Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has weighed in on the controversy surrounding The Odyssey and its diverse casting choices.
In a surprising twist, Shapiro went against the right-wing outrage that the film has received, hailing it as a ‘masterpiece’ and calling Christopher Nolan ‘the best working director today.’
However, The Daily Wire co-founder did direct some ire towards transgender actor Elliot Page, calling his casting in the film ‘silly and egregious’.
He also described Page as, ‘about 5’2 and 105 pounds soaking wet and has the voice of a woman’ and said that his role as Sinon ‘doesn’t work’.
Shapiro was much kinder to leading man Matt Damon, gushing that the actor is ‘great in nearly everything.’
He then praised Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and Anne Hathaway, before launching a surprising defense of Lupita Nyong’o.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has defended The Odyssey, calling it a ‘masterpiece’ and hailing Christopher Nolan as ‘the best working director today’
Nyong’o, who is Kenyan but was born in Mexico, received the ire of countless conservatives online, including Elon Musk and the Daily Wire’s own Matt Walsh, who were upset that Nolan had not cast a white woman as Helen of Troy.
Defending the Oscar-winning actress, Shapiro said, ‘So, I know a lot of people were like, “Oh my god, Lupita Nyong’o is supposed to look like Diane Kruger.” I don’t know. Diane Kruger doesn’t look very Greek. She’s German.’
He continued, ‘Lupita Nyong’o is a beautiful woman. But here’s the thing, actually, in the script, Nolan goes out of his way to explain that the war wasn’t really launched over Helen being gorgeous.’
Shapiro also said that Nolan is ‘unparalleled’ and ‘creates iconic movie after iconic movie.’
After his defense of the film riled up some of his right-wing fans, Shapiro took to X to argue that The Odyssey is in fact a conservative film with biblical themes.
‘IMHO, a lot of conservatives are missing the Biblical forest for the woke trees in Nolan’s Odyssey,’ he wrote.
‘This is a not only a movie that will make millions of people go read classical literature again. It also reinforces the idea that violation of the Golden Rule has disastrous consequences,’ he added.
‘I dunno. I’d consider that, on balance, a large-scale win for civilizational values, when weighed against the woke casting of Elliot Page or the dumbass discussion over whether Lupita Nyong’o is good-looking enough (she is, and for the record Diane Kruger is German, not Greek).’
Daily Mail has contacted Page’s management for comment.
However, The Daily Wire co-founder did direct some ire towards transgender actor Elliot Page , calling his casting in the film ‘silly and egregious’
Shapiro also described Page as, ‘about 5’2 and 105 pounds soaking wet and has the voice of a woman’ and said that his casting in the role of Sinon ‘doesn’t work’
The Odyssey outraged conservatives after its diverse cast was revealed earlier this year.
The star-studded fantasy epic was accused of being ‘woke’ after casting Black actresses Zendaya and Nyong’o, rapper Travis Scott, and trans actor Page.
Both Walsh and Megyn Kelly, along with countless other right-wing pundits, stoked the ire of their conservative fans by torching the film on their respective podcasts in the weeks leading up to its release.
Musk even accused Nolan of ‘desecrating’ Odyssey author Homer with his casting choices.
However, now that The Odyssey is in theatres, it turns out that the diverse cast members are barely even in the film.
Out of The Odyssey’s 172-minute runtime, Zendaya only appears for around two minutes.
Sicko Mode hitmaker Scott is estimated to have a similar amount of screentime as Zendaya, if not less, while Nyong’o is said to appear in around three minutes of the film.
Shapiro defended Lupita Nyong’o, whose role as Helen of Troy caused a firestorm online among conservatives
Many prominent conservatives were outraged that Nolan had cast non-white actors like Nyong’o, Zendaya (pictured) and Travis Scott in the historical epic
Elon Musk was one of the most vocal critics of the film over its casting of Nyong’o and Page
Page, for as much controversy as his role caused, is only in the movie for around five minutes.
The bulk of the film is focused on Matt Damon, who appears in a whopping 46 scenes according to Screenrant.
Tom Holland is the next most featured actor in The Odyssey, followed by Anne Hathaway.
Moviegoers have had a field day making fun of the backlash the film received, with one X user posting, ‘Conservatives started a culture war over Lupita just for her to have three minutes of screen time.’
Another wrote, ‘For all the craziness folks with racist loins had to say about Lupita’s casting in the Odyssey, her role is very minimal but powerful as hell.’
Progressive media outlet NowThis posted, ‘Conservative hosts are demanding historical accuracy from “The Odyssey,” a myth about giants, witches, and a cyclops.’
YouTuber Natalie Wynn wrote, ‘So, The Odyssey. Lol. It’s good, maybe Nolan’s best, and not even slightly “woke.” The right-wing hysteria is amazingly detached from reality.’
Progressive moviegoers on social media have had a field day with the conservative outrage to the film
Earlier this month, the official X account for The Odyssey was forced to restrict comments after conservatives bombarded it with complaints and racist comments regarding the film’s diverse cast members.
However, despite the early backlash, The Odyssey achieved a near-perfect score on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes shortly after its release.
The audience score is even higher than critics, with 97% of viewers giving the film a positive review.
The reviews for The Odyssey are almost universal in their soaring praise and five star ratings, with some praising it as one of the best films of the decade.
The film sailed straight to the top of the North American box office over the weekend, bringing home $124.5 million in its opening weekend.
It captured another $139 million in overseas sales for a total of $263.5 million, surpassing its $250 million budget.
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