Elon Musks likes to act as a culture warrior – but he sometimes reveals himself to be a racist.Image: keystone
The controversial question of whether white actors can also play black people and vice versa has gained new fuel. There is a simple solution to avoid conflict.
02/12/2026, 04:2002/12/2026, 05:52
Thomas Studer / ch media
Elon Musk was angry again. “Chris Nolan has lost all his integrity,” tweeted the richest man in the world the weekend before last. He was referring to director Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”), whose film adaptation of the Greek epic “Odyssey” is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2026.
Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has already been filmed, but the cast of the roles has not yet been announced. This also applies to the role of the beautiful Helen, who in the myth is the reason why the Trojan War breaks out. In all likelihood, however, it is actress Lupita Nyong’o who appears as Helena in Nolan – and it is this prospect that has Musk fuming.
One of the most renowned directors of today: Christopher Nolan draws the ire of Elon Musk.Image: keystone
Because: The US-Kenyan Nyong’o is black. In the presumed decision to cast her as Helena, Musk and other right-wing culture warriors see woke madness and a betrayal of the myth, if not another indication of the downfall of the West. After all, it is completely clear that Helena was white and blonde.
Lupita Nyong’o’s skin color doesn’t suit Elon Musk.Image: keystone
Musk doesn’t appear to be a Homer purist
At first, the argument seems to be based on the same essentialist idea with which left-wing culture warriors made headlines a few years ago. Only gays should play gays, the screenwriter Russell T. Davies (“Doctor Who”) demanded in 2021.
Something similar could be heard back then about the casting of disabled, transsexual and non-white characters. Some of the demands made sense; It is understandable that there are few good reasons for a white person to play a specifically black role.
In other arguments, however, it was sometimes forgotten that the ability to transform one’s own identity is the core of the art of acting. As if it were fundamentally impossible for a good, straight actress to credibly pretend to desire women in front of the camera.
In the case of Helena, the case is quite clear. For Homer, the presumed author of “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” Helena’s appearance is crucial. Because it is her beauty that provokes her robbery, which then leads to war and ultimately to Odysseus’ wanderings.
However, apart from the fact that Helena is the most beautiful and graceful, the historical texts largely ignore what she looks like. Homer calls her “white-armed,” but this refers to the fact that she doesn’t have to work in the sun. There is no indication of her hair color. The outcry from Musk and his followers turns out not to be the contribution of concerned Homer purists, but rather simple racism.
Violent threats against those responsible for casting
Apparently similar discussions are rampant around a book adaptation that can be seen in cinemas this week: “Wuthering Heights” by director Emerald Fennell (“Saltburn”). It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name (in German: “Wuthering Heights”), which was published by the British author Emily Brontë in 1847.
In it, Brontë tells of the relationship between the moody Catherine and the choleric Heathcliff, who pine for each other unfulfilled in rural Yorkshire in the late 18th century.
Like Nolan, director Fennell also received harsh criticism for her casting decision. Critics said it was unacceptable that the white Australian Jacob Elordi was cast in the role of Heathcliff. A user commented on Instagram that the person in charge of the casting should be shot.
The reason for this is the character’s origins, which are unclear in the book. Heathcliff is a foundling; his fellow human beings describe him as a “dark gypsy”. A servant says he looks like the son of a Chinese emperor or an Indian queen. While Brontë doesn’t write anything about Heathcliff’s parents, she makes it relatively clear that he experiences racism and therefore becomes an unhappy loner.
Where there is desolation in the original, the film slips
Fennell, on the other hand, treats the book quite freely overall, which is her right. She overloaded her film in a baroque style and enriched the originally erotically dry story with all sorts of slippery sex scenes. Her character, Heathcliff, played by Elordi, is not a dog beaten by racism, but a mysterious gentleman with strong hands.
The story, which was originally socially critical, becomes a joke, albeit an excitingly illustrated one. However, the director was irritated with her response to the criticism of her cast.
Emerald Fennell said she devoured “Wuthering Heights” when she was 14 and has now made a film of the book as she perceived it at the time. The actor Jacob Elordi, with sideburns, just looks like Heathcliff in the illustrations of the edition she read as a teenager.
Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights.Image: Warner Bros.
It’s not overtly racist like Elon Musk’s statement, but it is clumsy. In both cases, careful reading could prevent culture wars.
Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” will be in cinemas on February 12th, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in mid-July 2026. (aargauerzeitung.ch)