Neal Stephenson has thoughts on the movie 300 and why the critics don't like it. Go read it. (Hat tip Instapundit)

I mentioned in my last post that I went and saw the movie 300 and enjoyed it. I also mentioned that critics didn't like it.

Besides the issue discussed in the last post, one of the critic's "problems" with the book is the way Leonidas treats a Greek hunchback. In the movie, the hunchback was born in Sparta, and smuggled out by his parents instead of being left to die. He tells Leonidas about a backdoor to the pass, and offers to fight with the Spartans.

Alas, he is physically unable to do so. Leonidas says "we can't all be warriors," and in as nice a way as possible, offers to have him help with the wounded. A needed task, but not combat.

Now, in a politically-correct Hollywood movie, Leonidas would find a combat slot for the hunchback. He would play a critical role - maybe saving Leonidas' life - and we'd all leave the theater with a new appreciation of the different abilities of the handicapped. Or something like that.

In this movie, the hunchback sells out the Greeks to the Persians, in part for an offer of "a life of pleasure" with the king's harem. It may not be politically correct, but it's a much more realistic response.

As I mentioned last time, I went and saw 300, the Spartan epic. I enjoyed the movie, although it is definitely not for kids or those with weak stomachs.

Based on the comic book (sorry, "graphic novel") by Frank Miller, the movie is full of exciting visuals. It's also got at least 4 graphic beheadings (I lost count) and more then a little nudity. There's a tendency for actors in this movie to stop moving and stand around looking heroic, but in the comic book genre it works.

Critics hate the movie, and more then a few don't get the point. This review from Slate is typical. The money quote is "a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war."

In the movie, Leonidas goes to war for a very noble cause, that of independence from an oppressive Persian empire. He consults the oracles because he must, not because he believes in them. In one scene, he refers to the oracle (a tastefully nude young girl) as "a drunken teenager manipulated by old crones." The war isn't total for the Spartans either - due to political issues at home, the 300 are all Sparta sends and are billed as Leonida's personal bodyguard.

The only way to avoid the "race-baiting" charge would be to re-write history. Last time I checked, the Greeks were Caucasian. Also, the reviewer is upset that there is no anti-war statement in the movie. I found that in particular wrongheaded, since the Spartans all die and there's a moving scene of the widowed queen comforting her son.

It's a shame, and a sign of our times, that every piece of art is looked at through a political lens. The movie 300 is a fairly straightforward look at a pivotal point in history. Just because something takes a relatively positive view on war doesn't make it "fascist." My favorite quote from the unabashedly liberal site Making Light is “If there is no willingness to use force to defend civil society, it’s civil society that goes away, not force.” (Teresa Nielsen Hayden).

If it weren't for these Spartans, democracy would be a little more then a footnote in the annals of history. Complaining that it doesn't fit your current political views is simply wrong.