Nolan's Odyssey sparks applause and right-wing backlash over hero's moral ambiguity

When Christopher Nolan's cinematic Odyssey concluded, a Long Island audience erupted in applause, a response the author found odd given the hero's confession of a treacherous act that leads to his world’s collapse. The film's casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen and its portrayal of Odysseus as a "complicated man" sparked a wave of right-wing criticism, with figures like Maxwell Meyer, Matt Walsh and Elon Musk denouncing the hero's lack of traditional masculinity.

The piece argues that this backlash is part of a larger effort by the online right to use epic adaptations to promote a more overtly heroic, masculine ideal. It traces the evolution of epic literature—from the Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid to Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and modern American poetry—showing that complex or anti-heroic protagonists have long existed. The author also reflects on America's historical struggle to produce a canonical epic, citing Thomas Jefferson's 1787 remark and later works such as Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and Derek Walcott's Omeros. Ultimately, the article suggests that renewed interest in epic storytelling can deepen public discourse, even as it becomes a flashpoint in cultural battles over values.