Or look at his recent trip to Ukraine, where his first-class acting skills were on display, smiling a bit too much for the occasion and waving profusely to the crowds as some political hopeful returning to the provinces to secure votes.

The Stalin-esque censorship witnessed today deprives the Russians of using art as a means to spur political change. But it also makes it impossible for us looking in from the outside to grasp the current state of the Russian people.

It may be that the sight of bloodshed on the European continent touches upon something instinctually in us, recognizing that for all the tumult this last decade, the West still has precious to offer in democracy, free speech, rule of law, and pluralism.