Last weekend I was fortunate to nab a free ticket to a 70mm showing of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey at the recently revamped Director’s Village Theater in Westwood. I found it a mostly entertaining version of the classic story, though the muddy sound mix made it difficult to hear the dialogue in the all-important opening scenes, the musical score was overbearing, and Matt Damon and his East Coast accent as a leader of men largely unbelievable.
A number of the story’s key action scenes were shot and directed beautifully, especially the Cyclops, the enchantress Circe who briefly turns the soldiers into pigs, a forest full of giant silver knights, and Scylla, a six-headed monster plucking men out of Odysseus’ boat. I was less than enamored with the Sirens scene, though, in which Odysseus has asked his crew to plug their ears with wax, then tie him to the mast while Siren women on passing rocks fill the air with their hypnotic song designed to lure men to their deaths. Nolan decided to stage the event in complete silence, asking the audience to use their imagination, and it came off, at least to me, as a less-than-satisfying approach to what could have been a riveting scene.
Then I made the mistake of going on my Threads social app, which has often been a great place to discuss books and film, and posted my displeasure with how Nolan did the Sirens scene. Much like the responses I read to anyone who said a bad word about last year’s Oscar-winning movie Sinners, the juvenile hate and vitriol came at me all day yesterday. Here’s what my innocuous original post (since deleted) said:
I haven’t seen much talk about Nolan’s lame Sirens scene in The Odyssey. Can barely see them on the passing rocks, and with the crew’s ears plugged and Damon tied to the mast and freaking out, choosing to not let us hear ANYTHING from the Sirens seemed like a blown opportunity.
And here’s a smattering of the responses I got:
“I haven’t seen much talk about how you should go touch grass.”
“If they had played something, someone would have bitched that it wasn’t that great. That’s the point of using your imagination.”
“Wow it’s like they’re supposed to be mysterious or something. I’ll let you complete that train of thought now. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“So… ragebait or idiocy?”
“This is why literacy is dead in America because you ppl cannot use your imagination without ai crafting it for you.”
“Honey, this movie was not for you.”
“I’m convinced you just wanted a close up of naked ladies. Prove me wrong.”
“Can you people try to use even just a fuckin’ quantum of imagination one single time in your lives, jfc”
“Figures a dumb-brained old white guy would say this.”
So basically, having a difference of opinion is now a punishable offense? It’s no secret that our Divider-in-Chief has ruined many good things in America, but his “brand” has also considerably poisoned what was once healthy discourse. No issue is black and white. Some require a middle ground. More importantly, if someone doesn’t feel the same way you do about a movie scene, there is no justification for insulting the person voicing it. I enjoy a huge assortment of offbeat musical genres and long ago stopped hoping or expecting others to enjoy them the same way. Why has movie criticism become such a flashpoint for vengeful idiocy?
Never mind. I already answered that question.
Jeff Polman 