Thoughts On The Culture — 5/26/26 | Through the Shattered Lens

When I first gave my “thoughts on the culture,” it was the day of Texas primaries. This third edition is being published on the day of the run-offs. There’s some symmetry there, if nothing else.

Speaking of the Run-offs:

One thing that doesn’t get stated enough in this country is that you’re not required to vote at all. One reason I’ve always disliked all of that “Vote or Die” or “Vote Blue No Matter Who” nonsense is because we don’t have mandatory voting in this country. If you feel neither candidate is up for the job, you have the right to say, “I’m not going to vote for someone I don’t trust.” I also don’t buy into this idea, which is popular amongst far too many people who should know better, that voting third party is the same thing as throwing your vote away. It’s your vote and you get to do with it what you want. If you want to use your vote to protest, that’s your right. If you want to use your vote to vote for the candidate who best reflects your views, that’s also your right.

I usually vote so I can cancel out one my cousin’s vote just by voting against whoever she was supporting. That’s honestly one of the most American things that you can do.

Stephen Colbert’s Next Step:

Last week, as I read story after story about Stephen Colbert’s final episode, it occurred to me that I think I only watched his show once during the entire time it was on the air. It was in 2016. I had a cold and I was pretty much just watching whatever came on the television. The only thing I remember about the show was that Tim Kaine was the guest and he wouldn’t stop playing that stupid harmonica. That was actually the first time I thought to myself, “Hillary might lose.”

Otherwise, I never watched Colbert. That’s really nothing against Stephen Colbert or his show. I may have only one watched one episode of Colbert but that’s one more than I’ve watched of Kimmel, Fallon, or Meyers. It’s just that, when it came to Colbert, his guests never really interested me. I used to see the commercials for Colbert while watching Big Brother and Survivor. His announcer always sounded excited when he said, “Tonight, Colbert’s got Sen. Elizabeth Warren and CNN’s Anderson Cooper!” but myself, I just couldn’t imagine specifically making time to watch a talk/comedy show featuring senators and governors.

For all the attention that was given to his exit by the mainstream media, it ultimately felt rather anti-climatic. One need only compare the drama of Conan’s exit from the Tonight Show to see how subdued things really were when it came to Colbert. That said, Stephen will be fine. He’s not being exiled to Elba. If anything, he’ll probably be running for office in 2028.

Fjord!

I actually am looking forward to seeing Fjord, the Romanian film that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. It’s a film about a traditional Catholic family who move to a progressive Norway town and soon find themselves being accused of all sorts of things. Given that the film was directed by Cristian Mungiu, I doubt either side will be portrayed as simplistically as some people online are assuming. Romanian cinema fascinating, if just because the excesses and the downfall of Nicolae Ceaușescu tends to give Romanian filmmakers a unique perspective that a lot of American filmmakers just do not have.

For My Dad:

Today is the two-year anniversary of my Dad’s car accident. On May 26th, 2024, I got a phone call telling me that he had been in an accident and that he was in the hospital with a broken shoulder but that he would be fine. Nearly three months later, he passed away. My Dad liked Lynard Skynard. He liked the Eagles. He liked the Steve Miller Band and old school Aerosmith. He liked that “Money for Nothing” song by the Dire Straits. He even liked Pink Floyd which, to be honest, seems about as far away from Lynard Skynard as you can get. I’m sharing this song for him.