Stonemaybe wrote:I'd like to recount a whispered conversation me and Sook had about an hour into 300 at the cinema (note Sook is Korean and knows nothing about ancient greece).
Sook: They're all gay, aren't they?
Me: *laughs out loud* *nods*
Ha! That's ace!
I forsee Spartan outfits replacing Village People costumes in the gay community very soon. Coming to a Mardi Gras or Carnival near you this summer! (sorry for the stereotyping!)
So Stonemaybe, what did you think of the film?
I've noticed no-one has responded to my friend's views on the film. (I think he'd already made up his mind.) This is my response:
{Re the claim that all the non-white people were evil in the movie}
I seem to recall at least a few non Persians being baddies!
I think that as the film was made by with US money, it was unlikely to have been made if the main heroes were not white, which is pretty sad I know. More of an industry problem really. I asked him how he knows what the Spartans or Persians looked like: he doesn't. Not sure how else to respond, he won't listen anyway!
At least I got him to watch it (thanks to Warmark!).
{Re post-911 $h!t stirring}
The East vs West fears are as old as Europe itself. There was only one direction a large empire can come from to threaten europe (the west): from the east of course! Huns, Mongols, Persians, Russians are all from the "east". Look at all the similar claims made against Tolkien: the Bad Guys always seem to be from the east and darker and dressed funny. Don't think he was a Racist Nazi Scumbag though!
{Re the "master race thing"}
It's a fact that the Spartans used what could be called eugenics, but selective breeding has been used in many cultures (for better or worse) for centuries. Linking it to Hitler is an easy way to make it "evil" in itself. It tends to provoke an emotional reponse for it's own sake.
{Re the enemies are abnormal}
Isn't it normal in storytelling to make the enemies look even more scary?
{Re the fall of Greece not being the terrible tragedy it was portrayed as}
Certainly, it would be a different world now if those events had not come to pass, but many other positive and negative things may have happened. Eg. many of our "modern" ways come from Arabic and Indian discoveries.
I've mentioned it elsewhere, but there is an interesting book called "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley-Robinson. It's an alternative (theoretical!) history of the the last 1000 years, imagining what would have happened if Europe had ceased to be an influence. While not perfect, you can tell the author has done a bit of research into science, medicine and technology from central Asia etc. A lot of this stuff was around a long time ago, but for various reasons was kept secret, or we only learn about it as a "western" invention.
The Roman Empire is said to decend from the Greek ways, and there are many similarities between it and the Persian Empire (everyone is welcome, as long as you submit to the will of the state, or the boss). One is as bad/good as the other IMHO!
There are accounts of Christians burning ancient Greek libraries only a few hundred years ago. It's not like we are now backward due to that loss; and they obviously didn't enlighten the ENTIRE world's civilisation, otherwise people wouldn't have ignorantly destroyed it in the first place! LOL
I'm rambling again. The filmakers should hire me to defend them I think.
Shame I don't get paid for my jabbering!
!