Starship Troopers is one of my favorite novels. And even though the movie only loosely followed the book, I liked it, too.
For a civilian, that book is probably the best insight into what a professional Army defending the ideals of personal liberty and responsibility is all about. Perhaps we should get it translated into Arabic and pass it out to the recruits in Iraq.
16 posted on
12/01/2005 3:55:21 PM PST by
PsyOp
(Men easily believe what they want to. – Caesar, De Bello Gallico, III, 18.)
"Starship Troopers is one of my favorite novels. And even though the movie only loosely followed the book, I liked it, too. For a civilian, that book is probably the best insight into what a professional Army defending the ideals of personal liberty and responsibility is all about."
Great article...and an interesting perspective on Starship Trooper. I don't know if you're aware of this, but the director of this movie (Verhoeven) was not trying to impart any of the ideals you speak of. In fact, if you listen to the directors commentary (and one of his interviews), Verhoeven is extremely critical of this future society/military, mockingly refering to this "citizenship" as a form of fascism. At one point he even snidely comments on the Newt Gingrich Republicans...and how they would be the architects of such a future society. While he says he didn't want the movie to be overtly political he admits to using satire to try and impart his message....of an arrogant America, too big for its britches.
As an aside, he made similar comments with his movie Total Recall. During his commentary there, he said that his vision of Mars was what he thought the Earth would look like if Republicans controlled government for much longer. If that wasn't bad enough, the SE DVD even contained a lengthy segment on 9/11 and how the Patriot Act and prisoner camps were endangering us all. It's gotten to the point were these people can't make a movie without making a political statement.