A couple years back, I chaperoned my kiddo’s class trip to see the Aaron Sorkin adaptation of “Camelot” on Broadway. The cast was great, of course. The songs are always great. And Morgan Le Fey got to deliver an interestingly modern take on womanhood and the importance of scientific discovery (or something like that). What wasn’t in that production? Much if any magic.

I don’t mean the production wasn’t magical. I mean the whole existence of magic was irrelevant to this production. Morgan didn’t do any sorcery, in my memory. Merlin didn’t do any wizardry. It was a stripped-down, bare-bones story of a romantic triangle that happened to take place in a king’s castle and the king’s vengeful ex and kid he’d never met before had some strong opinions on the matter, and then there was a war. Camelot was a beautiful dream, the end.

I was reminded of that production after seeing “The Odyssey” last week.

Don’t get me wrong—I liked the movie. I was impressed by the sweep and grandeur of it. The battle scenes are amazing, the sound is incredible, the cast is strong all around. See this in the theaters if you’re going to see it because it is exactly as epic as it ought to be.

But where is Poseidon? Hermes? Zeus? Why does Athena have almost nothing to do? What happened to the bag of winds? Why is Calypso never identified as a goddess? Where are all the Lotus-Eaters, and why didn’t Odysseus need moly to beat Circe? Some of the fantastical elements of the story are still there—Circe beswining the men (that scene alone is a whole horror movie), the men escaping from Polyphemus, Odysseus speaking with the dead and hearing the Sirens’ song and choosing between Scylla and Charybdis. But overall this isn’t a story about men defying, doing penance to and serving as avatars of the gods; it’s a story about men and how they hurt each other. Not a wrong interpretation. Just a less magical one.

Look, I’m a fantasy nerd. I want the magic. I’m more interested in Merlin and Morgan and the Lady of the Lake than I am in King Arthur being a lousy husband. I want to see Odysseus’ crew open up that bag of winds and Athena vs. Poseidon vs. Zeus to decide whether Odysseus gets home at all. I appreciate the focus on human emotions and human failings, but also, I can get all that from mainstream literature (or from reading the news). I read—and write—stories about magic because they have that extra sense of possibility and wonder. In a story with magic, almost anything can happen. That’s the point.

Sometimes I think big-name directors feel obligated to downplay magical elements in adaptations in order to appeal to mainstream audiences. Please. I was at two anime cons in the past month and both were packed. A local brewery has started hosting D&D night. I hang out at RenFaires and witchy craft fairs. People love this stuff. Give us magic!

Literally all that said, this is still not a complaint because I know the nastier parts of the internet and various literary figures have been sniping at each other over “The Odyssey.” And I think the real takeaway is this: There is a movie adaptation of one of the oldest stories in Western civilization, a story lots of people studied in school, and intellectual types are arguing about the movie and this is getting actual news coverage while the movie continues to blow up the box office. And that is pretty cool.

But seriously, read the book too.

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Staying on the theme here, I wrote another Greek-mythology short story that will go to one of two possible calls for submission. I’m trying to decide which one. But the ending made me cry, so I’m figuring I’ve got something good.

And I’m trying to work out the final scenes of this novel-in-progress. I might get that done this week but no promises.

I’m also trying to decide whether I should start a Substack in addition to this blog, or as something to point to the blog, or instead of the blog. It’s very hard to determine what on social media is worth doing and what’s still going to be around in a couple years, and what if anything is more valuable than a website that I pay to maintain. Suggestions are welcome.

In the meantime, have a pleasant week and remember, if you get into any shenanigans, explain that Nobody made you do it.