Menu Menu
[gtranslate]

odyssey’s anti-woke boycott fails + pokémon traders get strapped

nolan is too goated to ‘go broke’

This ain’t no little live-action Disney remake. It’s Christopher Nolan.

In the least surprising turn of events this summer, the masses flocked to see The Odyssey on opening weekend across the globe.

The movie already boasts a 95% critic score and a 97% user score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the most critically revered Nolan project to date, though it is early days, granted.

In terms of the box office, it is far and away the director’s biggest success too. It has raked in a historic $264.1m already, driven by a record-breaking $52m from IMAX screens and an unprecedented $50m in advance ticket sales.

As remarkable as the numbers are, most of us saw something like this coming. The man brought us the Dark Knight trilogy, InceptionDunkirkInterstellarTenet, and Oppenheimer, all within the last 25 years. Anything he does draws immediate interest and earns big bucks.

Despite the obvious, however, there was a particularly loud corner of the internet who claimed the movie was destined to fail – and that it crashing and burning would be for the greater good.

The Twitter voyeurs among you know them well, no doubt. Have no fear, the far-right side of the tenuous ‘culture war’ is here, fighting to purge anything deemed DEI: or too gay/non-white to be considered A) cool, or B) faithful to ‘historical’ material.

Despite The Odyssey literally leaning on material from the mythic days of 12th century BCE, rendering it ancient to the ancient Greeks, the ‘anti woke’ brigade lost its shit over just about everything. You can have a cyclops monster stomping around, but Helen of Troy being portrayed by a Black woman (Lupita Nyong’o) in a few short scenes was thought to be absolutely mental.

The inclusion of Elliot Page, a trans actor who has featured in several of Nolan’s productions, also made the movie an apparent no-go before people even knew what Page’s role would be. Seconds after seeing preliminary IMDb casting lists, many instantly assumed he was stepping into the boots of Brad Pitt from Troy, a hypothesis that can only be described as moronic.

They – Elon Musk included – were ultimately left with egg on their face when the reviews revealed how brief the role was, and how it didn’t break narrative immersion at all. Some reviews state that Page’s performance is the film’s most impactful.

The situation is tiringly familiar. Only the blue ticks on Twitter can so confidently discern whether a mythical epic about monsters, gods, and prophecies is distinctly lacking in ‘historical accuracy.’ Overnight, everyone became scholars of Homer and decided exactly how the movie had to look according to their frantic ChatGPT searches.

After a 60-second teaser, it was decreed in countless comment sections that Nolan had run amok, and that ultimately he must suffer the consequences of going ‘broke’. It’s harsh, but his ‘woke mind’ conformity must cost him the twilight years of his career, and he will learn (along with the rest of the world) that forcing inclusivity down people’s throats will not be tolerated.

Didn’t quite pan out, did it?

Here’s a little reminder, all. Polarising content shoved down your throat on social media isn’t reflective of real life. If Nolan wants to include a few people of colour in his interpretation of a pretend story, he’ll do it.

Go and see The Odyssey like everyone else. It’s mint.

more waffle

The war on ‘woke science’ comes for space research – the verge

The culture war is also being shoved into scientific research, because heaping public climate change data onto the bonfire wasn’t sufficient for the US President. The Verge has announced that Trump’s bulldozer is now coming for science grants. The new proposal would give political appointees more control over federal research funding, including the ability to terminate grants at will. Basically, discover something that causes Trump a bit of a headache, and the research paper ends up crumpled in the corner of a lockup at Area 51. The Planetary Society is rightly up in arms, and says the public should be able to see the fruits of research their tax dollars fund – whether or not lab coats are kissing Trump’s orange cheeks. Read more

Ignore the tabloids, Gen Z alcohol moderation isn’t a ‘myth’ – thred

Dispelling this utter bollocks was the most fun I had all week. After reading numerous headlines claiming that Gen Z moderating their alcohol consumption is a ‘myth’, according to market research from IWSR, I had a detailed look at the research myself. Turns out less Gen Z participants drank in the last six months than Gen X and Millennials by some margin. In fact, the only generation that drank less than Gen Z was the Boomers (60-80s), by a mere 3%. Considering one group is in the prime of its social life, and the other is cashing in pensions and attending weekly hospital appointments, it’s safe to say the data is being skewed to fit a dumb narrative. Come and shit on it with me. Read more


football turned content

This was already the most online World Cup in history, with every goal, row, tactical stinker, and Shakira hip swing chopped into social content before the players had even stopped pointing at the badge. Some of it is harmless enough. Football has always had main characters, attention seekers, and blokes outside stadiums talking absolute shite into cameras. The difference now is that the tournament itself feels increasingly built for those people. Hospitality access, creator trips, behind-the-scenes clips, stadium fit checks, and watchalong culture are all part of the package. The football is still there, obviously. It just feels like the backdrop to a content farm for few who could afford it. Spare a thought for anyone seated near Neon pretending to understand the sport. Read more

‘Kick Argentina out of the World Cup’ petition nearly breaks Guinness World Record – euronews

The world isn’t unanimous on much at all, but there’s a consensus that Paredes is an absolute dickhead and Messi is a tattle tit. After the shambolic-level tantrums and ruffian behaviour displayed by Argentina in the World Cup final against Spain, Euronews has reported that a petition calling for the nation to be kicked out of future tournaments has amassed more than 23 million signatures already. That’s approaching Guinness Book of World Records levels, and the current record held by a petition to cancel debt in the world’s poorest countries. Yup, Argentina were that irritating. Read more

questionable sales

OpenAI is the latest tech giant threatening us with bad clothes – dazed

OpenAI has decided it wants in on fashion, because apparently being embedded in every workplace, classroom, search bar, and creative industry wasn’t enough attention. Dazed has covered the company’s new merch drop, which includes a quarter-zip that says ‘Research,’ some very blue socks, a tote bag, and a T-shirt reading ‘Good Research Takes Time.’ I can certainly vouch for that one, given the platform’s tendency to churn out unsubstantiated crap on a daily basis. Surely this is purely an engagement ploy, or are curly-headed 50 year olds going to start rocking up with these hoodies on the underground? Read more

Why Pokémon card collectors are buying guns: ‘The PokéStreetz are not for the weak’ – vice

Equally ridiculous, but markedly more consequential, Vice reports that Pokémon vendors with rare and valuable cards are now strutting about with guns. A sling of recent reports of robberies, scams, assaults, and Facebook Marketplace setups has collectors shifty enough to go into deals with an itchy trigger finger. One source said ‘everyone is getting strapped,’ which is faintly ridiculous given the franchise is about tiny animals pawing each other to sleep. Word on the street is deals for expensive cards are now frequent in police stations and bank lobbies, anywhere conducive to ‘catching them all’ without catching a body. Read more

We hope you enjoyed this edition of the common thred. Thanks so much for engaging with our content!


We’re a young group of journalists fighting for worthy causes and trying to make a difference. If you’re able to donate anything, we’d really appreciate it. Every little helps us keep doing what we do.

PS: If you enjoyed this, you might just enjoy our sister newsletter The Gen Zer.

All the best for the rest of the week!

Stay safe,

Jamie Watts

Accessibility