300?
One of my friends just posted that she wants to see 300. It looks visually stunning (and the trailer ran some music used in Titus). They’re not even running the trailers here yet, so I don’t know that much about the movie, but… it seems like it’s about a tiny number of the ‘civilized’ standing up to the hordes of the Persians (Iranians). Three hundred Spartans, America has 300 million citizens - obviously a vast difference in actuality, but the number 300 can’t be lost on anyone. Am I reading these trailers wrong, or is this movie about how we need to stop the brown (Islamic) hordes? The Persians aren’t Arabs, but I don’t think too many Americans are going to be familiar with that distinction.
This reminds me of that movie with Bruce Willis from a few years ago, when a white man had to go to darkest Africa to save some white lady and a bunch of orphans or something.
So, who knows more about this movie and would like to comment - because on this side of the world, it reads like, “death to a-rabs”.
ps - I have a home! and a bike! and a kitten! (not my kitten)
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February 21st, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Well, I’ll give you that the movie has a definite “light people vs. brown people” feel, judging by the trailer. But the graphic novel on which the script is based was released in 1999, so while some current political parallels can be drawn, the source material was written to early to suggest a direct connection. Besides, if the movies stick to historical fact, it should be noted that the Spartans knew they would all die, and indeed they did. Which makes this a very different kind of war allegory, if it is intended as one.
February 21st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Good point, though the “but were taking as many of them with us as possible!” attitude from the trailer still rubs me as kind of dubious.
As to the source material, though, it’s not just a question of when it was written, but why it was produced. Sin City was released in 2005. I would guess that’s probably too late for it’s success to be a factor in the decision to make this film.
I don’t want to push this idea too hard because I’m basing it willy-nilly on about 4 minutes of trailers.
In other news, if I stay in my film course, we’re watching Showgirls. What!