Whoopi Goldberg has spoken out against the transphobic criticism directed at Elliot Page for his casting in the new film "The Odyssey." During Tuesday's episode of "The View," Goldberg and her co-hosts defended Page, who publicly came out as transgender in 2020, after conservative figures like Ben Shapiro questioned his role as the Greek warrior Sinon.

"If you feel like that, why go see the movie?" Goldberg questioned, referencing Shapiro's comment that it was "stupid to cast Elliot Page as a dude." She added, "If you don’t want to see it, then don’t go see it. Why do you care who’s cast in it?"

Goldberg expressed bewilderment at the intensity of the backlash, questioning why those who "hate" Page's casting felt the need to impose their views on others. "You don’t like Elliot Page? Don’t go see the damn movie," she stated. "We will be okay if you don’t go see it."

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed, suggesting that online criticism on platforms like Twitter does not reflect reality. She described the film as a "masterpiece" and asserted that "there's nothing woke in this film."

Sara Haines highlighted that many of the film's harshest critics had not yet seen it. "There's a unique ignorance to someone who comments on something they’ve never seen," Haines said. "You cannot not see the film and complain about how awful it is when you haven’t seen the film."

Page stars in the adaptation of Homer's epic poem alongside Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron. Lupita Nyong'o, a Black woman cast as Helen of Troy and her twin sister Clytemnestra, also faced backlash.

Director Christopher Nolan has acknowledged such criticisms, stating that discussions predating a film's release are "always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet." He noted that such conversations "comes with the territory."

Page himself has largely avoided addressing the transphobic response during the film's press tour. However, while appearing on "The Daily Show," he admitted to being "terrified" to play Sinon, explaining that the character was not originally in "The Odyssey." His focus, he said, was on capturing the character in his scenes and pleasing the director.