Little reminder for the people coming from Wattpad to AO3, who might feel icky about some of AO3's content: all fanfic content, whether you like it or not, has a right to be there.
From a therapeutic standpoint, all "taboo" fanfics serve a purpose, whether that be the writer processing trauma, projecting, seeking catharsis, or just getting it out of their system. Or maybe they're just writing it to write it, or putting words to their intrusive thoughts, or another reason I can't think of right now.
And that is all okay. (They also do not owe you an explanation.)
But the beauty of AO3 is that when reading, you can filter, search for, and shape your own experience. Learn to filter unwanted things out to keep your peace, and leave the doors closed to the content you aren't willing to be amicable or understanding about.
Otherwise, I genuinely hope that you find something to smile about today, and that you come to love AO3 as much as we do. <3
I don't think people who come from wattpad after the purge and now want ao3 to have its own official app understand that one of the main reasons behind the recent wattpad purge that drove them to ao3 was due to pressure from appstore demanding wattpad to be more strict and follow appstore's policy. wattpad complied in order for its app to be able to remain on appstore. thus the wattpad purge.
ao3 doesn't have an app because for it to have an app, appstore will have to approve it first. and if, hypothetically, ao3 needs appstore to approve it, it will also have to abide by appstore's pro-censorship stance and start banning dark and taboo fics, which is against its own core principle of being completely against censorship.
ao3 doesn't need an app. it works more than fine without an app. the reason ao3 can allow dark and taboo fics, the reason it can allow the most disgusting and shockingly vile fics, and be completely against censorship is because it doesn't need appstore's approval. it stands on its own as a non-profit organization with functioning site and a team of lawyers protecting its platform, its users, and every single fanwork on its platform.
everybody say thank you ao3
here's the list of things you need to know about ao3 if you're new to the platform
My woke take, as someone who has worked in both a public library and a school library, is that we desperately need both more books that are at a higher reading level but a less mature subject matter, and more books that are at a lower reading level but a more mature subject matter, because 8 year olds who are advanced readers are still 8 year olds and don't want to read about graphic violence and torture, and teens and adults who have learning difficulties or who are just later readers for whatever reason are still teens and adults and don't want to read about Billy the Bunny going to school or whatever the hell.
Okay so I genuinely like the Odyssey. Like it was just a high quality movie
That being said…
There was certainly a few things that I had qualms with, some serious concerns and some smaller things I was personally just not crazy about
But the main thing
This movie wasn’t about Odysseus
It was a very good movie about a man having a very long journey home, but that man wasn’t Odysseus
At no point in the whole three hour run time did I think “wow he’s clever”. The movie said he was clever but it never proved it. Every choice he made seemed built on spite, sorrow, or even just pure stupidity
So yes very high quality movie that was beautifully shot, but no it was not about Odysseus
Odysseus fucking name dropping the Bronze Age is like Leonardo De Vinci writing in his journal "wow what a beautiful day here in the Italian Renaissance. I sure am pleased to be experiencing The High Renaissance period"
One tragic aspect of the Odyssey that I've never really seen handled by any adaptation is the link between Odysseus' marriage and the Trojan War itself.
When Helen was of age to be married, all the Lords of Greece came to seek her hand. This was an issue for her stepfather the King of Sparta who could only pick one husband and then would have to deal with the far greater number of angry rejected suitors.
One suitor was Odysseus, then a younger man. He quickly ascertained that he had no chance of marrying Helen. Ithaca was too poor for him to even bring any proper gifts, let alone a dowry. But he did catch the eye of the King's niece, one Penelope.
Now Penelope was still a bit out of Odysseus' league, but not so much as Helen was. So he makes a deal with the King of Sparta. Support my bid to marry Penelope, and I'll give you a solution to this suitors problem. The King agrees, so Odysseus suggests all the suitors swear an oath to defend Helen's marriage from anyone who might strike against it. They all, including Odysseus, so swear, and Helen is married to Menelaus. The King proves as good as his word, and Penelope is wed to Odysseus.
Of course this means that Odysseus has now bound himself to fight for Helen and Menelaus. After an attempt to feign madness he is forced to fulfill his duty.
So his own plan, to marry Penelope and stop a hoard of ravenous suitors, ends with him forced to defend his own marriage from a hoard of ravenous suitors.
The “nobody” scene in the odyssey is absolutely not just a clever pun—it’s a character defining moment for Odysseus because he refuses to be nobody. He devised an incredible plan that worked and he could have saved his men and returned home much sooner but he just had to yell to the cyclops that he isn’t nobody—he’s Odysseus, king of Ithaca so now Poseidon knows who to curse which severely fucks up the rest of the journey.
The “nobody” scene highlights both Odysseus’s cleverness but also his arrogance and those two traits define Odysseus throughout the entire story. It’s a foundational aspect of Odysseus’s character and cutting the scene displays a shocking level of ignorance and disregard for the themes in the source material.
Was it as good as so many have claimed? The best movie of the year? The best adaptation one could possibly make?
No. Not even close.
Was it the worst thing ever? Was it unwatchable? Was it spitting on the original epic poem?
Also, no.
It was a decent, but long movie.
Those who said they didn’t feel the length of the movie and it flowed effortlessly... well, good for them.
It wasn’t agonizingly long by any means, but I glanced at the time more than once.
Overall, I wouldn’t say I have mixed feelings about the movie, but I did experience a certain kind of whiplash.
Basically, for every choice this adaptation made that I honestly liked or thought was interesting or even good; I was immediately met with another choice the movie made, that was very bad or left me confused.
Not, confused as in I didn’t understand what was going on... but more so, why would you choose this Nolan?
Now, I will say that I was genuinely worried Nolan was going to strip The Odyssey of pretty much all its mythical elements and he didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot more myth could’ve been in the story, A LOT MORE, but for a director who I think isn’t a fan of myth or fantasy in general – he didn’t remove as much as I thought he would, so there’s that.
Major Positives
Pig Transformation
Circe’s changing of the men into pigs was fantastic. One of my favorite elements of this movie; I will remember that scene for many years to come. I loved how the men were unable to stop eating and despite the amounts they were eating there was always more for them to eat.
I’m in love with how she physically got her hands on them and molded them into pigs; they were nothing more than malleable clay to her.
Polyphemus’s Design
I really liked his design. I liked the askew, twisted face he had and while at first, I thought his eye was too small for a face, in a way that worked towards the design, because it added this offness to him.
I'll remember this design.
Now, I do have a lot to say about the lack of Nobody, but despite that, I will say I do appreciate that Odysseus and his men were shocked that Polyphemus could speak and even asked themselves why he hadn’t spoken until then – only for Odysseus to say, would you converse with ants?
The line itself... not my fav – but the idea behind it, I liked.
Polyphemus isn’t some violent, mindless creature it’s more so – why would he bother speaking to these lowly, pests in his home?
Odysseus Strumming the Bow
I really love this added detail. I really, really did.
I don’t know if it’s accurate to bows at all and I honestly don’t care; I’m a big fan of this addition and I’m certainly not opposed to seeing this detail carry over to other adaptations in the future
While the movie focuses on how Odysseus strumming/plucking the bow before he shoots as him being honorable, which I’m not completely opposed to, I think it could’ve worked better as a signifier of Odysseus’s arrogance and trickier or a combination of the three.
There’s definitely a mindfuck element to him doing this; we see that play out with the suitors, which I really loved.
If another adaptation has this in it – I would have zero complaints.
Especially if it was to make Odysseus’s character somewhat ambiguous - as in, is he doing this out of honor and to have a fair fight or is he doing it because he’s just that arrogant and because he wants the person/animal, he kills, to know it was he, Odysseus, who killed them?
Time Structure
The transitions from present to past and back were done seamlessly; I had zero trouble following when we were in time; which is very impressive. It almost didn’t feel like the movie was jumping around in time at all; even though it definitely was.
There's even more stuff that I actually liked in this film. It was a decent film; I certainly didn’t hate it.
Negatives
I could say a lot, and I mean a lot, about what I didn't like and even hated with this movie; but there are three things that I’m going to bring up because the movie specifically brings them to focus and they don’t even work in the context of this movie by itself.
Athena’s Pin
To be fair, maybe this is because I didn’t see the movie in IMAX; but I didn’t want to drive 45 min to see it.
Basically, Penelope gives Odysseus a pin/brooch of Athena before he heads for war.
The movie specifically says that this is how she knows when people are lying about having seen Odysseus because she asks them about his attire, what he was wearing, so, if they don’t mention this pin, this odd thing that would’ve stand out on his person that they definitely would’ve noticed – well, it’s clear that they didn’t actually meet Odysseus.
So far, no complaints from me. I like the addition and the logic behind this feels very Greek myth to me, if that makes sense.
The problem is... I don’t recall Odysseus ever wearing the pin...
And maybe he was wearing it and I just didn’t see it because I didn’t see it in IMAX; but...
This annoyed me so much.
The movie specifically says he was always wearing this, that it stood out as unusual, that it was noticeable, and someone not mentioning this distinct pin was a way for Penelope to know if they were lying about having seen Odysseus.
Again, maybe it was there and I just missed it.
But, considering I was actively looking for it...
Maybe it should’ve been a lot more noticeable. Maybe it should've stand out against what Odysseus was wearing and not be the same murky color of his clothes and armor. Maybe it should’ve been super unusual for him to wear and distinctly noticeable. Maybe it should’ve pop out visually given that this is a visual medium.
Tagline
There’s a tagline for this movie – the man who defied the gods or defy the gods – or something like that.
Odd tagline for The Odyssey just in general; but also, very confusing in the context of this film, because that’s not what happens in this movie. It’s not. It doesn’t happen. I just...
What are you talking about?
Zeus’s Law, Xenia, Troy
They bring up Zeus’s Law a lot in this movie... annoyingly, so.
Essentially this is Xenia, I mean it’s not, but it is... look, the idea is there, okay.
My main problem is that towards the end - Odysseus brings up that how they took Troy, with the horse and the violence in taking the city itself, was essentially them breaking Zeus’s law and all that...
Which... no?
Again, what are you talking about?
Is this the supposed defying of the gods from the tagline, because, what?
In the context of Zeus’s law in this movie alone and how it defies this law, they didn’t break it.
I just...
Seriously, in the context of this movie by itself, this idea just doesn’t work.
I get what they’re going for, I do, but...
Surely, there was a better way to do this?
Okay, I lied about only focusing on three things, but I’ll try to keep this brief –
The acting was...
It wasn’t awful, okay. It wasn’t. But it also wasn’t great.
A lot of it felt quite wooden to me and just, everyone felt the same – not so much I was getting people mixed up because I wasn’t, but just... it felt like everyone was more or less the same.
The costumes...
I’m not asking for perfect historical accuracy, which isn’t even possible, and personally I’m not opposed to someone going crazy with their creative ambitious in creating costumes for this movie, even if it means forgoing “historical accuracy.”
But the only piece of clothing I truly remember was Agamemnon’s spine helmet thing –
Say what you will, but at least it's memorable and interesting.
Everything else was either very boring and or awful. And I mean awful. The last thing we see Telemachus in, was just... it looked so very cheap and modern. Like woof...
Overall, this movie, for me, was very forgettable in the end. I literally saw it yesterday and I’m already questioning my memory of it.
This movie is not godawful (that would at least be memorable) but as a whole, it basically washed over me, which is disappointing.
hearing anything about the nolan odyssey is so funny. it's like "they cut the extremely important and infamous nobody scene" "the cyclops is a giant puppet that they put in an actual historical cave + gave circe animatronics for her pig transformation instead of cgi" "they dumped plastic skeletons in an environmentally protected location they were not supposed to be in" "they recreated ancient greek instruments in order to have an accurate score" "all of odysseus's agency is basically gone" "anne hathaway actually learned how to weave ancient looms" "the women in this movie are treated like shit" "they actually buried actors alive to get those underworld shots" "did you see what the fuck zendaya was fucking wearing holy shit you can't DO THAT, MA'AM" "what do you mean there was a legitimate epic the musical reference" "NOT A SINGLE FUCKING GREEK WAS CAST IN THIS MOVIE"
like did nolan have two guys standing at his side at all times whispering ideas in his ear and one told the truth and the other told lies and they didnt tell him which was which until they wrapped production cause
