MAGA Melts Down Over Already Sold-Out Summer Blockbuster

[Coventina]

The right has landed on its next Hollywood target.

The Odyssey, the forthcoming summer blockbuster from Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan, which depicts the fictional events of the eponymous Greek epic, was the subject of a long-winded rant by Newsmax host Rob Finnerty on Thursday evening over its “rewriting of history.”

Though the Trojan War, as described in the epic, really happened, there is no evidence that any of its characters actually existed. Still, Finnerty, 44, complained on his show, “The role of Achilles will reportedly be played by Elliot Page. Looks like a guy—formerly Ellen Page, meaning the most famous warrior in history, not just Greek history—all of history—Achilles is about to be played by a transgender woman in a brand new movie.”

Elliot Page’s role in the film has not been confirmed. Other confirmed cast members include Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita N’yongo, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron, among others.

“A woman who was definitely white is going to be played by Lupita Nyong’o,” he added. “I’ve got nothing against Lupita. But I do have a problem with the complete rewriting of history. Helen of Troy was not Black. That’s not me being mean. That’s me telling the truth. The real actual truth, which we tend to do a lot of here, and Achilles was not a five-foot-one woman, but to the Left, this is all normal.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/maga-melts-down-over-already-sold-out-the-odyssey/

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Ummmmm

Helen of Troy was a demigoddess, the daughter of Zeus and a mortal woman.
Who knows what her skin color would have been?

Oh yeah, and she's a fictional character!

[chowder66]

1. To be fair, he thought it was a documentary.

[thucythucy]

2. Just like Sarah Palin thought Tina Fey's character on 30 Rock

depicted Fey's actual life.

That seems a right wing thing--the inability to tell fact from fiction.

[Coventina]

3. Well, it all starts with believing the bible is the literal truth.

[rampartd]

44. and ends with "the apprentice" being a cocumentary,

[the nelm]

16. That, and their weird, obsessive penchant for gender issues and/or the sex lives of everyone else.

It's always a given with these folk. Obsessive-compulsive, neurotic, unhinged - call it what you will.

[dem4decades]

4. Who's going to tell him what color Jesus was?

[Unrepentant Fenian]

5. Facts are like Kryptonite to the right!

[jmowreader]

6. Hang on for a second here...

You mean Christopher Nolan, who makes good movies, is going to cast someone as short as Elliot Page to play a larger-than-life character?

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Meh. People were shorter then. Led shorter lives, too. nt

[ornotna]

9. Elliot is no Alvin York

But it’s just a movie.
They’ll be acting.

[Cha]

8. Talk to fucking PEDO about "rewriting history". Real History.

Last edited Fri May 15, 2026, 07:43 PM - Edit history (1)

[ancianita]

10. I love Christopher Nolan's films, but this time he's not fair or accurate about Greek history. From Instagram...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DURGIAjCqum/?hl=en

Nolan must want to exert artistic license here, since there's no definitive historical evidence proving Homer's existence. That said, I'm still willing to see his film.

from DeepMind AI ...

Whether the poet Homer existed is unknown, a mystery known as the "Homeric Question." While traditionally regarded as the blind, 8th-century BCE author of the Iliad and Odyssey, most scholars believe the poems are products of a long oral tradition, potentially composed or compiled by multiple people rather than one individual.


Traditional View:
Ancient Greeks believed Homer was a real, blind itinerant poet from Ionia.

Modern Scholarship:
Many experts argue that the extensive, formulaic nature of the poems suggests they evolved over centuries of oral storytelling by many poets, not just one.

The Debate:
There is no definitive historical evidence proving his existence. Some argue "Homer" was a placeholder name for the tradition, while others hold that a single, foundational genius shaped the final narratives.

Alternative Theory:
Some scholars suggest the poems were written down later, possibly by a group of scholars in Athens or Alexandria, rather than by a single poet.

Ultimately, the existence of a single, historical person named Homer remains unproven

[niyad]

28. Shhhhhh!!! Homer was a woman! Just like Shakespeare!

[swong19104]

11. John fuckin Wayne

Played Genghis Khan in the 1956 The Conqueror.

And Mickey Rooney as Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

And so on.

[BaronChocula]

14. "But er... um... that's okay

No one really... um... those guys were iconic actors. Uh. I believe Genghis Khan was part white I believe. Ummmmm. You had very iconic... Yeah they were white, but aren't you being racist? Why can't we be inclusive of white men. Jeez. Liberals are so intolerant!"

[Seinan Sensei]

25. My personal favorite is J-F-Wayne playing a Roman Centurion

Standing by Jesus, at the foot of the cross, saying
“Surely this was the son of God"

One cannot unhear that John Wayne drawl

Aw-haw

[hatrack]

35. A story from the movie shoot - likely apocryphal, but I sure want it to be true . . .

George Stevens told Wayne to put more awe into reading his one line of dialogue.

Wayne (allegedly) responded with, "Aww, surely this man was the son of God!"

[Aristus]

40. Oops!

You beat me to it!

[Aristus]

39. I love the urban legend that has grown up around the filming of that scene.

Marion Morrison delivered his line in his trademark talentless drone. And the director told him he should have more awe in his voice.

So on the next take, Marion said: “Aw, truly this man was the Son of God!…”

Not a true story, but hilarious nonetheless…

[displacedvermoter]

29. Linda Hunt played Billy Kwan in

The Year of Living Dangerously, won Best Supporting Actress Award in 1983. Great movie. Only person to win an Oscar for playing someone of the opposite sex. Anyways...

[Collimator]

12. The Trojan War started from a dispute between three Greek Goddesses.

And The Odyssey features Sirens and a Cyclops and all sorts of other mythical figures which, frankly, I don't remember. Does anyone have any strong feelings about which "race" the Cyclopses (?) were?

[BidenRocks]

20. Thank you Ray Harryhausen!

Without him, many would never have known of these adventures

[Just Jerome]

23. The Cyclopes

were likely the same race as Stewart Rhodes.

[blue-wave]

13. So that wasn't a champagne bottle popping?

It was just maga blood vessels bursting. Now, now. We must watch our blood pressure.

[BaronChocula]

15. "Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

You're erasing my fantasy culture, even though I'm not even Greek or make believe!"

Unfortunately Finnerty is real. A real bagacrap.

[Warpy]

17. For a minute, I thought this would be about the upcoming Ml Gibson two parter

because every Christofascist wngnut in the country is going to be lined up for those. I know the subject matter, and they're all going to be deeply offended by them, but they'll still be lined up.

[hlthe2b]

18. Well, Jesus was unlikely to have been light-skinned either, so we're even...

Who the hell knows what Helen of Troy would have looked like in the mind of the presumed author of 'the Odyssey,' Homer?

[peppertree]

19. "You mean - Achilles didn't look like Brad Pitt!?"

"No, Alex - and Patroclus didn't look like Garret Hedlund (nor was he his "nephew" )."

[patphil]

21. But I do have a problem with the complete rewriting of history.

The Odyssey is a fictional account of an historical event.
Helen of Troy didn't exist, no did Achilles, no did Odysseus, let alone all the fictitious creatures that appear in the book. This movie is simply a reboot of the original.
Rob Finnerty doesn't seem to know the difference between fiction and non-fiction.

Please don't tell him that Captain Marvel was originally a man, or that Jesus was probably brown skinned.
And, Santa Claus...well, we won't go into that.

[dave99]

22. So Ajax and Ulysses didn't exist ?

[patphil]

24. No, they're fictional characters that may have some roots in reality, but have never been shown to actually have lived.

Homer took liberties with history to support his fictional epic.

[hatrack]

36. Heresy! My kitchen is sparklling clean, thanks to Ajax!

Beyond that, I also had to read Ulysses in college. Bor-ing!!!

[LearnedHand]

26. Elliot is a trans man not a trans woman

And I can’t even with the rest of the stupidity. It’s fucking FICTION.

[yardwork]

27. Helen of Troy was hatched from an egg.

Her parents were a god and a mortal woman (in some versions a goddess) who transformed herself into a swan.

Anybody saying this fictional character is "definitely white" is hilarious.

[Initech]

30. Hey Newsmax, go fuck yourselves!

Your shitty, worthless turd of a president and his ass kissing goons are rewriting our constitution and our rights. Go shove your pity party where it doesn't shine.

[SouthernIrish]

31. This is awesome

My very red east Tennessee town is building a new IMAX theater and the first movie to be shown is The Odyssey. This is great.

[yellowcanine]

32. And that other fictional character, Santa Claus is white!

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

33. the usual haters are out in full force.

[kairos12]

34. More weeping from

the "Brojan" horse crowd. LOL.

[Hugin]

37. The beauty of a free country is that...

Finnerty is free to make a production which would fit his narrow vision.

The world anxiously awaits.

[Johonny]

38. They made that awful Troy movie

Very bro, very white, misses basically everything in Homer and butchers the story, but man is it white.

[WarGamer]

41. I plan on being extremely disappointed with this movie...

Not for the reasons this nut has claimed...

But I can't stand Matt Damon.

Just can't stand him. He's placed into otherwise great movies and then he becomes the worst part of said movie, like Interstellar.

Historically... this movie is more like a comic book movie since the story line is mostly fantasy...

[Aristus]

42. Are these the same people who were bleating: "Mermaids are WHITE!"

when the live-action “The Little Mermaid” was released?

[gulliver]

43. In ancient Greece all the actors would have been men

Last edited Sat May 16, 2026, 12:39 PM - Edit history (2)

Some of the clips of The Odyssey have actors using modern words and phrasing. I think this movie is just going to be like Hamilton or Bridgerton or Godspell...or countless others. Artistic license.

It's far from a guarantee that the movie would be any good, even if it used an all Greek cast and tried to be as true as possible to a vision that would have been in the mind of an ancient Greek hearing the poem. I admit, I would prefer to see it that way, largely because I love the idea of "communing" with the ancients.

If I watch it, I'll watch it to see if the metaphors of Western civilization are respected or at least alluded to. I have no interest in watching cool guy Matt Damon fight someone with a sword, but if he's compellingly tied to his mast, tortured by the Sirens' song, it can still be good.

Nolan is a smart guy. He could actually pull this off. Casting Damon and Page I see as a fairly common practice among directors who have favored "troops." But I was really not a fan of Oppenheimer at all.