Whoopi Goldberg slams transphobic backlash to Elliot Page in The Odyssey
Whoopi Goldberg has slammed criticism of Elliot Page’s casting in The Odyssey (Getty Images | Universal)
Whoopi Goldberg has hit back at conservative critics attacking Elliot Page‘s casting in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, telling them: “Don’t go see the d*** movie.”
The View host addressed the backlash on Tuesday’s (July 21) episode, responding to a clip of right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro telling his audience that “it is stupid to cast Elliot Page as a dude” in the film.
“A lot of conservatives who see this are going to feel the same way. That’s okay. But I don’t understand. Why go see the movie? If you don’t want to see it, don’t go see it. Why do you care who’s cast in it?” Goldberg said.
She went on: “I don’t understand this idea that if we hate it, everybody must hate it because we hate it for this reason. You don’t like Elliot Page? Don’t go see the d*** movie. Don’t do it. We will be okay if you don’t go see it.”
Page, who is trans, plays Sinon, cousin to Matt Damon’s Odysseus.
Right-wing figures including Elon Musk piled on over early rumours of Page’s casting, which turned out to be inaccurate, that Page would play Achilles. Lupita Nyong’o has faced similar racist backlash over her role.
Goldberg also took aim at the language used by the film’s critics. “I’m going to keep saying this to you people until you understand it. Ninety percent of America has never been asleep,” she said of the word “woke”.
“They’ve been working to feed their families, they’ve been trying to get an education… they’ve been trying to do all the things that people try to do every day.”
The Odyssey took around $264million worldwide in its opening weekend, the biggest debut of Nolan’s career. Shapiro has since described the film as a “masterpiece”, urging conservatives to see it despite what he called the “unforced error” of casting a trans actor. Page himself has also been branded “sublime”, despite his role being fairly minor.
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