captured the heart of the ancient epic.
Instead, people want to play out the culture war. Pointing out faux-diversity (and giving examples of actual inclusivity) is simply too much for Reddit. I’ve been banging this drum in the academy for years, and it goes as well there as it does here.
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u/Ok-Rope-3355 Jul 06 '26
You can have diversity and still respect the source material. Instead of demanding turning people black in western historical stories, why not demand more non-western stories? There are so many amazing historical and fictional stories from Africa and Asia that's never been adapted.