The few, the proud among fans of '300'

LATIMES ^ | 03/14/07 | Tony Perry and Robert W. Welkos

[Pikamax]

To the U.S. Marines serving at Camp Pendleton, there is much to learn from the Spartans, those heroic warriors of ancient Greece whom one might have called "the few, the proud" centuries before the Marine Corps adopted the motto.

In the hit new film "300," Marines see parallels between the current war in Iraq and the film's story, which tells of hopelessly outnumbered Spartans fighting heroically to the death against mighty Persian invaders at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

There was periodic cheering Monday night at the Regal multiplex in downtown Oceanside, a few blocks from the main gate of Camp Pendleton, where young Marines attended showings of "300" on three screens. Some Marines nodded in recognition at lines in the movie that were familiar from their training — such as when King Leonidas instructs his son that the more troops sweat in training, the less they will bleed in combat.

"When the Spartan officer says that Spartans are all about protecting the guy to the left and right rather than being worried about themselves, that struck a chord," said Pfc. James Lyons, 20. "That's what they tell us all the time."

[Frank_2001]

And the MSM is quite distressed by this....hehe;)

[bnelson44]

Hurah!

[afraid]

I thought the Spartans fostered gay love? When you where young they paired you off with another, usually older man. You fight harder in battle due to your love of your partner. Swear i saw 2 or 3 history shows about this.

[afraid]

I thought the Spartans fostered gay love? When you where young they paired you off with another, usually older man. You fight harder in battle due to your love of your partner. Swear i saw 2 or 3 history shows about this.

[afraid]

Swore.

[CarrotAndStick]

The Spartans threw "weak" and "smallish" infants on a mountain to die, right after if that counts.


But I guess this work of fiction is admired for the message of bravery it tries to convey.

[CarrotAndStick]

"...right after birth if that counts."

[bnelson44]

The Spartans practiced, supposedly and it is disputed by some, a type of pedastry. Before the age of 18 during what is known as the agoge. That is to say before the age we have people in our military. At 18, after the agoge, the age we have people in our military, they also would move into their military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoge

[nutmeg]

And the MSM is quite distressed by this....hehe;)

The MSM and lib bloggers are having hissy fits over this movie. ...Which makes me REALLY want to see it! ;-)

[bnelson44]

By the way, Spartan pederasty is said to have been chaste. No sex.

[SoCal Pubbie]

All Greek city states did the same. The Spartan government simply made official what was already practiced throughout Greece on an individual family basis.

[Aikonaa]

I saw the movie this past weekend and can't recall a Hollywood production with an overall message even remotely similar to the one '300' had. I wonder what's going on? I'm sure liberals are claiming it is propaganda for an upcoming war against Persia ... eh ... Iran.

[CarrotAndStick]

By the way, Spartan pederasty is said to have been chaste. No sex.


Definitions of pederasty on the Web:

Practicing homosexuality, particularly a man with a boy.
www.reasoned.org/glossary.htm

Sexual relations between a man and a boy (usually anal intercourse with the boy as a passive partner)
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Pederasty, as idealized by the ancient Greeks, was a relationship and bond between an adolescent boy and an adult man outside of his immediate family. In a wider sense it refers to erotic love between adolescents and adult men. The word derives from the combination of pais (Greek for 'boy') with erastis (Greek for 'lover'; cf. eros). In those societies where pederasty is prevalent, it appears as one form of a widely practiced male bisexuality. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty

[bnelson44]

Again, Spartan pederasty was said to be chaste:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartan_pederasty

[Aikonaa]

And the MSM is quite distressed by this....hehe;)

I'm sure they are. But I'm still dumbfounded by the fact that Warner Brothers released this flick. It really doesn't fit the political message they have peddling for the last 40 years. Even Mel Gibson's 'The Patriot' doesn't come close. There are some very un-PC lines in movie about the 'hordes of Asia' and 'saving Europa' etc. The movie is filled with all kinds of 'right-wing' messages, some of them veering close to even things like eugenics etc.

[CarrotAndStick]

Okay. That does not make it any less disgusting, IMHO.

[miliantnutcase]

All the execs who signed off on it saw were $$$ signs.

[miliantnutcase]

They probably looked right past any message the movie conveys.

[Aikonaa]

All the execs who signed off on it saw were $$$ signs.

I guess so. Still, films which are sure to lose money but have a left-wing political agenda have been dime to a dozen. I have to check who the producers are and what are their backgrounds. Who knows, perhaps ideological diversity has arrived in Hollywood.