Little Alex
Jan. 11th, 2005 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloDo I want to see a film about Alexander the Great?
Not really.
I had the same problem with Troy. Man-killing Achilles, even when airbrushed to suit Brad Pitt's image and sensibilities, is not someone I want to spend much time with.
The 20th century's experience of war and empire has revolutionized our taste in heroes. We no longer favour aggressors like Alexander. We identify instead with the resistance. We want to see Russell Crowe take on the Roman Empire or Viggo Mortensen fight his way to a crown that is justly his.
Being asked to cheer for Alexander is a bit like being asked to cheer for Mordor.
Not really.
I had the same problem with Troy. Man-killing Achilles, even when airbrushed to suit Brad Pitt's image and sensibilities, is not someone I want to spend much time with.
The 20th century's experience of war and empire has revolutionized our taste in heroes. We no longer favour aggressors like Alexander. We identify instead with the resistance. We want to see Russell Crowe take on the Roman Empire or Viggo Mortensen fight his way to a crown that is justly his.
Being asked to cheer for Alexander is a bit like being asked to cheer for Mordor.
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 09:59 am (UTC)Spielberg is a huge talent, but his sentimentality undermines film after film.
And women are all but absent from his world. If it's not about fathers and sons he really doesn't have a clue....
no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 10:22 am (UTC)Women are there to betray you or welcome you home after a hard day's heroing. That's all. Spielberg is a joke when it comes to representing the human condition--maybe that's why our perception is so fucked up these days. He's the one that's writing it large.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 10:30 am (UTC)I think he's a great artist.
And I increasingly hate what he stands for.
He's the boy who never grew up. It seems to me that a lot of American artists conform to this arche/stereotype.