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As I mentioned last time, I went and saw 300, the Spartan epic. I enjoyed the movie, although it is definitely not for kids or those with weak stomachs.
Based on the comic book (sorry, "graphic novel") by Frank Miller, the movie is full of exciting visuals. It's also got at least 4 graphic beheadings (I lost count) and more then a little nudity. There's a tendency for actors in this movie to stop moving and stand around looking heroic, but in the comic book genre it works.
Critics hate the movie, and more then a few don't get the point. This review from Slate is typical. The money quote is "a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war."
In the movie, Leonidas goes to war for a very noble cause, that of independence from an oppressive Persian empire. He consults the oracles because he must, not because he believes in them. In one scene, he refers to the oracle (a tastefully nude young girl) as "a drunken teenager manipulated by old crones." The war isn't total for the Spartans either - due to political issues at home, the 300 are all Sparta sends and are billed as Leonida's personal bodyguard.
The only way to avoid the "race-baiting" charge would be to re-write history. Last time I checked, the Greeks were Caucasian. Also, the reviewer is upset that there is no anti-war statement in the movie. I found that in particular wrongheaded, since the Spartans all die and there's a moving scene of the widowed queen comforting her son.
It's a shame, and a sign of our times, that every piece of art is looked at through a political lens. The movie 300 is a fairly straightforward look at a pivotal point in history. Just because something takes a relatively positive view on war doesn't make it "fascist." My favorite quote from the unabashedly liberal site Making Light is “If there is no willingness to use force to defend civil society, it’s civil society that goes away, not force.” (Teresa Nielsen Hayden).
If it weren't for these Spartans, democracy would be a little more then a footnote in the annals of history. Complaining that it doesn't fit your current political views is simply wrong.
Based on the comic book (sorry, "graphic novel") by Frank Miller, the movie is full of exciting visuals. It's also got at least 4 graphic beheadings (I lost count) and more then a little nudity. There's a tendency for actors in this movie to stop moving and stand around looking heroic, but in the comic book genre it works.
Critics hate the movie, and more then a few don't get the point. This review from Slate is typical. The money quote is "a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war."
In the movie, Leonidas goes to war for a very noble cause, that of independence from an oppressive Persian empire. He consults the oracles because he must, not because he believes in them. In one scene, he refers to the oracle (a tastefully nude young girl) as "a drunken teenager manipulated by old crones." The war isn't total for the Spartans either - due to political issues at home, the 300 are all Sparta sends and are billed as Leonida's personal bodyguard.
The only way to avoid the "race-baiting" charge would be to re-write history. Last time I checked, the Greeks were Caucasian. Also, the reviewer is upset that there is no anti-war statement in the movie. I found that in particular wrongheaded, since the Spartans all die and there's a moving scene of the widowed queen comforting her son.
It's a shame, and a sign of our times, that every piece of art is looked at through a political lens. The movie 300 is a fairly straightforward look at a pivotal point in history. Just because something takes a relatively positive view on war doesn't make it "fascist." My favorite quote from the unabashedly liberal site Making Light is “If there is no willingness to use force to defend civil society, it’s civil society that goes away, not force.” (Teresa Nielsen Hayden).
If it weren't for these Spartans, democracy would be a little more then a footnote in the annals of history. Complaining that it doesn't fit your current political views is simply wrong.
