" 300 " film as propaganda- Kill All The Persians ( Iranians)& Asians HooHa !!!
Trailer:
and here's some real marines doing their thing Sparta would be proud is this an example of those good old American & Western values for which so many will die - that is their dead not ours -
STARRING: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, Vincent Regan, Peter Mensah, Stephen McHattie
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder
SCREENWRITER: Zack Snyder
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
RATING: R (For graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.)
GENRE: Action / Adventure / Drama
2007
Synopsis:
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
From Rope of Silicon.com
300 is another one of these epic style films & is at least not as disappointing as Alexander or Troy which were deserving of bad reviews given the massive budgets & so called star power which were not as satisfying as something like Lord Of The Rings which had a lot of action & big battle scenes but it also had some characters with whom the audience could identify & there were also bits of humour & sad toughing & very human like scenes - But 300 not so much...It is mostly one long battle scene with wooden-like soldiers-
300 is more like The Birth of A Nation with its less than subtle racism & overall propaganda but Birth of Nation if one can get passed the propaganda aspect of the film & the Ku Klux Klan coming to rescue the Christian South from the evil blacks & greedy Northerners or carpetbaggers one can appreciate as a great piece of film making for its time 1915 & it was of course silent- yet it did manage to capture the Hell that was the American Civil war but in the last reel descends into racist stereotyping & loses its way unable to create believable African American characters & settles for caricatures - 300 is all caricatures from beginning to end. The special effects are wondrous but are they all necessary - the film also suffers greatly by much of the intrusive unnecessary voice over which got on this viewers nerves - so in some ways it is an exasperating film to watch or to review - if it wasn't for the politics & propaganda in that like Birth of a Nation is a rallying cry for Westerners to take their rightful place in the world & to beat back the barbarous hordes ie Asians, Arabs & especially Muslims - & it is timely as the American Neocons once again try to convince the world that another country should be invaded occupied destroyed or de-fanged as it were even if it is really not a threat at all- which is to say Bush & Co. now want to invade Iran which once was of course Persia - The Americans or at least those in power at the moment & many like Hilary Clinton are still pissed off at the Iranian people for choosing en mass to overthrow the American friendly Shaw of Iran who terrorized & robed his own people for some thirty years using intimidation & torture & death squads & other American friendly means of control-
But is the film 300 worthwhile as a film experience to bother trying to analyze - it is over the top macho violence & triumphalism & I believe it is rather Eurocentric / American Racism - " NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER ie American troops will not retreat from Iraq no matter what - F...them Arabs & Muslims as the trolling Neocon likes to repeat a thousand times -
first we need to remember it is based on a Frank Miller graphic novel which is loosely based on the legend or fable about 300 Spartans fighting the Persian army which in the film has over a million soldiers-the 300 defy the Persians so that the Greeks & Spartans will be able to marshall a large enough army to later defeat the Persians while uniting Greeks into one nation -
Though the film presents the Spartans as a society that favors individual freedom which ignores at times that the Spartans if anything are Proto-Nazis or Proto- Fascists in which individuality is sacrificed to the unity of the society in which everyone believes in the exact same things to be different is to be an outsider & a danger to their cohesive society-
children are taken from their parents at the early age of seven & then through rather brutal & harsh training they are made into Spartan warriors if they actually survive the training that is -
according to some historical accounts ala Plato & others - the Spartan adults lived in large barracks where they take their hearty & bland meals together- they live for one reason which is the perpetuation of the state - they fight to protect the state & hope to die a glorious death on the battlefield this in itself robs the viewer from having much empathy for the characters involved - besides that there is little character development anyway after all these are mindless clones for whom life's ultimate goal is death-& this is compounded by the fact this is all based on a superficial graphic novel /or glorified comic book-
As for film making the visuals are again over the top & rather amazing but the killing just goes on & on -
the only interesting characters are Xerxes as the Emperor of Persia & the poor delude misshapen hunchback which if they had been developed more would have added to the story-the hunchback is a Spartan whose parents went into exile to save their only child because the deformed are killed at birth in the wonderful & glorious society of Sparta but he perseveres & asked to be permitted to fight & die with the 300 but rather than commending him on his bravery the Spartan leader mocks him & so he betrays the Spartans but why shouldn't he -
this is a film that would appeal to Neo-Nazis & the Neocons & Bush Regime in which war is more glorious in the end than peace & diplomacy or such notions as brotherly love , compassion -I am sorry to say I don't believe I am reading these things into the film but rather they are their right at the surface -
whenever the 300 do their war cry for example it is just like the Hoo-has cheer of the US Marines & this yell is repeated a number of times
there are also the various references to the Persians as Asians who are barbarous race out to destroy Western culture & the ideals of Freedom & Justice & the American way-the west is referred to as Europa - though historically most of Europe at that time some 500 years BC or so was made up for the most part by rather primitive tribes in comparison to the Persian Empire in which the arts & science & philosophy & scholarship & architecture & feats of engineering abounded & flourished but it was not perfect but no were the Spartans or the Greeks - each society had its slaves & hierarchy of classes though Sparta had fewer in the underclass since they were killed at birth having even a blemish on their body & those who were not strong enough to survive the decade or so of training perished - so this was not some wonderful society which took care of the weak the disabled the infirm etc-
but I can only guess this is why the film did so well since it panders to the Neoconservative & Racist Radical Religious Right view of the world- the Europeans as Aryans are superiour to all other races & Western Culture & its Christian Religion & its capitalistic values of dog eat dog ethics is appealing to a large group within our society who once again have demonized all those people who live outside the West - the evil Asians Arabs, Middle Easterners, Africans , Mexicans , Latinos etc. they the belief is are our enemy who never rest & will destroy Western Civilization & its culture & religion if we do not destroy them first-
-Lets for a moment compare the 300 to one of my favourite films Equilibrium which is also filled with action & an overarching Machismo but has at its centre not just a heart but a cry or wail for the enduring human spirit or soul warts & all - for I would pay it gladly as a Grammaton Cleric says in the beginning of the film before the star Christian Pale blows his head off . But in that film conformity is depicted as the greatest of evils for it robs the individual of his or her individuality creativity & individualized experience of the sensory world & so the message is the opposite of the 300 but It makes me wonder if the age we live in is populated in America & much of the West by such conformists who defend their notions of conformity at all costs or is it similar to the notion of the Dumbing Down of American society or becoming enslaved to the Lowest Common Denominator which would also explain the popularity of Know Nothings like Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly or George W. Bush or Prime Minister Stephen Harper or former Prime Minister Tony Blair who seemed decent human being til he sold out to the Power Elite & why on the other hand Americans for the most part have little time for those thoughtful men & women such as Bill Moyers or Keith Olbermann or even Patrick Buchanan who are critical of those in power & wish for the best that our society stands for to come to the fore.
take care,
GORD.
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