re: #137 Sergey Romanov

Should I watch that movie, BTW? Or is it horrible?

300 (that’s what we’re on, right?) is a mixed bag. If you like heavily stylized CGI-based comic book adaptation movies with lots of muscle and gore, you may enjoy it.

It’s ahistorical, which I mind less if it’s something like ‘The Three Musketeers’, and you can sort of see it as a quasi-historical fantasy based on Thermopylae and the events leading up to it.

It’s been heavily criticized for presenting a very inaccurate portrayal of not only the battle but also Spartan society. People tend to point to it as being whitewashed, but it’s also skewed to make the Spartans more accessible to American men.

There was also, and I don’t know if this was part of the original, a HEAVY overlay of ‘good free Americans westerners fight evil totalitarian Muslims Persians, which I think had much to to with when it came out.

I find the Spartans interesting, and don’t care for comic-book adaptations, so I thought it was dreck. My husband liked it, from an artistic angle.

He says, “See it, but be aware it’s based on a comic book, not history.”

I say, “I coulda skipped it.”