'300' Flick Is Ready-Made for the Right-Wing Crowd

[Joanne98]

'300' Flick Is Ready-Made for the Right-Wing Crowd
By Steve Burgess, The Tyee
Posted on March 10, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/49029 /
What's your favourite movie?

Someday soon, you may ask a new acquaintance that question, and just maybe -- because it takes all kinds -- your new friend will reply, "My favourite movie is 300."

If this happens, back away slowly. Your new friend probably kills cats for fun. Worse -- your new friend may be George W. Bush. Director Zack Snyder's new dramatization of the epic Spartan stand at Thermopylae will probably go down real well at the White House, and wherever disturbed young people massacre hundreds in violent video games. Others should exercise discretion.

This is a historical epic, but its real history is not so much ancient Greek as recent comic book. 300 is another film taken from the work of graphic novel auteur Frank Miller, following very much in the CGI tradition of last year's Miller-inspired Sin City. Nothing in 300 is natural -- not a ray of honest sunlight falls on a single frame of the movie. Like Sin City and the execrable Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, 300 was filmed entirely in front of blue screens and subsequently built around the actors digitally.

Pretty dumb

It's certainly better than Sky Captain, visually at least. 300 has an undeniable beauty, a burnished look intended to evoke the mythic. Think of the dream scenes in Gladiator and imagine a whole movie of that. Don't imagine much else, because you'll be disappointed.

Someday, somebody is going to make one of these comic book movies that isn't quite so depressingly comic book. Not this time. 300 is an adolescent wet dream to its very core, a homoerotic paean to half-naked Greeks and their bloody, thrusting swords. And to make all the Chippendales-style posing more palatable for the young straight male target audience, there's a little bit of rough doggie-style hetero sex too.

The plot -- don't blink now -- is this: 300 brave Spartans, led by the heroic Leonidas (Gerard Butler), guard a pass against the Persian hordes commanded by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). There's a small bit of politics thrown in, and the aforementioned boinking (featuring Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo). But it's mostly just the glorious, sexual thrill of slow-motion violence and orgasmic geysers of spurting blood. Really. Such unabashed tributes to slaughter are usually delivered with a wink in slasher films, but 300 does not know how to wink. It is deadly serious in the way that so often provokes giggles.

Certain parallels

There's virtually no development of the Persian side, almost no real sense of who they are and why they are so scary -- except that there's a whole lot of them, and their leader Xerxes is seven feet tall, like Darth Vader and with pretty much the same voice. When it finally arrives, the big sacrificial climax doesn't even make a lot of sense. It's just heroic.

Regardless, 300 will likely be a masturbatory experience for the Ann Coulter crowd. Cruel, militaristic Sparta is the ideal; weak, artsy Athens is mocked, particularly in a scene where Athenian soldiers are revealed to be potters, sculptors, poets. Brave men who leave what they love to defend their country? Bah! Weaklings, according to this flick. As a tribute to a particular world view, 300 could play on a double bill with Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will.

And no doubt it will be screened at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. President Bush will certainly relish a film in which King Leonidas tries, and fails, to get authorization from Sparta's governing council for an attack against the forces of Persia, a.k.a. modern-day Iran. Leonidas goes ahead anyway. History calls him a hero. So much for congressional funding.

There's even evidence that the film consciously grasps at this clash-of-civilizations message. "Today we will rid the world of mysticism and tyranny," shouts a Greek soldier, leading a charge against the Persians moments after we have seen an image of dead Spartans in Christ-like poses.

Most of the bloodthirsty teens in the audience won't care about that stuff, of course. But Dick Cheney will cream himself. I guess Dick can use a little diversion. He's had a rough year.
http://www.alternet.org/movies/49029 /



:wow: I saw this movie last night and I AGREE with this blooger. THIS MOVIE SUCKS!

[Kagemusha]

1. I would think liberals have better things to argue about.

A lot of things. A very, very long list....

[bryant69]

2. I thought it was pretty good myself

I do like this line "Your new friend probably kills cats for fun." Nice. You think my way about a movie or you are a cat killer.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Joanne98]

4. My cat is pregnant. I'll have to be extra careful to keep her away..

From the people who love 300!

:scared:

[Balbus]

3. Great movie. I recommend it.

Of course, I didn't go see it for the politics, nor take anything political out of it - only a fucking idiot would do that.

[Marrah_G]

5. I was just thinking

What we really need in GD is a post about "300"!

[DainBramaged]

6. Fucking movie was great, did you see it yet?

Lets talk about Tony Snow telling Ed Henry from CNN to zip it when he was asking for the Bush plan for success. Or how about the fourth anniversary of the illegal war?

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2007&wknd=11&p=.htm

$129 million and counting in 9 days.


Movies ALL have one basic characteristic, suspend your disbelief. They are ENTERTAINMENT.


Except the movie this man participated in;

[Joanne98]

9. I saw it last night. This is my review....

And I wrote this BEFORE I saw anybody else's rant.

The Athenians are weak, boy-loving liberals, the Persian king is a pagan transvestite..The Spartan women are the only women who give birth to men. Spartan women are first mothers, second wives and third warriors. The Spartan King is George Bush who can't get the traitor liberals to give him more troops. The Spartans are also ALMOST Christian. They had a hard part with that. They were "mystic" fighters. I think I saw a little cross on one of the shields. The Spartan King went to see the Oracle of Delphi. She was "on drugs" (gas) and was controlled by deformed priests. In fact all women in the movie were "less than human" except (of course) the Spartan "traditional family value, boy birthing, support the troops women. The "other greek warriors' RAN when the going got tough. Athens, the council, the pols, the other greeks, were either, gay, weak, traitors or cowards. The Persians were NOT WHITE or for some strange reason Samari's. The Persians were also really perverted and ugly. The women deformed and GAY of course. What else can I say. OH yeah. The spartans gave little speeches about "freedom isn't free".

I can't believe nobody warned me about this movie. I took a teenage boy. I didn't know if was going to be rated R. I thought it was like a video game or something. It was really violent and dark. It was sickening.

I don't know who made this movie but they should be attacked without mercy the rest of their lives. The is a movie ONLY Ann Coulter could love.

[DainBramaged]

12. You didn't know it was "R" rated, it's YOUR job to do your homework.

www.boxofficemojo.com

EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know (or not) about movies.

[SidDithers]

13. Link to your thread from yesterday...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x442358

Didn't get enough punishment in yesterday's thread? Back for more today?

Sid

[Joanne98]

16. Bring it on!

[Mojambo]

7. Good flick. A lot of fun.

But then, I like comic books and video games so clearly I'm everything that's wrong with America.

[Connie_Corleone]

8. I can't wait to see it!!

:P

[ComerPerro]

10. LMAO, it may suck, but they have your money now

[supernova]

11. This article is just a little too smart

for its own good.

300 is a comic book movie from a comic book about an historical event. So what if it is the heightened reality of comic books? The basic story itself is worth remembering. Yes Spartans were a rough culture, but so what? That's what happened.Not the comic book, but the real story. Would you have preferred that Xerxes have been allowed to overrun Greece, thus denying us the seeds of life in the west?

[Tempest]

14. Xerxes had overrun Greece

Greece fell to Xerxes and yet we still had the seeds of life in the west.

It wasn't until later Xerxes armies were defeated in Greece.

[supernova]

18. Which is precisely my point

Without the Battle of Thermopylea, the Greeks would not have hat a unifying theme around which to rally. People need motivations to fight, and Thermopylea gave the Greeks that. It can take years to repel an occupying force. (And yes, i fully expect the Iraqis to do the same to us.)

Still not seeing a big RW hoedown to 300.

[Bombtrack]

38. If by smart you mean hacky and based on nothing but utter horsehit

going on all feeling is for art, not critical journalism.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

15. Another "300" thread Joanne?.........

For someone who absolutely hated this movie, you don't seem to get tired of giving it attention!

[Joanne98]

17. I checked my thread from last night.. Saw I was still getting attacked.

Googled Ann Coulter and 300 and found this rant... I just had to post it because I'm not the only one who thinks 300 is PRO-BUSH!

[Marrah_G]

20. Yes well you can always get some "wicca women" to curse your attackers. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

22. Maybe She Thinks Her Opinion On Entertainment Is Really Really Really Important To Us?

:shrug:

[CrownPrinceBandar]

26. Meh. Its a stupid movie.........

I usually ignore reviews and trust my gut when it comes to my cinematic choices. Can't say I'll be taking her review to heart either. In fact, her veracity compels me to see this piece of work that has set her hair ablaze. But first, I gotta find me some kittens to kill.:evilgrin:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

30. LOL!

[terrya]

19. It's really just a movie.

It will be forgotten in a couple of months from now. I seriously doubt if it's worth all of this rage.

BTW: you misspelled "blogger"

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. This Ridiculous Article Again? LOL It's Just A Movie You Know. So Ya Didn't Like It. Oh Well.

But I love this amazingly ignorant and narrow minded part of the article:


"Someday soon, you may ask a new acquaintance that question, and just maybe -- because it takes all kinds -- your new friend will reply, "My favourite movie is 300."

If this happens, back away slowly. Your new friend probably kills cats for fun. Worse -- your new friend may be George W. Bush."

That's just so amazingly short sighted and ignorant I don't even know where to begin. So silly all this fuss. It ain't a political movie; it's just a movie. Personally, I think it looks quite entertaining and can't wait to see it this week.

[pepperbear]

23. remember the HAPPY FEET flap?

it works both ways folks. :)

[mondo joe]

24. If you spent 1/100th as much time researching the movie BEFORE seeing it as after,

you could have saved yourself a lot of misery.

Us too.

[Joanne98]

28. You got me on that one!

I'll never make that mistake again. Or I'll just stick to documentaries. They're better anyway!

[kiahzero]

33. But that would prevent a good three flamewars. (n/t)

[gatorboy]

25. SPAAAA-TANZ! TONITE WE DINE AT IHOP!

[mondo joe]

29. Best post of the day.

Thank! :-)

[DainBramaged]

40. OMG wonderful

:yourock: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Joanne98]

27. The Persians are insulted too...

Payvand's Iran News ...

3/13/07
A few words on the unethical movie 300 produced by Warner Brothers Company of USA
By Abolfazl Moghadam, Des Moines, IA
http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1175.html

One more time the world is witnessing the true face of hypocrisy and disrespect towards other cultures by a few who would put their profits before any kinds of rules of decency. One more time the world is witnessing the distortion of facts, unethical behavior of directors such as Zack Snyder.

It would not take much time for a reasonable man and woman after watching this movie 300 to well qualify Mr. Snyder and his irresponsible film studio, namely Warner Brothers, as the most successful candidates to win the top prize of insulting, disrespecting the Iranian (Persian) culture and the Iranians all over the world.

Have these people forgotten the civilization that Persia brought to the world? Probably not. They know the facts well. Their attempt in making such movie is nothing but assassination of characters. Even if they wanted to read the history, the most they would chose to go for a reference, would be no one but the Herodotus who fictitiously claimed and distorted the history and reported that the 300 Spartans stopped the Persian Army for 3 days! No one of course would be so much surprised as Herodotus was a Greek himself, and apparently Herodotus was not ready to reflect both sides of the coins, in a fair and equitable manner.

The fact is that the world's intellectuals whether be the Persians, or non Persians, those whose hearts are filled with the love of Persia, Persian poetry and civilization, those who appreciate the great contributions of Persians towards the world's culture and science, would understand that the movie 300 is nothing but a distortion fact machine. The irony is that in the movie the Persian King which supposed to be King Xerxes has been portrayed as someone with an African complex! The movie scenario is gravely equipped with tons of ill information and ignorance which is once again the manifestation of Mr. Snyder's and Warner Brothers' ignorance on the true history.

They could have done a better job, had they set aside their feelings of hatred towards the Persian culture and civilization. They could have better written the manuscript for the movie, had they known that, or cared to read about the first Charter of Human Rights by Cyrus The Great (550 B.C), and the impact it had on the human behaviors of many countries of the time, including Greece.

I have no doubt in my mind that the world would make its own judgment at the end of the day; that the movie 300 is an absolute manifestation of ignorance towards the Persian civilization, a complete facts distortion mission, a total disregard towards the human dignity, a complete disrespect and insult towards another culture and civilization, and finally a miserable move by the producer and people alike, in trying to save their troubled life by constantly manufacturing and portraying false events, so to make up for their own inability to move forward, and have positive progress.

Although the damage has been done, but Warner Brothers and Mr. Snyder must be courageous enough to withdraw the movie from the market impromptu, rectify the malicious misinformation and misrepresentation that have constituted the very inches of the movie, and apologize to the Iranian communities all over the world.

I would like to close this humble opinion by quoting one of the poems of Sa'di (13th century Persian Poet) who once said "All human beings are the same, there is no difference between black, white, yellow and read. If someone gets pain, others should go and care for that person."
http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1175.html

I hope they read my review. Maybe they won't feel so bad when they see that the weak, gay, cut-and-run Democrats wouldn't give King George more troops for the "surge"..This movie insulted everyone. (but the freepers)

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[teenagebambam]

31. Jesus Christ.

It's a COMIC BOOK MOVIE. As a self-professed comic book nerd, I can assure you it's nothing more than a nerd revenge fantasy. Stop trying to tie it to politics.

PS I liked Sky Captian better.

[DrunkenMaster]

32. Now I MUST see it -- thanks!

I wasn't planning on seeing this film any time soon -- I managed to grab a screening of the South Korean monster movie "The Host" over the weekend (it rocked, by the way) instead -- but just because another censorious, hysterical "liberal" (I believe you do that word a terrible disservice when you use it to attack works of "art" -- don't quibble with semantics, you know what I mean) in this fashion.

Also, the way this blogger claims that people who like this movie will also want to hurt animals or be generally violent is a load of shite. I LOVE the original Frank Miller book and I'm a vegetarian (well, mostly, I do cheat occassionally) peacenik who rides his bike to work every freaking day to stave off global climate change.

Thanks for the tip -- I look forward to seeing the film and drawing my own (which I'm sure will be much different than yours) conclusions.

[riverdeep]

34. ok, at first I thought this poster is nuts,

and maybe they are, on this topic, but looking around, it appears that a variety of people are 'reading' things into this movie, and not just on the left:

"Much like "Braveheart," this movie speaks clearly, forcefully and without compromise. The message of this movie could not be clearer. There is no nuance in this film. The philosophy running through this movie was once infused into the very DNA of Westerners, but it is, today, all-too-often forgotten by its people. I believe those principles are still buried in there somewhere, somewhere deep in the hearts of the men and women of the West. As difficult as it may be for some to believe, much of the West is in serious jeopardy today."

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186884.php

The author previously calls us 'the squishy ones', a reference to our reluctance to see war as noble as they do. Some of the comments are a little more sane, some not. I've never heard of this site, I don't know anything about it, and for the record haven't seen the movie. I'm not rendering an opinion on it either way, just stating that the OP isn't alone in their suspicions.

[Marrah_G]

35. Go with that first thought

[DrunkenMaster]

36. bingo!

In the fine words of Mr. J. Kerouac: "first thought, best thought."

[Bombtrack]

37. The person who wrote this article can't seem to keep the thought of boys he hates cumming out of his

mind. Whether it be those stupid, useless teenagers or the apparently now AICN geek movie fans in the whitehouse.

Just hack, bullshit writing, alternet should be embarrassed.

[sadiesworld]

39. No big surprise...

a lot of the crap that comes out of Hollywood is pure propaganda.

[sendero]

42. Anyone with a basic knowledge..

... of the sexual arrangements practiced by the Spartans would understand completely why wingnuts would be into it.

[NickB79]

43. '300' was written in 1998, before the neocons took power

And before Bush was president. The movie remained pretty loyal to the original graphic novels it was based upon. Plus, a movie titled "The 300 Spartans" was released in 1962!

It was a great movie, IMO, and trying to read politics into it is a fool's errand.