thread: 2007-03-19 : Tonight we dine
On 2007-03-24, Marco wrote:
The movie is Republican on it's own terms. Analyzing it on other terms is possible as well—but in the context of its creators and its internal message the Persians are just the Persians. Brand is right.
1. The Spartans are white. They talk about Freedom (capital F). They exemplify western values (individualism, heterosexuality, etc.) They are square-jawed. They are rugged. Their leader isn't taken with the polytheist "ancient" (and corrupt) religion.
They are who "we" identify with.
2. The Persians are the "Other." They are "Them." To the American viewer (the one who counts for this film) they are exotic, unsettling, and sexually corrupt. They are morally bankrupt.
Now: you can argue that "Them" fits the current US administration far more than "Us." I won't disagree with you.
But let me ask you this: do you think the cheering crowds (who also cheered the racisism and, perhaps, sexism—certainly a pretty Republican view on homosexuality) thought of it that way?
If you do, you're kidding yourself.
You, yourself, caught on that it was propaganda. Do you think it was Anti-American propaganda? I think if it actually *had* been—if your anaylsis of Xerxes's army as the US Army was *on target*—then you'd have felt a *very* different vibe than you did.
Yeah: it does ask you to line up on one side—the Republican side. The side of the Spartans. That came through loud and clear. Seeing it any other way is interesting but isn't in context with the message itself.
*IMO*
-Marco
