‘300’ (2007)
“FREEDOM!!”, shouts Gerard Butler in the role of King Leonidas in Zack Snyder’s evocation of ‘300‘, Frank Miller’s realization of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. But then as now, the question becomes one of whose freedom and the terms thereof.
It’s no secret that the democracies of ancient Greece were highly restrictive. ‘Democracy’ as an idea was limited to wealthy landholders and nobles – typically if you weren’t wealthy you weren’t free, but more likely you were somebody’s servant or sharecropper.
Since ‘300′ was released, many critics have tried to determine what the analogy of the tale is, considering we, the United States, are currently engaged in a protracted contest with more than one Middle Eastern foe. Certainly, many people argue, that ‘300’s invasion of Sparta by the Persian Sultan Xerxes is roughly analogous to the American misadventure in Iraq and Afghanistan. And anyone who would put forth such an argument is certainly a fool. [Read more →]