Entertainment
The Odyssey's Massive Success Proves That The Internet Isn’t Real Life
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
Right now, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is tearing through theaters like a one-man army. This film is the latest adaptation of an ancient Greek text about a soldier trying to find his way home after helping to win a costly battle. Specifically, Odysseus helped to bring the Trojan War to an end, which is ironic when you think about it. After all, the success of this fictional tale might have finally brought a real-world conflict to an end. Namely, the endless culture wars fought by the bravest keyboard warriors this side of 4chan.
For many months now, all of the usual suspects have been whinging about Nolan’s casting decisions. This included having Lupita Nyong’o play Helen of Troy and having Elliot Page play Sinon, a Greek warrior. At the prospect of (gasp!) a Black woman and a trans man playing Greek characters, haters began screeching that the film was woke garbage that would bomb at the box office. That is, of course, the conventional wisdom of the old adage: “go woke, go broke.” However, The Odyssey earned a whopping $264.1 million in its opening weekend, providing a lesson everyone should learn. The lesson? Repeat after me: the internet is not real life.
There Is No Normal
When I’m not dropping hot takes about movies and TV shows, I’m a professor at a humble state college. One of the life lessons I try to impart to all my students is that there is no normal; there is only what has been normalized around you. Are you in a room with nothing but flat-earthers? In that scenario, you’d be considered the crazy one. After a while, you might even start to believe what they are saying. This is just human nature … everyone wants to fit in rather than be an outcast. Eventually, it becomes easier to drink the Kool-Aid of wacky groupthink than to speak truth to a bunch of idiots.
What does this have to do with The Odyssey? Everything, really. Despite once clinging to the mantra “facts don’t care about your feelings,” the conservatives predicting that the movie would bomb didn’t have any real data to suggest that would happen; instead, they just had the rancid vibes of everyone in their preferred virtual spaces insisting that the film would flop. This is a practical example of the flat-earther example above. You can only hear the majority of people in your favorite online groups predict doom for so long before those predictions seem inevitable. Nobody wants to question the narrative because that’s the quickest way to get ostracized from the group.
The Internet Is Not Real Life
Now, the success of The Odyssey (it made over a quarter of a billion dollars in the first weekend!) has destroyed that narrative on its own. What has that done to the naysayers who predicted its doom? Some have retreated into conspiracy theories; millionaires must be buying out empty theaters! The movie is only successful because it pandered to woke elites! It’s only making money because of presales! The expensive IMAX tickets inflated the numbers! These are just a few conspiracies being peddled by intractable crazies who can’t comprehend The Odyssey being popular and successful. Their narrative has fallen apart, proving once and for all that the internet is not real life.
Regardless of its political leanings, every single online group you are part of has its own biases about countless topics. This includes what is or isn’t woke. But part of being a grownup is realizing that these groups’ opinions don’t reflect the wider culture anymore than your childhood friends’ opinions reflect the opinions of everyone in your hometown. If you and your buddies hate a new bar but it gets more crowded by the month, then most people clearly like it. And if the movie all of your online buddies have called woke garbage earns hundreds of millions in the first weekend, then it’s clearly both popular and successful.
The Culture War Is Over
Everyone votes with their dollars. If having a Black woman or a trans man portray a Greek character was a huge dealbreaker, mainstream audiences would have boycotted The Odyssey. If the average moviegoer actually cared about tweaking the lore of a 3,000-year-old poem, they’d have avoided the film. The fact that the movie is doing gangbusters at the box office is proof that most going to see it aren’t fretting over politics or culture war narratives. They just wanted to see a giant blockbuster filled with great actors; Christopher Nolan, whose every film has been successful, gave those audiences exactly what they wanted, and he’s being rewarded for it.
That’s how you can tell (and you may want to sit down for this) that the whole idea of a culture war is fake. Under capitalism, the predominant culture and cultural preferences are represented by what people pay for. The Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t fail because it was woke; it failed because it was another low-effort film from a fading franchise. Obsession didn’t succeed because it was anti-woke; it succeeded because it had fresh ideas, killer performances, and a visionary director. In short, audiences just want a good film, and a movie’s box office is the most reliable barometer of mainstream audiences’ opinion on a major blockbuster film.
Freaks And Greeks
Given its own massive box office, The Odyssey is clearly a movie that appeals to mass audiences. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to like it or that it is necessarily a great film; after all, plenty of terrible movies are still insanely profitable. And you don’t have to approve of the casting, either. If boycotting this movie because of those two actors is that important to you, nobody’s going to drag you to go see it. But if you’re still hating and claiming this movie will bomb, you are officially the minority opinion on Christoper Nolan’s latest film, one that could easily earn over a billion dollars when all is said and done.
Again, the takeaway here is that the internet isn’t real life. Did everyone in your scoldmaxxing online circles predict The Odyssey would fail? Now you know how much those predictions are worth. Were you utterly convinced that Elliot Page’s brief appearance in this film would destroy Nolan’s chances of success? Now you know how little the average person actually cares about these things. Fortunately, you can avoid these problems by putting the phone down, walking away from the computer, and going outside at least once a day. When you start talking to real people and not digital avatars, you might start caring less about what the internet has to say.
Regularly going outside is the best thing for anyone who has spent months liking countless posts about how The Odyssey would fail. If that’s you, then do us all a favor and touch some grass while you’re out there!
Entertainment
Comedy icon Lynne Marie Stewarts last film was The Dink, and Josh Greenbaum made sure she saw it
This week sees the release of The Dink, which — on top of being a hilarious underdog comedy about pickleball — is also the last film in which Lynne Marie Stewart appears.
Perhaps best known as the beautiful Miss Yvonne on Pee-wee‘s Playhouse or Charlie’s mom on It’s Always Sunny on Philadelphia, the American actress had a prolific career in comedy, appearing in more than 150 films and TV shows.
At the age of 78, she passed away on Feb. 21, 2025, not long after she was featured in the critically heralded Paul Reubens documentary Pee-wee as Himself. But before that, she was able to see a cut of The Dink, thanks to director Josh Greenbaum.
In The Dink, Stewart plays Judy, a seventy-something pickleball player who befriends recent divorcee Candace (Mary Steenburgen) and has-been tennis phenom Dusty (producer Jake Johnson). Flirty, joyful, and a fan of trash talk, Judy brings her own bounce to the pickleball comedy.
In an interview with Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko, Greenbaum shared how Stewart came to join The Dink, the unique improvisation she added, and how she got to see the movie before her passing.
Jake Johnson faces off against Lynne Marie Stewart in “The Dink.”
Credit: Apple TV
You have an amazing cast, but I want to talk about Lynne Marie Stewart, because I love her, and I think she’s so, so funny in this. Can you tell me what it was like to work with her? She is such an icon of comedy.
Josh Greenbaum: She’s the best. We auditioned people for that role for Judy, and you know, a lot of very, very funny women came into the room. So many so that I was like, well, this is a difficult decision. They’re all really, really funny. I think at that age, there’s not a lot of roles for older women.
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Which, also to interject, I love that in The Dink, the joke is never on these women for being older. They’ve got jokes. There are no jokes about treating their age as a cheap punchline, which is true in [Greenbaum’s other films] Barb and Star and in Will & Harper too.
You don’t stop being funny when you’re 70. So, no, that was never the joke. And she came in the room — I remember Jake Johnson and I were in the audition room — and she walked in with this big smile on her face, and her arms out wide. And she shuffled in as though to say, “I’m here. Here’s your Judy.”
And before she said a word, we both looked at each other and we were just like, “Oh well, that’s, it’s clearly Lynne Marie.” And then, of course, she crushed her audition. Felt funny that we even had to audition her, but I hadn’t seen her in a little while. Obviously, I saw her on It’s Always Sunny. But you know, [it had] been a few years. But she was just, like, such a joy.
I mean, one of my favorite lines in the whole film is is her whole run about the butter knife, and that is totally Lynne. I said, give me a long, overly explained run that’s supposed to be trash talk, but it’s about like, “Are you in the kitchen?” And she did this long run about forgetting the butter knife because you took your butter knife and a pat of butter, but you forgot the muffin — this long explanation about how you left the butter knife in the kitchen. And it just brings me such joy when she delivers that line, and so many other lines. Unfortunately, we didn’t know she was terminally ill while we were filming.
[Editor’s note: Matt Wolf, the director of Pee-wee as Himself, did not know Reubens was terminally ill while they were shooting footage for that documentary.]
She discovered that shortly after filming, and unfortunately passed shortly after that, which was heartbreaking. But her sister reached out and said, “Hey, is there any chance you could get us the film? She would love to watch it.” And so I sent her sister and Lynne a copy of the film. They watched it together and sent me a beautiful note back that Lynne was dying laughing and full of joy watching what obviously became her last performance. So, that’s really special.
I just love her. She was such a special woman. I was able to go to her her funeral and reception here in in L.A., and it was full of thousands of people who had she had worked with and who were her friends. She just put such warmth and love out into the world. I’m just very grateful she was with us, and that I had a chance to kind of work with her, even briefly.
The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV.
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Entertainment
First Details About New Star Trek Movie Offer More Questions Than Answers
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
Many Star Trek fans were understandably shocked when Paramount pulled the plug on developing new TV shows. Instead, they have decided to pivot the franchise back to the big screen, and they hired some top-tier talent. The unnamed movie will be written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. This dynamic duo has some serious geek cred, having written both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. These two specialize in creating stories filled with heart, humor, and pulse-pounding action, and that’s exactly the vibe Paramount wants for their beloved science fiction franchise.
With that being said, the studio hasn’t said much about what this new movie will be about. We already knew that it was going to feature an entirely different set of characters, but beyond that, details have been very sparse. Recently, though, Goldstein and Daley made an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, and they made a shocking announcement about the movie’s setting: that it would be “further into the future than we’ve been before.” Unfortunately, the ambiguity of this statement and questions about whether this film will reboot Star Trek have offered more questions than answers to a deeply confused fandom.
Giving The Fans What They Want
At Comic-Con, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley were careful not to spoil the Star Trek film they are working on. Initially, Daley said, “the script is in progress, and that we’re very excited about it” before adding, “I really can’t say anything else other than that.” They relented and said more, but much was just marketing. For example, Goldestein described how they wanted “to do a different spin on something that you’ve seen done before.” Unsurprisingly, they want to cater to old and new fans alike: “That’s our hope with this: is to satisfy the fans, but also bring people in who may not consider themselves lovers of Star Trek and surprise them.”
In the midst of this, however, one of the writers said something fascinating. After confirming that the crew in the film “won’t be the characters that you’ve seen previously in your Star Trek movies,” Goldstein dropped a bombshell. “I think it’ll probably be a little further into the future than we’ve been before.” This is a comment that has left fans confused, and for good reason. After all, there are two very different ways to interpret this comment, which would result in two drastically different possible movies.
Just When You Thought Disco Was Dead
The most literal way to interpret Goldstein’s comment is that the new film will literally take place further in Star Trek’s future than we have seen in any show or movie. At the end of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, the crew jumped to the 32nd century, which is also where Starfleet Academy took place. That’s as far in continuity as Trek has gone so far, and the new movie might take place even further in the future. Assuming the new film doesn’t reboot continuity, that means it would take place in a future where the Federation is still rebuilding, the Vulcans have reunified with the Romulans, and the Klingons have been mostly wiped out.
That’s unlikely to happen, though. Chances are high that Paramount doesn’t want to associate their newest Star Trek film with Starfleet Academy, the future-set show that was canceled after one season. Plus, the 32nd century brought with it some major continuity changes (the ones above are just the tip of the iceberg). If Paramount wants to simultaneously appeal to older and newer fans, they’ll set the movie in a more accessible time period. Like, say, the 25th century!
Will You Cheer Or Will You Puke?
How would that work? Goldstein’s comment mentioned the movie taking place “a little further into the future than we’ve been before.” His use of “little” might mean that the movie is taking place slightly further into the 25th century, which is when Picard and Lower Decks take place. Those shows followed up on Golden Age Trek series like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. After the success of Picard’s final season, fans practically begged for a Star Trek: Legacy show that took place in the 25th century. We never got one, but maybe we’ll be getting an entire movie set just a little further on that familiar timeline.
Admittedly, this is speculation. It’s possible that Jonathan Goldstein meant something else entirely and misspoke in his effort not to spoil the movie. Taken at face value, though, it sounds like the setting determines whether the new Star Trek movie is a spiritual successor to Starfleet Academy or to Picard. Given those choices, it’s a safe bet most fans would rather have new adventures set in the 25th century. If we get a new movie set in the 32nd century, though, it may make many older fans vomit. Worried about your novelty popcorn bucket? Don’t worry…if we’re getting a Starfleet Academy sequel on the big screen, you’ll probably just be puking glitter, anyway!
Comedy icon Lynne Marie Stewarts last film was The Dink, and Josh Greenbaum made sure she saw it
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