Posted on 03/10/2007 9:01:45 AM PST by LdSentinal
Ready for a war with Iran? Hollywood is, at least in the form of a new movie, "300."
The film is a wildly inventive, comic-book-y feast of ancient history, bloody swordplay and patriotic rhetoric, ringing with the politics of today. Spawned by graphic novelist Frank Miller - who penned "The Dark Knight Returns," reviving the "Batman" franchise in the '80s, and who also created "Sin City" - "300" shows the Spartan good guys defeating the Persian bad guys at Thermopylae in 480 BC.
Oops, actually, the Spartans lost - were wiped out, in fact. But the Spartans won a moral victory, and the various Greek city-states managed to unite long enough to defeat the Persians in the overall war. And we know all about it from Herodotus, the father of history, who started a pro-Greek spin that spins to this day, 2,487 years later.
It's because of such books, and now movies, that we view these events as an epochal showdown between the manly and freedom-loving Westerners and the servile hordes of Asian tyrants.
The Spartan leader, Leonidas, was indeed a cool guy. Vastly outnumbered by the Persians, Leonidas and his 300 soldiers set a jaunty masculine tone that still informs the military ethos of grace under pressure. When a Persian emissary told him and his men to throw down their weapons and surrender, Leonidas shot back, "Come and get them!" Stirring words to live by - and die by - and to be remembered.
In 1835, for example, when the Anglo Texans rose in rebellion against Mexico, the Mexican commander demanded the English-speakers give up their lone cannon, to which the Texans, channeling the Spartans, responded, "Come and take it!"
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The movie seems (from the commercials) to be figuratively lame.
Loved Gates of Fire
Can't wait to see it tonight. My YR club is doing YR Night at the Movies for it, hoping for a good turnout
I saw it yesterday, it was great, highly recommended.
"Every young man who sees this movie - and movies are mostly targeted at the young - is going to get a triple dose of adrenaline, male-bonding and macho pageantry. Words such as "duty," "honor" and "glory" are heard constantly through the film. Indeed, if spears and shields were replaced by M16s and Humvees, "300" could be a military recruitment film. Moreover, the Spartans are portrayed as strong, upright and conservative - there's even an image of Leonidas in the pose of a Christian martyr - whereas the Persians are depicted as effete, weird and decadent, all kinky and body-pierced. No wonder, then, that the Persians were lousy soldiers, victorious only because of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and outright betrayal. Indeed, the most sinister figure in the film is a Spartan politico who specifically identifies himself as a "realist.""
Considering the poor grasp of history many of today's youth possess, a lot of these people wouldn't be aware that the Spartans had a decidedly homosexual undercurrent in their culture, an element which pervaded the greater Greek civilization.
Appreciated.
300 doesn't go into that in any depth - certainly not anywhere near as bad as that Alexander film from a little while back.
That's true. This movie looks and sounds more like 300 ROMANS at Thermopylae than 300 Spartans.
Very good movie. And if this is a politically motivated film, then braveheart is about the persian gulf war. /sarc
i saw no bias in this film...some people are just paranoid.
That is very true, and you didn't see that at all in the movie...in fact, they poked fun at Athens about it.
Their eugenic ideas made it in, though, and in the end become the reason for the death of the 300.
Well...they evaded the topic. Didn't name it. But to be exact, they are ridiculing the Athenians as boy lovers, which is of course an insult, even if you yourself love men =/
Not only will it be lame, but also bad for your eyes.
I know it's based on the comic book "300"... but anyway it's a missed chance. The style and visual art is awesome, but the ridiculous fantasy elements such as monsters and trolls (beside all the other inaccuracies) give it away.
I would have enjoyed a patriotic-spriited movie using historical analogies... but this one has gone awry.
It's pretty true to historic lore. You best go read Carnage and Culture, Why the West has won (Major Battles in History) by Victor David Hanson. The first two chapters set up a viewing of this flick very nicely. It's a clash of cultures, one that clearly separates man from the god(s) or God but aspires to be like Him. The other is one that accepts as fact gods live in the body of men, Kings, who arre the source of all inspiration and awe. For anyone to look upon a king such as Xeerxes would have been punishable by death. Submission and unnatural modesty is the order of the day. Persians perished by the 10's of thousands simply because they could not find the courage and confidence in themselves to shed their cloaks and robes at sea. The idolizer of the human form, the greeks were quite at ease exposing their flesh for convenience and as an expression of freedom. It's amazing and somewhat suspect this is the place and time someone has decided to open the eyes of the public to the history at play here. Really amazing. I'm kind of dumbfounded. I love it.
What did you think about A War Like No Other by Hanson?
You seems to be awfully interested in posting articles about a movie you said on another thread you've not seen.
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