‘The Odyssey’s’ odyssey against cancel culture

This past week, I finished “Doctor Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak. It is an amazing book, but the story behind the publication of the book is equally fascinating.

Pasternak tried to get it published in the Soviet Union but was rejected because of its criticisms of Joseph Stalin, collectivization, the gulag and the revolution. He had a manuscript smuggled out to Italy where it was published, despite strong protests from the Soviets.

The CIA then got involved and distributed copies of the book because of its less than flattering depiction on life in the Soviet Union. The book was a runaway success. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was promptly ostracized and condemned in his own country.

A very famous cartoon by Bill Mauldin depicts two men in a Soviet prison camp. One says to the other, “I won the Nobel Prize for literature. What was your crime?”

I shudder to think that Americans would ever live in a world like this, where artists are not free to be artists. But it seems as if some people are hell-bent on living in a country where such censorship occurs.

Take Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “The Odyssey.” Nolan’s take on the ancient Greek epic features an all-star cast from all walks of life. One might look at the cast list and get excited. But the world being what it is, people have decided to be offended. The movie is being attacked by politicians and right-wing influencers from Elon Musk on down.

Some have focused on Lupita Nyong’o’s casting as the legendary (key word “legendary”) Helen of Troy. How dare a fictional character look different than what some people........

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