Who’s with me??

I saw 300 over break. And I didn’t really like it. But it seems from the reviews I’ve seen, and the opinions of my friends, that most people enjoyed it.

Ok, I get that this is based on a comic book, and that it’s going to be a spectacle of a movie. Fine. But does everything have to be so over-the-top? The Spartans in the movie weren’t just good fighters — they’re superhuman. Shields that can stop arrows shot high into the air. The ability to not only stand firm when hordes of Persians rush in on them, but to push them back so quickly, and without getting hurt in the process. They can “AAOOO!” in complete unison, spontaneously and without any cues telling them when to say it. And they can bring down rhinos and elephants with their spears.

And the men are just *so* hetero it’s nauseating. All the posturing, the (figurative) chest-pounding, the testosterone-laden contests of masculinity, the inability to really acknowledge emotional pain other than stoicism or anger, the constant emphasis on honor and strength and glory. Only the evil and debauched Persians deviated from these norms. And the woman (the queen) is basically powerless aside from the men of her society, unless she uses her sexuality to sway them.

Finally, I don’t know about you, but I read a whole lotta war propaganda in this one. The “council” that’s reluctant to send more support for a war that the “king” started. The message that those who oppose are traitors (and a scene in which one was dramatically revealed, to the chants of “Traitor! Traitor!”). The faceless “Persians” using explosives to attack the soldiers of “Sparta.”

Sure, the Spartans *were* fighting a monolithic, technologically advanced empire, and perhaps one might read them as the insurgents. The thought did cross my mind while I watched the movie. But look at who’s white and who’s brown/yellow/black in this movie.

There’s more I want to say, but it’s said much better by these fine people.