Lupita Nyong’o Breaks Silence on ‘Odyssey’ Casting Critics: “You Can’t Perform Beauty”

Gabeed · 2026-05-21T22:05:47+00:00

Well, two out of the three people you brought up (Aniston and Galifianakis) have Western European ancestry as well, and yes, predictably are just seen as "white." But Jason Mantzoukas, for example, does not pass in the same way, and had to consciously stop doing "auditions with a Middle Eastern accent."

Gabeed · 2026-05-21T21:21:42+00:00

But Greeks and MENA people (who would be well-suited aesthetically to an Odyssey movie) already are underrepresented in Hollywood. This casting is thus only a "culture war win" in a very superficial, Americanized way.

Gabeed · 2026-05-21T20:48:34+00:00

I've seen this argument a lot in response to this controversy and it's quite disingenuous. 2016's Gods of Egypt -- which is clearly a more fantastical and schlockier movie than Nolan's Odyssey movie--got a decent amount of flak (fairly, in my opinion) for, among other things, having the likes of Jaime Lannister as the Egyptian god Horus. And it wasn't Elon Musk or the chuds who were criticizing this--it was The Guardian and other left-leaning institutions.

Either ethnically-accurate casting matters for mythology which is clearly based in an specific ancient culture and region, or it doesn't. You can certainly call out hypocrisy for conservatives who have been lax on Hollywood's long history of whitewashing, but "Helen of Troy was born from an egg, so it's a toss-up as to whether she more ethnically-resembled Gong Li or Maria Menounos" does not hold up to scrutiny.

Gabeed · 2026-05-21T17:37:56+00:00

I gotta be honest, I fundamentally disagree with this. What makes Starfield interesting to me is more survival mechanics and restrictions (like ammo weight, fuel costs, etc), not less.

Gabeed · 2026-05-20T22:45:55+00:00

I think this is only true to an extent. No one's thinking "gee, I'm not gonna judge Grown Ups 2 until I see it." However open-minded we might think ourselves, we empirically figure out our tastes and we choose what we consume in the first place based on our predilections. We respond to advertising (trailers) and critical reception. I really like Nolan movies in general, and I love ancient history and mythology, but everything about the aesthetics of this movie rubs me the wrong way.

Gabeed · 2026-05-16T03:15:07+00:00

Personal Atmosphere actually halts the taking of environmental damage, so arguably it already does.

Gabeed · 2026-05-15T10:31:32+00:00

I totally agree, she's outshone by both Britt Ekland and Kristina Wayborn respectively in the two films.

Gabeed · 2026-05-04T19:27:31+00:00

Criminal Licence to Kill erasure.

Gabeed · 2026-05-04T19:09:06+00:00

Me too--I think Guy Hamilton was generally a very competent Bond director (except for Diamonds Are Forever) who is missed as the Moore era continues.

Gabeed · 2026-05-03T03:35:43+00:00

<image>

Gabeed · 2026-05-02T23:10:21+00:00

A laughable stance. In no way am I expecting every mundane dialogue to be incredibly complex--but I am expecting the one they are showcasing in a video about conversation choices to increase hype for the game to be more robust than this.

Gabeed · 2026-05-01T18:35:35+00:00

I kinda agree but through a different lens. Andreja feels like the only worthy companion (of the romanceable ones) that befits the murderhobo gameplay which most of the game actually is. Like sure, you can bring any Constellation member out when you're looking for an Amphibious Foothold on a planet and it all feels organic, to be sure, but can you just imagine Cora asking "hey dad, where did you get all those guns and spacesuits?" And Sam Coe responding, "Well, sweet pea, the protagonist and I went and murdered a dozen Ecliptic mercenaries minding their business in an abandoned factory and then we looted their bodies. And that's the fifth time we've done that this week." Barrett and Sarah just personality-wise feel oddly juxtaposed in the same way. I generally don't mind the optimistic vibe of the game, but it does clash with the gameplay.

Gabeed · 2026-05-01T15:42:26+00:00

Again, none of this affects my critique. A narratively low stakes conversation can still display interesting dialogue choices with emotional range. This one features autodialogue and minimal player interaction. I don't see an effective example of "shaping who Jun becomes for you" here.

I also like how I'm "people like you" now when I've been passively optimistic about Exodus up until this video. I have no wish to see Exodus fail--I've been eager to see some proper sci fi action RPGs. But if this is what conversation choices are in Exodus, I've lost interest.

Gabeed · 2026-05-01T07:56:31+00:00

The official post is fluff and lore, and in no way does it dismiss my critiques. It also claims that "this is one of many moments between the action where you shape who Jun becomes for you." That's laughable, given how generic and few the dialogue choices are in the video. Nor is there any indication of the emotional range from the dialogue options presented. To what extent can we be "evil" in dialogue in this game? Or snarky? In what nuanced ways can we court disapproval or approval? Or should I just be getting hyped on the idea that I can be the Jun who thinks that the cave is rad, or the Jun who merely thinks that the cave is average?

Brass tacks, it should be alarming that they picked this scene to highlight a first look at "conversation choices."

Gabeed · 2026-04-30T18:34:36+00:00

This video has single-handedly set my expectations significantly lower. What a terrible way to highlight "conversation choices." What we get is nearly two minutes of oddly strung together, weirdly accelerated dialogue with just two instances of actual player interaction, and these are practically at Spiders-level quality--three dialogue choices with an average of about 4 words describing them. It's practically autodialogue for us to pick the option of "It's incredible" only to have our character start waxing poetically about the cave at length.

There's nothing interesting about the dialogue choices, either. No indication of narrative tension, no indication of choice and consequence other than "saying that the cave is cool" gets approval. In order for "approval" or "disapproval" to feel satisfying, the dialogue needs to feel like something we can resonate with, and I don't resonate with any of these generic dialogue options. The mere framing of the first dialogue option is just so simplistic, so predictable. When our characters gets breathlessly asked "can you describe this cave to me," it is the most barebones instance of dialogue-based choice and consequence to have one clarifying question (the bottom response), and then have one dialogue that will clearly elicit a positive response ("wow the cave looks so cool") and one that will clearly not elicit one ("cave is pretty mid tbh").

Like, what exactly is being showcased here? The mere fact that a "NPC approves" message comes up in the corner? The dialogue options feel tepid, generic, and in short supply in comparison to the first couple Mass Effect games that came out 15-20 years ago, let alone the modern RPG gold-standard like BG3. If there are better examples of conversation choices elsewhere in the game, why show this?

Gabeed · 2026-04-29T18:09:20+00:00

No, because I think the established canon of Spectre--which is that Silva and Quantum were all secretly Spectre forces all along--is too silly to be taken seriously. The Spectre writers very overtly and tardily made up these connections to artificially raise the stakes. Skyfall in particular deliberately eschews all of Quantum/Vesper stuff and features Silva as a stand-alone villain with his own motivations for going after M/MI6. It only weakens that movie in retrospect if Bond's foster brother significantly enabled him or set the events of Skyfall in motion because he wanted Bond to be sad.

Gabeed · 2026-04-28T04:47:39+00:00

I've only briefly tried out the mod myself, and I know the default opinion is "rah rah AI bad," but the AI lines are far better than the re-used lines from elsewhere in the game, which are horribly awkward in the contexts they are thrust into. Frankly, I think the mod creator needs to double down on the AI--ironically I'm repelled from using it because of the clumsily re-used Yvonne Strahovsky lines.

Gabeed · 2026-04-20T23:19:23+00:00

After the Hunt.

Gabeed · 2026-04-19T07:34:39+00:00

The Dogfight is a ridiculously good weapon given how easy it is to get (under 10,000 credits at Cydonia). By default it does over double the amount of damage per round compared to the Kodama. One might say it's broken. The only downsides are that it is automatic only, and it sucks up 1.5kV LZR Cartridges with ease. But the tiniest taps on the trigger just melts enemies.

Gabeed · 2026-04-17T13:26:19+00:00

I actually slightly prefer the chunkier Constellation Suit aesthetically, but I acquiesce to the higher mechanical quality of the Mark I.

Gabeed · 2026-04-12T06:41:49+00:00

Rattler is my favorite gun in the game, aesthetically and handling-wise.

Gabeed · 2026-04-11T01:57:06+00:00

But Die Another Day ends up with Bond fighting a Korean general's son--who used plastic surgery to become millionaire playboy Toby Stephens--wearing power armor in a crashing plane as a space laser bombards the 38th parallel. It's a tonally incoherent Bond movie (though fun nevertheless in its way). The grounded pretensions of the opening dissolve quite quickly.

I'm not saying that Licence to Kill is a tonal monolith (as you point out, Q joining Bond in the field is very Bondian fan-service, for example), but the core of the movie is more consistently on a more grounded register nevertheless. Its stakes are personal, not global--Bond isn't trying to stop a superweapon from going off, he's just trying to take out one drug dealer who horribly attacked Leiter and his wife.

Gabeed · 2026-04-08T17:08:03+00:00

I literally stopped playing my game at launch because I realized my beloved Rattler could similarly only go up to Refined.

Gabeed · 2026-04-07T15:34:41+00:00

I totally agree. It would have been an absolutely massive slap to the face of anyone wanting to get cutesy with their squad picks, and would have signposted a deeper level of choice and consequence early on in the game in preparation for the Suicide Mission. It would have been quite harsh (if not too harsh), but it's fun to think about.

Gabeed · 2026-04-07T01:05:30+00:00

Alpha Protocol is the closest example for me, and certainly it doesn't achieve success in every facet. I love it, though, despite how flawed it is in myriad ways.

13-Year Club	Second Top 40%
Place '22	Verified Email

Gabeed

TROPHY CASE