Oh absolutely, I don't think Ancient Greeks saw themselves in terms of race the way we modernly do. And of course, you let it go pretty quickly. I mean, it's a three hour movie. It'd feel like six if you were sitting there every time going "was there really an Asian guy at the temple, or on the ship or wherever".

I think people simplify the discussion and turn it into an empathy play mistakenly. Oh you didn't like Helen played by a black woman because you're racist and can't empathize with other creeds or races. Whereas, while some people still think this way I expect, I think we grossly overestimate their numbers. And in this particular case, the reason not to like black Helen (despite the cultural inaccuracy) is that she was a meh Helen.

Just like Hathaway was a meh Penelope. I wondered about the leads too, but frankly, with these big Hollywood names you just assume it's because they're big Hollywood names. I think Anne Hathaway is having a resurgence of some kind - she seems to be in a lot of movies and talked about. So maybe that's why. Matt Damon just has that reasonable guy face, you know? Maybe they wanted to convey Odysseus was a nice guy, idk. Can't imagine other reasons for him. Personally, I would've been way happier with an unknown cast (of whatever races) but with a mind-blowing film.

Matt Smith's the one who was or is Doctor Who right? I only saw him in House of Dragon, where I think he grows on you, but can definitely see why one wouldn't stand him. He has a face.

As for why these things matter to us so much, my guess would be it strikes at the core of our culture, which in turn is a very big part of who we are. Because what stories do people get upset about diverse casting? Sure, Conservatives argue against any movie staring a gay person or black person or whatever and accuse the film of being woke. Sure, but those don't usually bug us, as long as it's not a major story in our canon. Trying to think of the recent ones that riled people - Doctor Who, James Bond as you said, this one, Snow White. What do these have in common? They're old(ish) stories that we have placed at the core of our shared identity in some way. We object because we realize the sacrifice of this important (to us) story on an altar of political correctness. More primally, I think we feel threatened at a survivalist core because somewhere in us, we know that peoples whose culture is destroyed become extinguished.

The issue, of course, is big on the other side too, with people eagerly defending the right of any person of any race or gender to be in movies or whatever. That's an empathy play. We mostly are good people, despite these petty bickerings we engage in, and somehow have become convinced that's really a question in our times. Just like with COVID, the question suddenly was "are you a reasonable person or are you some crazy, dangerous conspiracy theorist?". We want to be on the good side, always, and we fundamentally are. We're being told obsessively that we have to should loudly, eagerly the right slogans or we are not viable members of society, and since it plays on our sense of self and on our empathy, it's a winner.

Unlike in 1984, it doesn't play on fear of punishment, but on fear of being perceived as foul and isolated from the village.(though arguably, the same is true there, albeit in a more violent state)

Anyway, sorry for the long comment. I love talking to you, and agreed, it's a fascinating subject I think we should be talking about more, not less. Just in a different way. Why do you get triggered if I say black Helen was meh. Or why do you get triggered if they cast black Helen in the first place. The way humans and society work is fascinating.