I was “black” when I read The Odyssey in high school...
...but somehow I never imagined the characters as looking like me.
Why?
Because they were GREEK characters.
I didn’t need Odysseus to look like me to appreciate his story.
I didn’t need Helen of Troy to look like me to understand her importance.
They were Greek characters from a specific culture, with a specific history.
And this is what Hollywood keeps getting wrong.
We don’t identify with characters because they look like us.
We connect with them because we recognize something human in them - their struggles, their courage, their flaws, their values.
Odysseus is a GREEK hero.
Helen of Troy is a GREEK woman.
Their identities are part of what makes their stories meaningful.
Casting Colombians and Africans and Indians as Greek ISN'T "representation."
It’s just insulting.
Stop it.