www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/opinion/odysseus-christopher-nolan.html
Perhaps the review of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is the metaphor for the problem with American liberalism. Granted he correctly describes the opposition, MAGA men are the Suitors.
His criticism of Odysseus does have a few valid reasons. Certainly it does not make sense that Odysseus clears the land of parasites and then departs again unless you watch the film and recognize three truths.
First, Odysseus doesn’t want to be a Greek lord, his conscience cannot tolerate the compromises. Second, neither does his wife. Third, their civilization is ending, and he has seen the consequences, and he doesn’t want anymore dead people on his ledger. Hell, fourth, he promised his friends, and then there’s question of honor and death in world between God and humanity.
Why, kill all the Suitors first though. Well because they had to go and Odysseus lived before the birth of modern Democracy. Granted the Greeks were much smarter than most modern Americans but they still didn’t have the same options to fight. This is because Odysseus lived before Jesus, Wallace, L’Overture, Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King.
We, like Odysseus, all must find the path with the options available to us at the time we live in. What’s exhilarating though, is that the reasons and sides never change — note the golden rule here if you happen to be lost.
Pick your lot, accept the consequences, never give up. That is what we all must do in a broken world, and I think Odysseus is a decent enough example of how to pull it off in his time.
Epilogue: If you watch Nolan’s The Odyssey and just hate it, and can’t say why, please note you likely have already picked the wrong lot.