Weekly Roundup: The Odyssey, Christian Nationalism, and the Invention of “Western Civilization”

Brad Onishi and Dan Miller explore the American right’s furious reaction to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and what the controversy reveals about race, representation, gender, sexuality, and the politics of “Western civilization.” From outrage over Black actors and queer representation in contemporary adaptations to the right’s insistence that certain stories, traditions, and cultural identities belong exclusively to white people, the conversation examines why the boundaries of “the West” are constantly being defended—and who gets pushed outside them.

The discussion then turns to the rise of civilizational populism and its growing influence on the American right. Brad and Dan unpack how appeals to “Western Christian civilization” are being used to unite Christian nationalists, technocrats, billionaires, and authoritarian political actors around a shared vision of cultural hierarchy and social order. They connect the backlash over The Odyssey to Marco Rubio’s foreign policy, the politics of Venezuela, the disputed results of a national civics competition, and the broader question of who gets to represent the future of America.

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