Review of 300 (2007) by Ali B — 10 Apr 2014

This movie is a rather racist and sexist spectacle that is faithful to historical record only in it's rough outline. The depiction of Xerxes, and the Persians, generally, is particularly ridiculous--Xerxes is effeminate, wears make-up and has strange, futuristic looking piercings.

The Persians, generally, are all people of color and are depicted as monsters who are sexually perverse and diseased. This is orientalist racism as it's finest. There are no girls or older women. No woman appearing in this film was allowed to keep her clothes on--there is a display of nubile breasts on a regular basis throughout the film.

Gorgo (the wife of Leonidas) is known throughout history for her strength and wisdom, but in this film, the director imagines her getting raped. That she gets her (again imaginary) revenge on the perp is no remedy and has nothing to do with the plot at all.

As a fan of Zizek, it's embarrassing to me that he saw fit to write two whole pages about this film--in order to make it something other than dumb, you really have to squint and do some mental origami (which is something Zizek is good at, I allow).