Thursday, September 4, 2008
contrast of characters
I must admit I was surprisingly intrigued by the story of the rise and fall of cities, leaders, and nations. Like others have mentioned, I too loved the movie 300 and was quite appalled to learn that the facts have been twisted. My thought was: if a story is worth telling, which this definitely is, why does Hollywood feel the need to change it? A good story is a good story and doesn't need to be "Hollyvised" Yes, I make up words to fit what I'm trying to explain. :) Even though I was frustrated by what I believed to be the story and what the story turned out to be, I was inspired by the courage those Spartans showed. To know that you're going to die and still fight with such a passion... As I read further on I was quite amused at the gall of Xerxes. He sits up on his big throne on top of a hill, gazing down at his vast army, expecting a victory. My first thought was "what pride and arrogance." But then my opinion (which wasn't a very good one in the first place) of him went to one of disgust. When he sees that his massive, "invincible" army is losing, he runs away, leaving his comrades to fight on their own. Such a contrast to the Spartans. The true character of a man is revealed when he is staring death in the face.
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3 comments:
To be fair, it wasn't so much Hollywood as it was comic books. Frank Miller made his comic book "300" and he had certain things he wanted to do. Hollywood then wanted to bring that comic-book vision to the big screen.
I didn't mind the comic book, in part because I'm familiar with Miller's work. The movie was relatively true to the comic book; it was the comic book that diverged from historical reality.
I didn't even know there was a comic book and the movie was based off that. :) Thanks for the info
I was quite suprised by the account of Xerxes. Like you, from this reading, I found him very arrogant and uninterested in the welfare of his people over his desire for power. A far cry from what I have read of him previously. I thought of him as a passionate king, honestly trying to find the balance between what he thought to be right and the obligation he felt to avenge his father's death. Ironically, he seems tossed to and fro in his convictions as much as the Athenians in their efforts find a successful political basis.
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