Oates Defends Nolan's 'Odyssey' From Wilson's Viral Attack
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- Joyce Carol Oates defended Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' on X, slamming reviewer Emily Wilson for speaking 'in the crude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers.'
- Oates argued Wilson 'benefited enormously from Nolan's film' while criticizing it, saying a translator 'beholden to a text' should be 'a wee bit more thoughtful & respectful' of others working in good faith.
- Emily Wilson, whose 2017 translation of Homer's 'The Odyssey' went viral, published a London Review of Books essay calling Nolan's film lacking 'psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth.'
- Wilson wrote the film's writing is 'abysmal,' its characters have 'no convincing motivation,' and noted 'there are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible,' though she conceded it's 'very good at conveying big bangs and big giants.'
- Nolan previously praised Wilson's translation, telling Empire he used her opening line — 'Tell me about a complicated man' — as a north star for shaping Matt Damon's portrayal of Odysseus.
Why it matters: The critic isn't a random detractor: Wilson is a respected Homeric scholar whose 2017 translation Nolan explicitly credited as creative inspiration for his film, making this public clash between two of literature's most prominent voices a notable inflection point in the blockbuster's critical reception.
