Posted on 03/26/2007 6:36:58 AM PDT by RDTF
A society that does not value its warriors will be destroyed by one that does.
A low-budget movie with no recognized stars that presents a cartoonish version of an event that happened long ago and far away is a surprising box office hit.
The movie is "The 300," about the battle in 480 B.C. at Thermopylae between Greeks and Persians. Its opening grossed more than $70 million, more than the next 10 highest grossing movies playing that weekend combined.
"The 300" has been denounced by the government of Iran, and the battle it describes was cited by former Vice President Al Gore in his congressional testimony Wednesday as inspiration for Americans to fight global warming. That's a lot of buzz.
"The 300" has plenty of violence, sex and the largest number of ripped abdomens ever seen on the silver screen, which doubtless counts for much of its appeal. But there is more to it than that.
"The 300" is a simple story of good versus evil. A handful of valiant Spartan warriors, inspired by love of country and love of liberty, fight to the death against a foreign oppressor. (Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.)
-snip-
"300" is soaked with the masculine virtues of courage, honor, patriotism and self-sacrifice, and the camaraderie that exists among fighting men who have been through a shared ordeal. These are little valued in Hollywood or contemporary society, and there is a hunger for them. This, I think, is the key to the movie's appeal.
We need to rediscover these virtues. At once the most preposterous and the most dangerous of contemporary beliefs is "nothing was ever settled by violence."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Any person who does not support the US troops and their mission during a time of war is a traitor. Are you a traitor? You seem to be one.
He was suspended :)
Carry on
Finally :)
Soldier and soldier are not the same thing and never have been.. Many Germans in WWII were Soldiers, many more Russians were soldiers. Hard to explain.
W
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“300” is soaked with the masculine virtues of courage, honor, patriotism and self-sacrifice, and the camaraderie that exists among fighting men who have been through a shared ordeal. These are little valued in Hollywood or contemporary society, and there is a hunger for them. This, I think, is the key to the movie’s appeal.”
Well said.
Says it all.
I went to the opening night of “300” and the theater was filled...with high school and college age boys with pimples and eyeglasses.
The success of this film has less to do with ideology and virtue than comic book imagery, blood and sophomoric concepts of manliness.
It would not have surprised me if each one of those boys had carried a light saber into the theater and then gotten up in the aisles to pantomine their rendition of the sword fight between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
Not to burst anyones bubble...
Says it all.
Dittoes about the soldiers.
BTW—the sycophantic priests were accurately (and symbolically) portrayed by the genius of Miller in the original and in the film...we have some of them “preaching” politics today.
If I want to expand my mind, I read science, history, biography, encyclopedias and dictionaries, even. I have to read; I read the newspaper wrapped around three day dead fish entrails rather than do without.
But for movies and fiction, I have a simple formula for evaluating the merits of the work. There’s a good guy, a bad guy, and a girl. At the end of the story, the good guy’s got the girl, and the bad guy is dead. The more the production deviates from this simple formula, the less I tend to like it. With some exceptions.
Life’s too short to waste time on things you don’t enjoy.
Can you?
What a crock! Nowhere in the Bible does it say, “If a man stab you in the back, turn you also to him your belly”
No, but he can kill in self-defense, or to defend his country. Nothing in the Bible against that. If there is, SHOW ME.
Bah, dying, no matter how done, does not forgive anyone his sins, Orthodox, Catholic, or Muslim.
Only the acceptance of God’s Gift of salvation thru His Son, Jesus Christ, can do that.
No one is arguing that. Only that a Christian has a right to self-defense.
watch it at 1dawg.com
The Spartans were an early example of a professional, standing Army. They were a relatively small force. It must have been fantastically expensive for Sparta to support such a force.
“Jesus thinks otherwise.” ??????
Citation needed!
“A soldier can both protect and take your freedoms. Don’t let a simplistic but enjoyable movie provide simplistic answers.
I hope people remember our founding fathers were distrustful of standing armies.”
Which is what Amendment 2 is for.
A soldier is someone who stands for their country in the face of bloodshed. We do not live in a police-state where the Army is also the Police. If it ever came to that fear, then you still have your Constitution.
Think before speaking on this forum.
Sgt.Rock and the Unknown Solider are both cooler than Capt.America.
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