300 Bad Asses
Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
--The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
This too shall pass
--King Solomon
Confession time: yesterday Ranger went to see the comic book movie, 300. It was like sitting through a two-hour Marine Corps recruiting advertisement. In fact, the movie was reminiscent of Ranger School, except it had women in the program. Strangely, the women were tougher than the men. It's no wonder the Spartans never left their buddies behind.
Much has been made of this flick, but I didn't read any analysis prior to my viewing so as not to be predisposed in my take on it. Ranger believes this is a Hollywood way to demonstrate that homosexuality is actually a military virtue. There is little doubt that anyone would have called these guys queer. Heckuva bunch of warfighters, but definitely gay.
Though they might have been homosexual, they sure knew how to defend a piece of terrain. At least until the Persians got behind them. Take-home message: for all the hoopla over gays in the military, you'd feel pretty good about these six-pack abs marching into battle to protect your city-state, so get over it.
The movie also overplayed the Persian threat, but that is something that Americans are used to, namely, overblown threat analysis. But one is left wondering, does it really matter how any battle plays out?
History and life move on. Victories and defeats are simply interpretations. Give and take occur, invaders intermarry, die or leave. The milleniums pass, regardless of heroic battles and glorious interpretations of brave men killing one another.
After 3,000 years, mankind has not progressed very far.
Much has been made of this flick, but I didn't read any analysis prior to my viewing so as not to be predisposed in my take on it. Ranger believes this is a Hollywood way to demonstrate that homosexuality is actually a military virtue. There is little doubt that anyone would have called these guys queer. Heckuva bunch of warfighters, but definitely gay.
Though they might have been homosexual, they sure knew how to defend a piece of terrain. At least until the Persians got behind them. Take-home message: for all the hoopla over gays in the military, you'd feel pretty good about these six-pack abs marching into battle to protect your city-state, so get over it.
The movie also overplayed the Persian threat, but that is something that Americans are used to, namely, overblown threat analysis. But one is left wondering, does it really matter how any battle plays out?
History and life move on. Victories and defeats are simply interpretations. Give and take occur, invaders intermarry, die or leave. The milleniums pass, regardless of heroic battles and glorious interpretations of brave men killing one another.
After 3,000 years, mankind has not progressed very far.
posted by rangeragainstwar at 2:44 PM
2 Comments:
Lurch,
Of course, you are correct. As some comedian once said, "Alexander the Great--just another gay general."
But it was surprising to see that the P. Pace ilk did not squelch Hollywood's depiction. In other words, historicity trumped conservative agendas. I think Jim did not expect the lads to be depicted as a such a merry gang.
Lurch,
True that. Through their eyes, perhaps the 300 just seemed like a bunch of especially healthy FCA members, perhaps borrowed from the BYU wrestling club. --L
Post a Comment
<< Home