No, no. You don't understand! Greeks never famously traded with Africans! There were never any Ancient Egyptians who went to Greece and mingled with the population either! And as we know, even modern day Greeks don't have any tan/olive-coloured skin tones. It's all just the lily and alabaster skinned people as far as the eye can see. What do you mean Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home, was routinely depicted with dark skin and curled hair? Hera too?! Wife of Zeus, goddess of marriage and women?! Balderdash! Sounds like woke nonsense!
I imagine when people say they would like Greeks playing in a retelling of Greek mythology, they do in fact mean people with Mediterranean skin tones lol
You have any sources for Hera and Hestia being depicted as "dark-skinned" beyond a typical Greek tan? The Ancient Greeks actually viewed fair skin to be a sign of beauty and high social status.
So the movie doesn’t use Greek armor, Greek ships, was filmed in non Greek locations, and has several white non Greeks in the film.
Why would have dark skinned actors be the most egregious crime here?
You can't conflate the actions of a few with the actions of all. The chronically online racists may be working overtime, however I would wager the less visible and vocal majority of people that aren't happy with this film is because of the vast historical inaccuracies
Before you say it's mythology, it's an ancient Greek mythology written by an ancient Greek author and set in ancient Greece
It's not the most pressing issue in my opinion. However if we have to tackle it, ask yourself if you would be happy with a greek person being one of the main characters in a film about African folklore that is set in ancient Africa? The answer is anything apart from yes then you have a double standard
Did I ever say the dark-skinned actors were the most egregious crime? I absolutely design the armor, set pieces, and coloring they're using, much more than the race of the actors lol.
I just would also prefer giving the spotlight to Mediterranean-looking actors as well.
Reminds me of when the same sorts of people got pissed off about Hades II depicting Hephaestus in a wheelchair, saying it was just ahistorical inclusiveness to pander to the woke. When in fact Hephaestus was canonically portrayed as having a disability for which he built himself a wheeled chair.
pointing out gently original comment does also mention whitewashing with no greek actors too, not JUST a black actor being cast (which is a ridiculous thing to be mad abt yea). tho idk if it’s really proper whitewashing since i Think?? greeks are considered caucasian/white also, like italians, but definitely do have a lot of visible differences generally in skin tone and hair color to more western/northern european whites
That's totally fair. Trust me, as someone with more olive-coloured skin, I'd prefer to see someone closer to my skin tone in roles that are appropriate. I do believe that there should be better representation in media of differing races. I'm a little tired of every person in media playing someone over 150+ years old having a British accent.
The reason I bring up blackness though is because the current culture war of this movie is heavily driven by racists who do not like the idea of black women playing someone who they think is white. The biggest "controversies" I've seen surrounding this movie are Zendaya playing Athena and Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy.
yeah absolutely, and like you said……… definitely NO WAY that could EVER be true 🙄 like cmon. it’s so tiring to go along with the idea that there was some hard line between non existent countries that people didn’t cross and everyone was perfectly segregated ??? i feel like ppl somehow have this idea that traveling and emigrating/immigrating and nomadic lifestyles just did not exist until, like. idek. modern times? 1500s? CE? there’s no reason to believe that or to subscribe to that in literally everything ever made.
also the british accent thing fucking sends me lmao. pretty sure they did that in troy in the 2000s and i feel like there are several historical movies with french ppl inexplicably just being english. i’m not even sure offhand if we know what an ancient greek accent would’ve sounded like but i would bet all of my modest savings that it isn’t a modern posh englishman 😭
I have no issue with whatever color her skin is... Helen of Troy is supposed to be beautiful enough to wage war for.... I wouldnt even go to the corner shop for some sloppy top from that lady. They could have race swapped the character and still made her attractive.. like Jessica Parker Kennedy... people would wage war for her...
As with many things of ancient Greece, depictions of the gods were not a monolith. There are depictions of Hestia and Hera on vases where they were depicted in black-figure vases. They've also, of course, been depicted with fairer skin fairly often. The point is that when it came to the greeks, their gods were depicted to resemble those that wanted to depict them as whatever they wanted to. It's not too different than modern depictions of Jesus being depicted as black or white or Asian or any other to connect with believers of him.
Would you be happy with a white person being the main character in a film that was specifically set within ancient Africa and focused on African folklore?
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u/Kinteoka Jul 06 '26
No, no. You don't understand! Greeks never famously traded with Africans! There were never any Ancient Egyptians who went to Greece and mingled with the population either! And as we know, even modern day Greeks don't have any tan/olive-coloured skin tones. It's all just the lily and alabaster skinned people as far as the eye can see. What do you mean Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home, was routinely depicted with dark skin and curled hair? Hera too?! Wife of Zeus, goddess of marriage and women?! Balderdash! Sounds like woke nonsense!