I'm talking about 300.
I like cartoons and superhero comics. I liked Sin City. I'll probably like 300 because it is so obviously a cartoon.
Not everyone agrees. Some of the commentary is laughable
Mr. Bush has been compared to Xerxes at least since his “axis of evil” speech in the wake of 9/11, for instance, while the Spartan cry “Molon labe,” or “Come and take them,” has long been a rallying call for supporters of the right to bear arms.
Some thoughtful
These bits stand out:
- How can a society value freedom if it kills its young who don’t conform to societal standards?
- The politicians were extremely weak, almost effeminate, in comparison to the manly male soldiers.
- The Persian army was comprised of Africans, East Asians, Southwest Asians, and at least one white soldier. By contrast the 300 were all white.
- Not only were the Spartans all white, they were all perfect …while the Persian army was not only non-white they were deformed (with a couple of exceptions).
- The strength of the 300 lay in their ability to bind themselves together into a single unit, and this binding was emphasized again and again.
The end result was the most fascistic movie I’ve ever seen. Even though the movie is told from the viewpoint of the Spartans, there is no reason why someone like me would want Sparta to be saved.
But like I said, I like cartoons. So I'll find a pirate copy somewhere. The strong advance ticket sales will assuage the guilt I feel. Today I'm a lot more likely to try catching a sneak preview of The Last Mimsy.
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I'm seeing it
I'm seeing it tomorrow.
Projecting George W. Bush and the Iraq War onto 300, as some of these critics do, is little short of clinically insane. Like Frank Miller ( of all people) had Bush in mind when he was creating a comic book way back when. Or while reading Herodotus. That is akin to those religious right idiots who see Harry Potter as promoting Satanism.
"The strength of the 300 lay in their ability to bind themselves together into a single unit, and this binding was emphasized again and again"
Which is of course, a historical fact. How else could the Greeks ( not just Spartans) win the Persian Wars against enormous disadvatages in material and manpower, if not by better military tactics? Persian rulers hired Greek mercenaries in large numbers because of their discipline to fight in a phalanx - something you would not see from the Persian Immortals or Xerxes bodyguard.
"The politicians were extremely weak, almost effeminate, in comparison to the manly male soldiers"
A legitimate beef. An ahistorical fiction on Miller's part. As ancient Greek leaders and poor citizens alike were expected to soldier for the polis, shoulder to shoulder. And Greek leaders, even Spartan kings ( they had two at a time & were more like commanders-in-chief than Louis XIV) were routinely called to account and punished for screwing up in the field.
Like I said, it's a cartoon.
Like I said, it's a cartoon. Thinking about it I can definitely see people whose loved ones are in Iraq identifying with the Spartans here. I just never thought about it until today.