This is a moderately interesting take on what is otherwise a very tedious culture war on X about Nolan's film.
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey may be the most pro-Western civilization film Hollywood has made in decades - not because it flatters the Greeks, but because it understands civilization as a moral achievement rather than an ethnic possession.
The identitarian far-left and far-right share a premise: that the Western canon is ethnic property. One side condemns it on that basis; the other guards it on the same basis. Nolan refuses the premise, populating Homer's world with various identities while treating the story with absolute seriousness. That’s not a repudiation of the canon but evidence of its triumph: Homer can be inhabited by, and speak to, anyone.
The film’s deepest commitment is to individual moral agency. Odysseus cannot hide behind Greece, military orders, or victory. His choices are his own, and so is his guilt. No collective cause dissolves individual moral responsibility; his final heroism lies not in conquest, but atonement.
That principle extends to hospitality: treat the stranger as you would wish to be treated. When the Greeks violate it, they become the barbarians they fear. Penelope's devastating realization - "You're the people from the sea" - underscores that the enemies of civilization are sometimes its self-appointed defenders, exempting themselves from the principles they claim to uphold.
This is Western civilization at its best - not an ethnicity or a triumphalist myth, but a tradition built around the dignity of the individual, moral responsibility, and atonement. And a civilization strong enough to preserve stories that judge its own heroes remains a civilization worth defending. https://x.com/tylerhnorris/status/2078960088258363722
I watched it yesterday with my son.
When the movie ended, it got a round of applause. (Which was a bit weird, to be honest.)
It was about 25 minutes too long. The first third had too much exposition in it, and should have treated the audience like adults. The middle third could probably simply have lost one encounter (the Sirens?). And did we really need quite so much time with Calypso?
With all that said, it was a great movie, with some fabulous performances. (And a curiously wasted Zendaya.)
And when my son and I were walking back to the car after the game, we talked about exactly the fact that the real journey was Odyssesus realizing that they hadn't been the good guys in Troy.
I was totally unbothered by Helen being black*. And I thought Elliott shone in their (very minor) role as the soldier left behind to hand the horse over.
8/10 - could have been 9/10 if it had been a bit more aggressively pruned.
The poor lass is pretty slender already. Anorexia ?
*As very likely would have been the Myceneans and/or Ancient Greeks.
Starmer, Reeves, Lammy, Kyle and Reed all gone today
Reeves, Lammy, Kyle and Reed - absolute opposite of a brain trust. Question is who replaces them. I know people who have dealt with Kyle in both roles and says pretty clueless but was onboard the AI is the future train. Guardian was reporting over the weekend Burnham not a big fan of AI.
And they have no one of the calibre of Philp, Stride, Patel, Whately, Holden and Hollinrake to replace them with.
We were able to bring down homelessness very rapidly during COVID, so it should be at least an attackable issue.
We know that number of ex-military are amongst people on the streets so setups to help them may be a different use for "asylum hotels" say in Epping, so the far-right wallahs have an opportunity to start being socially useful citizens helping struggling ex-military re-integrate into society, rather than being thugs running around the country trying to create pogroms.
All we did in COVID was sweep up the homeless and shove them in doors. They were back out again, quite rapidly.
It was a largely performative action.
Let’s not do that.
Which 'homeless' are we talking about? Is it the rough sleepers, so often plagued by their addictions? Or is it the ones who cannot get council housing and are housed in temporary accomodation? Or both?
That, I think, is what we need to find out from Mr Burnham.
Practically it would involve both.
In Manchester part of it was the "Mayor's Charity". which has been working on the initiative since 2017. https://www.gmmayorscharity.org.uk/
I think "end homelessness" may be overreach, as it is a problem which will always be there. It will be more about a more effective response.
The tragedy for Labour is to be two years gone and despite the huge majority they're starting again further to the left with no money and so far a few hackneyed back to the 80s phrases. I've never been a fan but they're plunging to levels of ineptitude that being to rival the Johnson/Truss eras.
Burnham's high-profile pledge to end rough sleeping is interesting, as it's not a pledge that is an obvious vote winner - i.e. it's not on most people's list of priorities.
It rather suggests that a 'moral mission' will be part of Burnham's agenda - doing what's right, not just what's most popular.
And/or it's a nod to the left; this was to have been Corbyn's first action, had he won.
You would think now he has a flat at 10 Downing Street he does not need to sleep rough .
Seriously has he achieved anything on this in Manchester ? You would think being a long term mayor he should have if it’s his mission
The Twitter consensus is that rough sleeping in Manchester has doubled in the time Burnham’s been mayor.
Here's the thing: the homeless are economically rationale and very mobile.
The best way to have no homelessness is to be a small, poor town with terrible facilities. All the homeless will migrate to somewhere where begging is easier.
On the other hand, if your city is wealthy, then you will tend to suck in the homeless.
It makes it very hard to evaluate how successful policies are at ameliorating homelessness, because a policy that works will tend to suck in more homeless.
A bit less true in the UK, where cities take broadly the same approach, and the climate is not radically different.
Off topic, but can we actually ask your tacit knowledge Foxy.
In 2026 does NHS still use seaweed, leeches and maggots?
Burnham's high-profile pledge to end rough sleeping is interesting, as it's not a pledge that is an obvious vote winner - i.e. it's not on most people's list of priorities.
It rather suggests that a 'moral mission' will be part of Burnham's agenda - doing what's right, not just what's most popular.
And/or it's a nod to the left; this was to have been Corbyn's first action, had he won.
You would think now he has a flat at 10 Downing Street he does not need to sleep rough .
Seriously has he achieved anything on this in Manchester ? You would think being a long term mayor he should have if it’s his mission
The Twitter consensus is that rough sleeping in Manchester has doubled in the time Burnham’s been mayor.
Burnham's high-profile pledge to end rough sleeping is interesting, as it's not a pledge that is an obvious vote winner - i.e. it's not on most people's list of priorities.
It rather suggests that a 'moral mission' will be part of Burnham's agenda - doing what's right, not just what's most popular.
To me it suggests his vacuity instead; ending rough sleeping isn't possible; its a combination of economic issues, mental health issues, and a very small number of people who embrace the lifestyle (or in some cases, can't function any other way).
Not even GCSE level source analysis is required to understand that a charity set up to conquer homelessness has a bit of a vested interest in saying that it is possible....
Eh? Every charity surely has a vested interest in ensuring that whatever social or economic problem that they are trying to resolve is never actually so achieved?
Of course. They want to manage problems not solve them. Preferably taking a load of cash from the govt while doing so.
The California approach.
Not a good sign, if Burnham is going to be all in on Big NGO from the start.
I saw his suggestion on international aid through a similar lens, where will the money actually be going?
Burnham's high-profile pledge to end rough sleeping is interesting, as it's not a pledge that is an obvious vote winner - i.e. it's not on most people's list of priorities.
It rather suggests that a 'moral mission' will be part of Burnham's agenda - doing what's right, not just what's most popular.
And/or it's a nod to the left; this was to have been Corbyn's first action, had he won.
You would think now he has a flat at 10 Downing Street he does not need to sleep rough .
Seriously has he achieved anything on this in Manchester ? You would think being a long term mayor he should have if it’s his mission
The Twitter consensus is that rough sleeping in Manchester has doubled in the time Burnham’s been mayor.
Here's the thing: the homeless are economically rationale and very mobile.
The best way to have no homelessness is to be a small, poor town with terrible facilities. All the homeless will migrate to somewhere where begging is easier.
On the other hand, if your city is wealthy, then you will tend to suck in the homeless.
It makes it very hard to evaluate how successful policies are at ameliorating homelessness, because a policy that works will tend to suck in more homeless.
A bit less true in the UK, where cities take broadly the same approach, and the climate is not radically different.
Off topic, but can we actually ask your tacit knowledge Foxy.
In 2026 does NHS still use seaweed, leeches and maggots?
Comments
Anorexia ?
*As very likely would have been the Myceneans and/or Ancient Greeks.
NEW THREAD
Practically it would involve both.
In Manchester part of it was the "Mayor's Charity". which has been working on the initiative since 2017.
https://www.gmmayorscharity.org.uk/
I think "end homelessness" may be overreach, as it is a problem which will always be there. It will be more about a more effective response.
https://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/your-visit/patient-leaflets/tissue-viability/maggot-therapy
I like the categorisation into "bio bag dressings" and "free range maggots".
https://xcancel.com/PolitlcsUK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cgrkv8e8l9qt
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jul/20/andy-burnham-new-prime-minister-pm-keir-starmer-labour-no-10-downing-street-speech-cabinet-uk-politics-latest-news-updates
Not a good sign, if Burnham is going to be all in on Big NGO from the start.
I saw his suggestion on international aid through a similar lens, where will the money actually be going?
How are the maggots applied?
There are two methods of application:
Free range maggots:
and
a small number of patients claim that they can feel the maggots moving
😂