Why are all Hollywood adaptations of Greek/roman epics homophobic?

Rating: Null/10 (22 September 2011)

I was debating on whether on not to see this film for ages after seeing the generally bad reviews on the film, I finally succumbed and it was worse than my expectations. Why make a film on such a well known epic if you want to ignore it completely. I can understand if you make a modern adaption of the epic but to try and portray it as something actually based on the Iliad is pathetic! First of all the age is wrong, all historical accuracies are ignored and second of all the whole hinge of the story - the love between Achilles and Partoclus is completely rewritten. Achilles went mad with anger after the death of Partoclus and swore revenge for his death - not because he was his cousin but because he loved him! In fact the film reverses the whole text - it was Achilles who was the young one (still beardless as Homer puts it) and Partoclus who was older. In trying to understand everything under the lens of our modern understanding of sexuality we undermine the subtleties of ancient cultures. Achilles was not gay - no such term existed then - sexuality was fluid, you could love a man or a woman and still be considered 'normal' though in most cases you loved men when you were younger and went on to marry and have children as you got older, though there were exceptions and they were accepted too. In all new Hollywood adaptations of Greek myths, they tend to subvert this ancient understanding to fit modern terms and kill the context of it all. In 300 we are made to think that the Spartans defeated the Persians because of their ferocity while the fact is that 300 stood against an army of thousands because in ancient Sparta all soldiers were bound together with their lovers who fought bedside them and fought ferociously to defend each other. This is why Alexander wept when he visited the site of their massacre and called it the biggest testament to love that man has ever made.We change history to suit us and make it more comfortable to digest but in doing so we lose out in the wealth of understanding we can gain from their cultures. I hope soon 200 million will be spent to depict history as it was and not as some glorified video game.