Little Alex

[poliphilo]

Do 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.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I read the news stories about people being upset because they went to the movie knot knowing that A. was gay. They thought Angelina Jolie was the love interest. Sheesh.

I guess I go to movies to be entertained. I find nothing whatsoever entertaining in the THOUGHT of this movie.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

You have chosen wisely.

I understand that Alexander is possibly one of the worst movies ever made.

One critic said that you could chop up the movie into five segments and splice them back together at random and still have the same movie.

Another critic said he wanted Alexander to "just die already" so he could go home.

I think Peter Jackson's LOTR has surely started this battlefield epic trend--horses, swords, and dust.

Coming soon: the Crusades, starring Orlando Bloom!

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

Unless you look at it as the plucky can-do Macedonia sticking it to the stuffy Greeks. Which is something America loves, because we feel it reflects our relationship with Britain. But I'm sure that's not how the movie shows Alex--in all our rush to trumpet his homosexuality, we usually forget he wasn't even Greek.

And of course, Alex loved Achilles, was obsessed with him. Typical--and thus his life cycle is fairly predictable. Life imitates art.

But I don't like the American fetish for the underdog either. It's dishonest, because the reason most like it is because it is how America sees itself. Its psyche has not grown up yet to see that we are no longer plucky or can-do in the face of adversity--we're the ones on top.

I prefer to hear about Breseis than Achilles, Roxann than Alexander. I want the apocrypha.