u/DwightSkywalker28

The Odyssey, we all know is about the hero’s journey that Odysseus (Matt Damon) makes to get back to his home where his wife (Anne Hathaway) and son (Tom Holland) remain and that’s being taken over by these suitors led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson). In a scene in the trailer, there’s a dialogue between Telemachus and Antinous that uses the word “Dad” and “Daddy” in exchange, with many citing how it doesn’t match the tone of the trailer, and is very informal for how an epic like this is supposed to feel.

First off, in the Ancient Greek language, their are actually informal sayings to address the father like παππᾶς which is Dad or Daddy translated to English. Despite not being used in the actual Odyssey poem, it’s important to note these words did exist in that time period, and Nolan is referring to them for a specific reason.

Second off, in parallel to Odysseus journey back home, Telemachus is going on the arc of a boy becoming a man. So one of the ways Nolan could visualize the state of Telemachus at the beginning of the story, is referring to his father as Dad or Daddy. It could also visualize how close he feels to his father and how young he was when he left him, as around that young age, he would refer to him as his “Daddy” and now despite the growth, he would be a young boy trapped in a grown man’s body. Constantly referring to his father as Dad or Daddy, as seen in another Tv Spot where Telemachus asks someone “What do you know about my Dad?”

Third off, I wouldn’t put it past Antinous to belittle or antagonize Telemachus by using his own references to his father by calling him Dad, and twisting it by calling Odysseus “Daddy” too. To patronize him, and use it as a reference to show how much Telemachus still acts like a kid and not suited to be the man of the house. Now I’m not saying adults don’t refer to their fathers as Dad, but this could easily be used as a framing device to visualize Telemachus’ arc throughout the story of The Odyssey.

Finally, Christopher Nolan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. There’s a lot of valid complaints you can make about his writing style but he never misses with his word choice, and I very much expect the use of the word dad, to be very crucial to the story, and not something he would overlook to this degree.