Terrible movie on AMC ... The 300 Spartans ... which was earnestly, eagerly made to accurately portray Herodotus' "The Histories" account of the famous incident where 300 Spartans stopped Xerxes at Thermopylae, allowing the rest of the Grecian city-states time to act against him.
It makes me scream in the first minute. Before the credits. The narrator says that these brave men fought for freedom for themselves and for US.
Because, yes, I see Xerxes men even now trying to take over the world.
And the Spartans? Not precisely the model of 'freedom-loving' people. Their society was built on the invasion, conquest, and utter subjugation and enslavement by one group (Dorians) of another group of Greeks (Achaeans), who were then made 'helots', land-slaves subject to continual ongoing terror attacks by the Spartan youth-in-training, killed if they even looked like they might consider protesting, and generally treated in a less-than-free way. There's a couple of fair but shallow articles about the place on Wikipedia.
Nor did the Spartans have a queen, as shown in the movie. They had two kings.
But its the music and the dialogue that make me yell at this thing.
It makes me scream in the first minute. Before the credits. The narrator says that these brave men fought for freedom for themselves and for US.
Because, yes, I see Xerxes men even now trying to take over the world.
And the Spartans? Not precisely the model of 'freedom-loving' people. Their society was built on the invasion, conquest, and utter subjugation and enslavement by one group (Dorians) of another group of Greeks (Achaeans), who were then made 'helots', land-slaves subject to continual ongoing terror attacks by the Spartan youth-in-training, killed if they even looked like they might consider protesting, and generally treated in a less-than-free way. There's a couple of fair but shallow articles about the place on Wikipedia.
Nor did the Spartans have a queen, as shown in the movie. They had two kings.
But its the music and the dialogue that make me yell at this thing.
- Current Mood:snarky
Comments
I hope you're happy.
wait. They all had slaves?
and they were all oligarchies in practice, with only the wealthy male landowners permitted to be citizens? EXCEPT the Spartans whose women were treated better than chattel?
Well. How disillusioning.
Next you'll be saying that the US doesn't have a democracy and that Britain has no free press.
meh... well the athenians even if it wasn't perfect did inspire the modern democracy (which we all know is imperfect)... that does count for somthing in my book.
It's also true that the inspiration was widely lauded by the British academics, starting sometime around the mid 1700s, I think... and that the Athenian landed-oligarchy with women completely disenfranchised was The Way It Was when said academics were frothing in their most delighted ways over the perfection of the system that the Athenians had ... because it just happened to mostly mirror what they themselves had.
Historical accuracy? Well, Gerard Butler (a total droolfest of a babe from Scotland) is in one of the lead roles. You may remember him from playing Attila - because everyone knows the huns had green eyes and perfect teeth. *giggle*
WHAT. A gal has to get her jollies somewhere.
I wonder if they'll get the Spartan society right.
With Brokeback Mountain recently winning all kinda awards, it would be amusing to show a totally repressive, ultra-conservative, ultra-militaristic society where the men were raised to prefer the company of men, and where the women had to dress as young soldier-boys to get their "attention".