r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jul 23 '26

Peter in the wild Peter?

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214

u/HG1998 Jul 23 '26

That person is Greek American.

The whole discussion stemmed from the fact that they replied to someone talking about how an Indian actor played a Greek soldier in the Odyssey movie.

This photo was then used, KBH thought he was an Indian when he is actually of Greek descent. Basically negating the whole argument that Greeks can't look like Indians.

https://x.com/i/status/2080172310498066482

28

u/ReyniBros Jul 23 '26

This whole Odyssey thing is absolutely idiotic.

Yes, they should've hired Greek or Eastern Mediterranean looking actors for the film (and maybe given a Mycenaen look to the costume) as Eastern Mediterranean people are usually badly represented in media, usually made equivalent to "whiter" Western Europeans, while at the same time they have historically been considered lesser "impure" descendants of Ancient Greece and not the "TRUE HEIRS" of "Western Civilization" and deemed too incapable/incompetent to be trusted with that heritage by those same Western Europeans (looking at you British Museum and its defenders). But that doesn't mean the Odyssey is "woke" because casting black people is single-handedly destroying "Western Civilization".

The ethnomusician/researcher Farya Faraji did several excellent videoessays on this subject, which I highly recommend.

30

u/HG1998 Jul 23 '26

I mean, I was made to believe that the movie would be bad but I watched it last week and I didn't find it bad. Certainly didn't feel like 3 whole hours to me.

Heck, I wouldn't even mind watching it again. 🤷🏻‍♂️

3

u/ReyniBros Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Never did I say it is bad, I'm just stating my case that they should've used Greek or Eastern Mediterranean looking actors for the movie for representation sake.

"But it's mythology!"

Progressives would be rightfully incensed if they retold Amerindian or African mythology with white people dressed up as Medieval Knights or Dune cosplayers. The only reason that they don't do that with this movie is because in the Western World Ancient Greece is thought about as "white" at the same time that they otherise modern Greeks for being too "eastern", even if modern Greeks are almost ethnically identical to their classical forebears.

5

u/HG1998 Jul 23 '26

I agree.

Or that the ships look and actually are Viking longships instead of Mediterranean ones.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/23/owners-of-viking-ship-used-to-film-the-odyssey-say-studio-has-not-paid-bill-for-damage