I wanted to let a little steam out here. First of all as a movie in whole I loved Aquaman. It had so many different types of species etc, visuals, costumes and so forth. Because it was funny I kept on thinking it’s a Marvel movie lol and it’s great for the kids (some adult language here and there though).
That aside, I think today’s film makers are either totally ignorant of the comics own Greek character heritage which are mostly derived from Greek mythology, or simply want to ignore the Greeks period. I would think of it as cultural appropriation. Poseidon is mentioned here and so are many Greek names but the word Greek is never mentioned or the “Greek Pantheon”.
The Wonder Woman movies were the same way. When they even mentioned Greece it was like a throw away. And no I am not taking things out of context like it’s only a movie. The comics which they are based from are very specific of who these characters are and where they get their powers. And they have the potential to influential millions if not billions of young adults.
Then take those Amazon Prime commercials. Cleopatra who is Greek was portrayed as African American (anyway, so was Rapunzel) but the funniest one was Medusa. Same thing. The character and all the people around her where black or Hispanic in a Greek temple. Now what’s the harm in all this you say? Well “our” kids lose out on seeing themselves on film and having someone to relate. It’s cultural appropriation to an extend that the new content makers are rewriting the original material and appropriating it to other ethnic groups or races.
I would like to see strong and beautiful Ethiopian or Nigerian characters who have long histories, mythologies and traditions like the Greeks. Not to do it this way. This is wrong and harmful to all races and shows the ignorance and hate of Hollywood towards its own consumers.
American comic books took inspiration from Greek, Norse, or Hebrew stories and modernized them to create a new American mythology. It’s time to dig a little deeper and create new stories of new people and not steal those that came before then. I don’t think the original writers would had wanted that and they were themselves either Anglo-Protestant or Jewish.
And to wrap it up the only good movies that were not shy to mention the Greek roots of their characters and correct Greek regions on maps were “The Immortals”, The second “Clash of the Titans” (from the modern ones), and “Hercules” with the Rock. He even looked plausible as a Greek. And of course Frank Miller’s “300” and “Troy” with Brad Pitt.
The rest are not that great. Now the only other thing wrong with most modern Greek mythology movies or video games or whatever have you is that Hollywood which is atheist, kills off all the gods. Yes, and even the Demi gods are supposed to hate their godly parents or not believe in them etc. As if people 2500 years ago would had thought this way lol. Religion is essential to the Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian civilization. And don’t get me started on with the few Byzantine themed movies (very few) where the actors playing a Greek or “Byzantine” are played by Indian or Middle Easterner people and are usually settings for vampire movies in Constantinople lol. And ironically there are many top “Bollywood” actors and actresses that are played by Greeks, because of their fair, and Mediterranean looks!
What am I getting at? Well if we knew a little bit of Ealry Hollywood history we would know that Hollywood was founded or basically co-created by Greeks! The Skouras Brothers. They discovered Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor ran Fox studios and made many of the great Greek epics of the 50’s and 60’s. You don’t think I was going to go there lol. That being said you had the great monster make up creators of Universal monsters such as Jack Pierce, artist Basil Gogos, famed Hollywood costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge and tv show car designer George Barris (think Batmobile and The Munsters Car). And to wrap it up the great movie soundtrack composers such as Basil Poledouris (Conan, Robocop) and Vangelis (Chariots of Fire), and directors Elia Kazan, George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone) or John Cassavetes! How about actor Telly Savalas.
There are plenty more actors of course. Even the pioneer of the electric guitar was Epimonidas Stathopoulos of Epiphone Guitars, who influenced Les Paul (now part of Gibson)!
So if you think Hollywood or Disney or whatever have you does not know what a Greek or a Hellene looks like or is, then you are mistaken. So it’s a shame they do not acknowledge that we exist and we keep on believing like sheep that it’s ok. At least we have the gyro and feta right? Don’t worry the Turkish kebab and Bulgarian Feta will replace those too one day.
What is there to do you ask? Fund your own projects and create an alternative. Indians, Russians, Japanese, Spanish and others create Greek, historical movies, tv series and cartoons and in Greece they create Reality TV shows of garbage. On top of all that all their cartoons are mostly Nickelodeon or Disney/Pixar cartoons dubbed in Greek!
You can see some rare interesting shows on our Hellenic History Series page and YouTube channel https://youtube.com/user/kalavrita1821.
And what else am I doing on this? We are pitching over seas my own historical movie projects, one being on Byzantium and another on World War I’s Balkan Theater. If you know of any production companies or would like to learn more on how to help fund or connect us with the right individuals, feel free to message me.
Thank you 
Love Letters To Greece
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