MOVIE 300

Movie 300

Movie 300

Introduction

Let's get something straight about 300 right off the bat. This is not a movie about brave rebels fighting against some oppressive regime to safeguard freedom and democracy. When King Leonidas shouts “For freedom!” he's not talking about truth, justice, and the American way. It's mostly just jargon tossed into the trailers and the film for dim, easily manipulated people who get overly excited when they hear propaganda thrown around, you know, the type who aren't big on paying attention to context. Telling your soldiers they're fighting to be free men right before they march to their deaths to defend your right to sit on a throne and sleep with a hot queen is also a great way to energize the troops, even if it doesn't mean anything. I'm sure the Taliban soldiers were told they were fighting for freedom too. In their case it was the freedom to tie their women up in the street and throw rocks. Analysis

Despite a lot of screaming to the contrary, King Leonidas and his men are really just fighting to keep a bunch of loudmouthed Persians from tromping across their lawn. When Xerxes and his multi-nation army show up on Sparta's doorstep and demand allegiance, they also offer King Leonidas and his people the freedom to live the way they want. But this is Sparta, a nation of warriors bred for blood. Leonidas will not stand for his people to bend knee to anyone, no matter how sweet the pot. Looked at that way, to me 300 is actually more interesting. This is the story not of freedom fighters, but of a stubborn man and a stubborn people obsessed with honor, glory, and war. A group of fighters so fierce they prefer death to surrender, no matter the terms. Only the greatest warriors on Earth could hold off an army of millions with only 300 men. For Spartans, it's the natural thing to do (Tim Hawes, 2007).

The Spartans in co-writer/director Zack Snyder's 300 are kind of like Klingons, only prettier. A lot prettier. The costuming is fabulous, as are the bodies Snyder has put under the fabric. Women who see it may cringe at some of the film's brutality, but they'll also swoon over the hundreds of ripped abs and statuesc bare bodies posed and on display throughout the movie. Snyder has a similar eye for female sensuality, with women clad in wispy fabrics. Guys aren't likely to forget a brief scene in which Leonidas consults an Oracle, a mostly naked woman who connects to the spirit world through series of artistically erotic contortions. Black Snake Moan may have Christina Ricci on a chain, but in between all the blood and guts, 300's careful costuming and sensuous style is intensely erotic(www.moviesonline.ca).

With 300, it's ultimately the look that's everything. It has to be, because though the story is interesting, it's also thin. It lacks the kind of raw tension that you get from better against the odds ...