So I recently watched "300", the pseudo-historical fantasy film from 2006 about the Battle of Thermopylae (in 480 BC) . The film isn´t bad, but it does suffer from a horrid "Lord of the Rings" complex - as in Peter Jackson´s films. Many of the Persian troops look like Orchs, the traitor Ephialtes is obviously Gollum, Theron has similarities with Worm-Tongue, and the Ephors are probably based on Saruman. Two of the Spartan soldiers banter in a way similar to Legolas and Gimli. David Wenham, who starred Faramir in "LOTR" evolves into a more Aragorn-like character in this production. There are also some similarities with "Gladiator".
But what struck me about all, was how much pop culture has changed since 2006. "300" is very "right wing", and could probably not have been made today. It would be condemned as "fascist". The Spartans (who are portrayed almost as they were in real life - or at least in Athenian sources) are the heroes clearly representing "the West". The "Persians", by contrast, are surprisingly often Black (Persia didn´t control any part of sub-Saharan Africa), Arab bedouins, or simply demonic. The film is also "straight", with Ephialtes being seduced by part-lesbian orgies, and "boy-lover" being an insult of choice against the effeminate Athenians. Leonidas, by contrast, is the quintessential heterosexual lover. I sometimes wonder if Hollywood (hardly a conservative bastion) wasn´t simply trolling, making films like "300"?
One intriguing aspect is that the Spartans are - if you look closely enough - portrayed as secular, rational and lovers of logic, while the "Persians" stand for "mysticism" and are led by a bizarre god-king. Leonidas defies both his own "gods" (the Ephors and the Oracle) and the Persian "god" Xerxes. Is this Hollywood´s secret cue that the film is *really* about atheism being good, and Christianity (not just Islam) being bad? Who knows?
Worth pondering, perhaps.
