Director: Paul Verhoeven
Screenplay: Edward Neumeier, based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein
Released 7 November 1997
Budget: $105 million
Box Office: $121.2 million
Pvt./Cpl./Sgt./Lt. Johnny Rico...Casper Van Dien
Pvt. Isabelle "Dizzy" Flores...Dina Meyer
Lt./Capt. Carmen Ibanez...Denise Richards
Pvt. Ace Levy...Jake Busey
Col. Carl Jenkins...Neil Patrick Harris
Lt. Zander Barcalow...Patrick Muldoon
Sgt. Zim...Clancy Brown
Lt. Jean Rasczak...Michael Ironside
Cpl. Sugar Watkins...Seth Gilliam
Carl and his posse: Nazi officers:
1998):
1. The Nazi German influence in the film, something Anne quickly picked up on—and others of you as well (and some of which are pictured above: the similarity in uniforms and the way Verhoeven used Leni Riefenstahl's 1935 Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will as a model for several set pieces in the film). To what point or to what effect in Starship Troopers? In other words—why do this?
2. Look at the clips from the Klendathu invasion in our movie and from the D-Day invasion from Spielberg's film (considered by many as one of the most realistic Hollywood war films ever made). Spielberg's film came after Starship Troopers; but Verhoeven used documentary footage from the D-Day invasion as a basis for his own invasion. If Spielberg's film is "realistic," Verhoeven's invasion is pretty realistic as well (forget for a minute the Arachnids as opposed to the Germans are the enemies). So why make this invasion as graphic and realistic as Verhoeven does—to what purpose in this film that in so many ways—the prettiness of the cast, the cliches of the script—is totally unrealistic?
3. What is the satire in Starship Troopers? What is being critiqued? And it can be several thing being critiqued.
4. What is Starship Troopers proposing as a solution to what is is critiquing? Or is there no solution offered?
250-300 words. Short answers will be downgraded.
1. They are using the Nazi German in Starship Troopers because it is showing what could be a possibility for the future of humankind. It is showing how humankind desires to become powerful and take over the world, and this is showing how once Earth is fully taken over, where does humanity go? Putting the soldiers and captains in Nazi-style clothing is also raising the question of who is really the bad guy? The humans make it out to be the bugs because that was where the asteroid came from. However, what if the bugs did not send the asteroid. What if the idea that the bugs spread through sending asteroids was just human propaganda, to give a reason to fear and invade the bugs’ home planet?
ReplyDelete2. Verhoeven makes the invasion as realistic as possible because he wants to relate it to D Day and World War Two. He is basing the entire movie off of the Second World War, and he makes it realistic to show how large the invasion was, like how large the invasion of Normandy was. Verhoeven wants to show the audience that the humans in the film are fighting a war of life or death, and that they will send everyone they have in order to defeat the bugs.
3. I think that Starship Troopers is critiquing the over-glorification (is that a word) of the military. In the world of the movie, in order to have any good rights you must have least served two years in the military. In order to be a politician, you must have been in the military. In order to vote and have children, you must have been in the military. In order to be a citizen, you must have been in the military. The military is also portrayed as this all powerful force that is looked up to by many children, especially in the scenes where the kids are stomping on the bugs and earlier, when the soldiers are showing off their guns to the children, letting the children hold them. This relates to the real world, where the military is glorified. Military service pays for college, and about 50% of taxes goes to military spending.
4. I would argue that the movie is not offering a solution, it is only highlighting a problem that in a way needs to be fixed.
After realizing the similarities between the army in Starship Troopers and the Nazi’s, my mind quickly went to their opposition as armies. It seems as though the entire struggle and morale of the human race is based upon all equally hating the bugs and wanting to destroy them. The human race is orientated completely towards dominating the opposition. There’s propaganda about it in their schools, TV programs, and it is even a requirement to serve in the army in order to become a fully fledged citizen. This is very similar in Nazi Germany. Their whole society was based upon the hate for the Jews. The German hate for the Jewish religion is what fueled their armies and what made them so successful for a short moment. I think the film is getting the audience to become more critical of the human army. In many of these war films, the two opposing sides are painted purely as good and bad, when really war is much more gray than that. The film is showing that there is a possibility the human race are the ones who are the “bad guys” in the film.
ReplyDeleteThe entire film’s example of the soldier training process completely glorifies war. The entire society that Rico and Carmen live in glorifies what it means to fight for your country. Rico assumes it is all about glory, “fighting for your country” and blowing shit up, when really it seems to be a lot different than that. The soldiers have hyped themselves up so much to the point of where they have false confidence in themselves. Once they arrive to the planet, war is not at all as glorious as they expected. This is put in to show how unexpectedly brutal war is. All the unrealistic glitter of training and beautiful soldiers goes away once the real fighting begins.
3. What is the satire in Starship Troopers? What is being critiqued? And it can be several thing being critiqued.
Starship Troopers is definitely mimicking the trivialities and glorified perception of war that we have in our world. Human beings are so focused on conquering and winning that they never stop to criticize what they are truly doing. There are plenty of instances where unrealistic fighting happens, characters seem to completely forget about the deaths of their comrades moments afterwards, stab wounds seem to magically disappear and so on. The film is making fun of these unrealistic films that are made to leave the viewer with a sense of accomplishment even though they haven’t done anything at all.
I don’t think that the film is providing any kind of solution to the problem. They are simply showing us the error to our ways, but I guess realizing the problem is half of the battle (get it ??).
At first I thought it was to set a more serious tone for a fairly not relatable sic-fi movie, but then I was confused why the heroes and humans are compared to the forces of Nazi Germany. It almost felt like the director was saying, "this is how Nazi's justified their actions," because of how we are meant to relate to these characters who seem just to be protecting Earth. However, then you think of how Humans are invading the bugs planet and using propaganda to get people to continue doing it to continue this perpetual conflict where humans are the aggressors. I think the director did this to show how terrible humans are to other "races" like the bugs because they act like they are protecting Earth when they are really invading and killing these bugs who never try to invade Earth.
ReplyDeleteBy making that scene graphic it changes the tone of the movie because previously it just seemed like a gory sci-fi movie for no purpose, but once the actual war is happening, you see fear and desperation, something that would catch people off guard in a seemingly silly satirical movie. By having that scene to similar to the one of D-day, it is a surprise comparison which makes the movie deeper than expected.
The glorification and propaganda of war is being is being satirized especially during the ads between the scenes, like when the troopers let the kids play with guns, when the kids are killing the bugs and are "doing their part", and when the happy trooper is proud to be training. Those scenes are so exaggerated they are obvious satire, but I also think there is a satire in the the cliches of hero and villain, in the end, Rico is a hero, the ex high school football player who joined up for a girl turned out to rise through the army and become an honorable person. All of the characters are just huge cliches and are made fun of in this movie by exaggerating their all ready exaggerated personalities.
I did not see a solution offered because it doesn't really end, it is just a part of a bigger never ending story because of perpetual aggressions of war and how humans just continue fighting pretending to have victories, like capturing the brain bug. They not actually win but they can now try to understand the bugs to fight them. I did not see a solution.
Now that I have been exposed to the idea, I can obviously see how the movie was influenced by Nazi Germany. Most examples of propaganda are tied to WW2 and Nazi Germany probably won the award for most effective propaganda. Along with America, Germany had many posters, radio announcements, and commercials about joining the fight in anyway they can. This relates to the "do your part" attitude in Starship Troopers. Everyone was persuaded to go into any form of armed forces and if they could not go into war, children and those who stay at home must ration (in the real world) and discriminate people who look like the enemy. I think the plot is alluding to war tactics and in my opinion, Nazi Germany was the best at doing so.
ReplyDeleteThe war scenes are used to show how the propagandas are all lies. The ads make it seem like doing everything for your country is so great but in reality, becoming a "citizen" isn't worth it in my opinion. Like Rico's father in the movie, Buenos Aires and other parts of the world are just trying to persuade you into doing something that - if not influenced - you might not want to do.
The satire is mainly in the propaganda that they show. It is silly to us that people want to join the fight for bugs but in their world, they don't think so. The talk about the war is silly especially in the table talk between the man and the woman. It shows how people don't listen to each other. Effects of the war is also take the role of the satirical part. The woman cheering her kids killing bugs is a key example.
I did not see a solution given. The characters continue to do the work they are assigned at a higher level and the movie said they will continue t fight until they win. The slight solution could be the woman in the table talk when she said that the humans should try to talk to the bugs since they are so smart. Which I agree with. It also makes no sense how they have the smartest people there, yet can't fight as well. One idea is to just talk to the bugs. Simple.
I think the director chooses to build the starship trooper army off of the nazi party because it shows how it is human nature to want to conquer all threats to our species. The movie starts by showing us that the humans are in the midst of a war with another species they call “bugs.” They blame the bugs for killing hundreds of thousands of people and for throwing meteors at the earth. But we never learn whether the bugs attacked the humans first. The bugs could just be defending themselves from the humans. This connects to the Nazis because Hitler blamed the Jews and Marxists for Germany’s loss in WWI, thus seeking to redeem Germany and build the strongest empire in europe.
ReplyDeleteThe director chose to make the invasion of Klendathu as similar to D-Day because the movie is supposed to be a satire on war and is based off of WWII. By doing this, the director highlights how graphic and inhumane the actions of the nazis were. It also shows how the Nazis believed completely that what they were doing was right. The characters invading Klendathu never question the fact that they were invading another planet and trying to eradicate another species. They go in willingly, thinking that it is the best way to serve their country, much like the Nazi soldiers did.
The movie is criticizing the dramatization and glorification of war. In this new society, the only way you can vote and become a “citizen” is to serve in the war. The news reports are constantly trying to recruit people to fight in the war and are advertising the war as a good thing. One news report specifically showed a group of children stepping on cockroaches with the announcers in the background saying, “They’re doing their part.” This exaggerates the recruitment process for war by advertising at children.
I do not think the movie proposed a solution to the problem presented. By having the movie end with the main characters winning one battle and then going off to fight another only shows that war is inevitably drawn out and will never end with only one battle.
This movie shares a similar contrast between the star Troopers and the Nazis of Germany. I believe that Verhoeven made the description of the government less obvious about certain human races, like the Nazis, but the same tactics and approach as the Nazis did towards Jews after World war 1. Rather than the target become Jewish people, the director decided to focus on the bugs. Creating a propaganda since the beginning of most of the citizens children are taught to believe that these Alien bugs are against the human races and should only be seen as our enemy.
ReplyDeleteWe get to see small clips which look likes the audience is being able to watch government advertisement. One advertisement switched to a commercial of soldiers letting children hold their guns and explaining to them how to use it. Since the beginning the focus has been total war for most of the youth. War has been the effort for the human race. After we see Buenas aires was attacked and taken down without having any information as why this attack occurred, there was no questions asked and this would be a influence to drive civilians to join the army. Verhoeven inspiring between the invasion into Arachnid territory reflects the images of D-day. This was interesting to see because we get to see that the humans realize that they cannot win if they all put their efforts in because they misunderstood to the species. There were some people who had to be sacrificed for the sake of the cause and we see while these grew some deaths occurred a camera man was always ready to film the scenes. This why I feel like Verhoeven wanted to show the details to exaggerate how publized the deaths of thousands of people was able to get caught on film.
The satire about the starship troopers is that it is like most armies. They prepare to be the toughest warriors in the galaxy but when the time is ready, the government needs soldiers to spare for the cause and the survivors will get to be promoted on to higher and more missions for the war. Just like we see power rankings in U. S army and European armies. The starships were mostly only criticized by the rich parents who could afford to have their children being taken care of financially or go to college where they get education rather than being injured or dying on the battlefield.
I did not specifically see a resolution from this movie because the director sets up that they have found a solution to one part of the arachnids. So this allows for sequels and returning movies in the favor of relieving g more money for the franchise.
As we talked about in class, I think that the Nazi connection speaks to the perception of the movie. We see these men and women who love their race, and will literally do anything to make sure they remain the most dominant in the universe. If you are not watching carefully, you can almost believe that to be a purely good thing, and fail to realize that they are blinding themselves to the truths of war. They shrug off the idea that peace might be best for all, and Rico comes in and says, “We’re gonna kill them all”. The Nazi’s obviously thought they were better than anyone else, and were going to make sure that everyone else knew that. As far as we know, the bugs have know idea why these people are coming into their planet, and brutally killing their friends and family. What's really interesting is that I found it easy to side with the humans, which could speak to how humans react under order and instruction; another tactic used by the Nazis. As John said in class, I think this movie is from the perspective of the Nazis, and portrays how the soldiers who are doing the dirty work truly believe in their cause, and think they’re doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI think the similarities in fight scenes show how the two sides divided are one in the same. Humans divide themselves naturally, when in reality we are so similar. I believe that this one moment of realism in the movie is meant to stand out from the cast and plot. Verhoeven intentionally made these scenes hard to watch to show what war is really like, and how the belief of purpose can drive people to such extremes.
I think the satire in Starship Troopers is aimed at the human brain. We are so quick to follow orders, and almost have no need for discrimination. If someone of a higher authority commands us to do something, we do it. There was a test called the Milgram Experiment, that consisted of two people: one teacher and one student. The teacher would ask a question and if the student answered incorrectly, the teacher would administer an electrical shock. With reassurance from a man in a white coat that stood next to the teacher, the teacher would continue to deliver these shocks, despite cries from the other room. Verhoeven is playing off this flaw that humans have, and showing one of our major weaknesses.
Throughout Starship Troopers, we see the commercials that air, and in one of them the news broadcaster suggested that peace could be a solution to the massive amounts of death. This idea was shrugged off, and I think similarly to negrotown, the solution is within the problem. By saying that humans blatantly follow orders and fail to use discrepancy, Verhoeven is saying that we need to do so.
I think that this movie draws these Nazi parallels in order to make the audience look at this futuristic human world in a different, darker light. Showing how such a vile and evil ideology can be equated to this seamingly noble cause forces a viewer to look at how the human race, which is fighting a species of alien bug, might be flawed in their righteousness. In our class, I remember, as soon as the nazi parallels were drew a few people even spoke up for the alien bugs. In my opinion, the idea that the humans are akin to the nazis is ridiculous, and any details that link them are merely to make the audience think.
ReplyDeleteSatire is meant to scrutinize people or things by exemplifying their shortcomings, and although the prettiness of the cast and the cliches of the script can be over-dramatized, war is violent and brutal and any exemplifying would only make it more so. Also, I think that this movie is meant to be as much as an action movie as it is a satire, and making the violence and war unrealistic would turn the film too far towards being a satire, completely overpowering the other part.
This movie plays with some ideas and cliches openly and lightheartedly such as the glorification of war, but the real problem this movie is addressing is less talked about and more taken for granted within this world. The human race is using fascism to colonize other planets and expand their their reach, and uses the bugs, ugly and dangerous aliens, as a scapegoat to justify their advances (maybe this is more like Nazi Germany than I first thought). But, even though the viewers are watching a fascist military government run the whole world, we see them as the good guys because they are killing bugs. I think this warning about the dangers of becoming too militaristic is aimed at the Clinton administration that was already cultivating the American jingoism that would lead to the the Iraq war (after this movie).
I don’t think that this film supplied a solution, or even a real ending, as we never got to know who won this galactic war. Maybe the sequels show more, but if any solution was given in small messages, I would think that it would be the importance of breaking down the government with the checks and balances system that America uses now, instead of letting one power, the military, run everything. This would then lessen the importance and even need for war as democracy takes its course.
1. After we finished watching this film, the hatred the soldiers had for the bugs was what stood out to me most. We discussed some of these scenes in class: the clip of the children “doing their part at home” by stomping on the harmless cockroaches, the young boy in the recruitment clip that couldn’t have been more than 10 years old, the soldier who continued to shoot the arachnid even though it was dead, etc… The characters all seemed obsessed with killing the bugs, their reasoning that the bugs were targeting their “race.” We also mentioned this in class- the belief in a superior race was one of the most prevalent views of the Nazis. But even if Rico is only using this term to describe the human race, there is still a frightening, untrue belief that they have that their existence is superior to the bugs. I don’t remember the line, but if I recall correctly, a character at the start of the film addressed this. And all of the characters cannot fathom the truth that these bugs may be just as smart- maybe even smarter- than they are. And this false belief of superiority leads them to have a desire to kill the bugs. They are the ones initiating the battles, invading the arachnid planets; their hatred for the bugs is disgustingly apparent. And as explained above, the costumes and set designs are obviously fashioned after those of the Nazis. So by using all of these images and untrue beliefs that were also held by the Nazis, I think that Verhoeven exposes the hatred that people can possess, even if they don’t realize that they believe in this hatred. As John explained, “...you thought this was just a silly sci-fi movie with beautiful people and monsters,” the violence of the characters is hidden beneath the good looks of the actors and the gorey destruction of the bugs. But the hatred that prompts these characters to kill the bugs is still evident, just a bit less obvious if one is distracted by the (pathetic) romance and disturbing images of crushed dogs. But if The Federation’s hatred is similar to that of the Nazis, then the viewer should despise the characters in the same way that do the Nazis. So I believe that Verhoeven has replaced the appearance of Nazi Germany with The Federation, but did not change the hatred that the Nazi military used to commit mass genocide. Yes, the soldiers in the film are not committing a genocide of people, so their actions are by no means as horrid, but they still have that disturbing commitment for hate. Yet the audience supports the film’s characters; I’m sure that people are upset when Dizzy and Watkins die and they feel bad for Rico when Carmen publicly breaks up with him. However, if the audience knew that the characters were based on Nazi soldiers, their reactions would probably not be the same. They wouldn’t support the Mobile Infantry soldiers if they knew that those soldiers were actually based on Nazis, and The Federation similarly fascist. So the audience's acceptance of the hatred is not changed based on the terrifying actions of the film’s characters; instead, the viewer is disgusted and their opinions only shift once they learn who the soldiers actually are. So to revisit what I mentioned earlier, it seems as if Verhoeven is showing that humans are possible of accepting extreme hate, as long as those with the hate are not known to be atrocious, monstrous people. Basically, the viewer may support the film’s characters, and they are accepting of their actions. Then, the viewer learns that the characters are based on Nazis- their acceptance of the characters disappears. So it was not the character’s obviously murderous intentions that changed their opinion. If this is true of the movie’s intentions, it is who was murderous that affects the viewer, not the actual murdering itself. Just because the character doesn’t appear to be a horrible, monstrous Nazi, their actions, similar to those of Nazi soldiers, place them in a similar position of monsters.
ReplyDelete2. As I answered in the above question, to me, war is horrible and ugly, no matter who it is that is committing the war crimes. Yes, the cast of Starship Troopers is pretty and romantic, but at the end of the day, they are all obsessed with ending the arachnids’ lives. So the scene of the invasion of Klendathu shows the horror of war without distraction from the actor’s appearances or simplistic scripted romances. You forget the joking of the Mobile Infantry crew after they get their tattoos- as they go through the planet’s violent atmosphere and charge out onto the surface, their fear is evident. The excitement that the movie’s soldiers had when they learned they were off to their first battle is all lost. This is similar to how simplified recruitment advertisements can be. This is demonstrated in the “There are no female marines, only marines” poster; the ad professes that gender has no impact on a marine’s status, which could encourage a woman who wanted to join the military to commit. But whether or not you’re a woman who is actually supported by the military does not really matter when you’re charging out of a boat or a spaceship, hopelessly outnumbered and possibly facing your death. The truth of war is not advertised to prospective soldiers or troops gearing up for their first battle. Only when they get out on the battlefield do they learn how frightening war can be. So by designing this scene of the invasion of the planet to be realistic and graphic, Verhoeven presents war as truthfully a place of pain and injury. In the end, the pretty characters are just soldiers in a terrible war. The truth of their easily ended existence appears, just as the truth of their Nazi similarities appear in war.
ReplyDelete3. I recognize a satirical presentation of The Federation’s obsession with war. As we discussed in class, this society appears to be fascist and nationalist, with a focus on destruction of the bug colonies. Though the narration at the start of the film explains that the bugs have sent their spores to other planets and asteroids from their planets are often in a dangerous proximity to Earth, they never mention if the bugs are maliciously trying to harm people on Earth. We only ever see the destruction of the bugs on human life when the soldiers of The Federation arrive in their territories to initiate war. Before the Mobile Infantry even lands on the planets, the pilots have to first dodge the “plasma firework” defenses that the bugs have sent out. To me, this seems as if the bugs don’t want the people to land on their planet. Nonetheless, the soldiers do anyway. If the soldiers didn’t try to initiate war, then the bugs wouldn’t have to fight back- and there wouldn’t be 100,000 soldiers killed in one day of fighting. And someone mentioned another scene in class, one in which the soldiers have given the children the machine guns to hold. The children are so excited to hold the gun, which to them, seems to be little more than a toy. For children that young to be comfortable with such a dangerous weapon is just simply terrifying, and in that lies the satire. The audience can easily find humor in their eagerness and lack of understanding. Similarly, Mr. Rasczak’s comments to his students (in a class Rico claims is not made to be recruitment) are so intensely focused on war and violence. But Rico’s drawing distracts the audience- his glance from Dizzy to Carmen (Rico is already entrenched in love and jealousy in the first two minutes of the film), along with Carmen’s pictorial response, are all comedic. So Rico’s comedy is displayed next to his teacher’s disturbing comments about violence, creating a satirical moment. More moments such as these abound: Rico’s desire to win the simulation leads to his peer’s death, the crew gets matching “Death” tattoos before one of them actually dies, Rico and Zander fight over the woman they both think they love at a time when actual war is occuring outside the windows of the spaceship. And the celebration scene with the beer, games, and sex... really guys? So all the characters are both obsessed with war and unknowing of war’s brutality, and this leads to the satire.
ReplyDelete4. I think that the solution to the obsession with war and destruction is empathy and humbleness. Personally, I thought that one of the sadder scenes in the film was when the “smart bug” was found and pulled out of its cave, confined in netting. Carl goes up to the bug and announces that it is scared, which received prompt cheering from the soldiers. But I wasn’t happy with any of their actions, and there is something immensely nauseating about their elation in the face of the bug’s fear. This scene literally made my stomach roll, and the torturous testing they did on the creature when they towed it back to the lab was no better. The screeches of the bug, even though it is not human, should be enough to convince any person with empathy that their actions may not be correct. So I believe that the solution is in these last few moments of the film. However, these scenes are not the focus of the end of the film, as they are shown around the scene of the reunion of Carl, Carmen, and Rico. We see future clips of the three of them in their respective jobs: Carmen as pilot, Rico leading his own unit of recruits. They have become the next cycle, which will continue on and on. So I don’t actually believe that the bug’s torturous fate will cause someone to ponder on whether their actions are just. But I do believe that the audience is able to do this, and that their reactions to the ending scene- not the clips of the celebration of the military, but the scenes of the punishment of the smart bug- can provide the solution of empathy.
If you look at Triumph of the Will, you will find that a large part of the propaganda is the suffering of Germans after WWI. Many of the movies is the film focused on the of the aftermath of battles the humans entered willingly. The one thing that was out of their control was the meteor in Buenos Aires, which of course was the perfect cause for fighters to bring themselves to war. The movies at the beginning, while they did give one tidbit of doubt about the Buenos Aires attack, for the most part where propaganda for more troops which just shows a type of desperation of the army that required more and more labour for their pointless missions. The pointlessness of the missions is up to the reader because we don’t know who started the fight and if the bugs really pose a threat, but the fact that we can’t do that further reinforces the Nazi ideals. If we were to hear the story of WWII from the point of view of a Nazi we would get a similar story as the the one in Starship Troopers. A government that requires people to sign up using propaganda, propaganda that focuses on the devastation of their own people and potentially not the facts, have a one sided battle against a species (that’s a bad word in the context of WWII, but I’m talking about bugs here), and not propose a reason for all the fighting just the idea of total elimination.
ReplyDeleteThe invasion scenes both focus a lot on the soldiers’ journey to the battle. We see worried faces wobbling unsure and unaware of what they are about to face. In the D-Day battle, the troops pose no threat (in that I mean there is just no weapons in use) while they arrive to the scene. The Klendathu battle also doesn’t start with them being the first to attack. In both they are just the first to arrive. The realism that surrounds the two attacks come from the opponent's’ responses. In both we see the enemies fighting back against the arrivals, and throughout the main battlescenss the only main difference in the two just seem to be the outcome of the battles.The reason for making the two so similar is to, for one, further reinforce the WWII reference but more importantly show the audience how heroic the troopers are. D-Day is known as one of the largest invasion by sea in history. By reminiscing the invasion portrayed by Spielberg, Verhoeven shows hoe faulty the propaganda movies were. D-Day was a victory, but a depressing sight while being fought. Making everything in the movie except the war scenes light and fun just show how wrong it is to refer to it that way, and it makes the watcher realize the true implication of war on the fighters of it.
So we see how war is brutal, yet no one seems to notice how pointless the whole practice is in the movie. Other than the meteor, that some predicted to be not an attack, the bugs only fought out of self-defense. The troops see war as the answer and that there is no other way. Even after experiencing it and finding the brain bug, Rico & friends still see it as a necessity and that there will also be more battle to be fought until total elimination. While there is also a high-school element to the story that makes it funnier to watch and we get to see common high-school tropes played out on a battleship, the main satire of the movie is to make a point of how dependent we as humans are on war. Maybe even the high-school scenes further reinforce that because they show how they can be played out in war times because war is so commonplace. What I’m trying to say is, the movie glorifies war through propaganda, then shows us the devastation, but then has its characters act in the way a war-crazy army would, begging for more. (Also, we’re supposed to be rooting for Nazis, so that’s pretty hilarious)
ReplyDeleteSolutions once again are not obvious. Simply saying don’t go to war is not a proper solution. We are bound to fight and there is no solution to that. The movie doesn’t end with the characters rethinking their need for war but instead shows them following the ideals they were taught blindley and going up in the ranks for doing so. Maybe there is no solution, but one thing that shows me some idea of a resolution is the brain bug’s fear. As Carl puts his hand on the bug, we see him look at the bug for a moment, and just for a second, I thought I saw a feeling of regret flash by his face. I do not know if that was on purpose, but it felt like it. This got me thinking: maybe if the bugs could communicate this movie would be much different. Maybe the lack of communication is what brings on this need for war. Maybe had the bugs been able to speak there would of been the possibility of preventing all the death throughout the movie because they would be able to say that the meteor wasn’t their fault and that they are willing to negotiate terms and that maybe we would be able to see how this war isn’t their fault, and maybe all the troopers would have needed to do would’ve been to listen. Listen, maybe that's the solution, maybe that's all we need to do in Verhoeven’s eyes. Or maybe...I’m just kidding myself and am grasping at straws.
1. The reasoning behind this approach is obvious: to show the reality of the situation. Foreshadowing the real life events of Nazi Germany with this film reinforces the narrative that the main goal was to kill whatever you could, whenever you could. Furthermore, they blamed this whole war solely on another group of people without ever truly trying to understand their reasoning. I mean they all cheered when the mind-reader guy said that the bug was afraid. That sort of behavior is just cruel.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the goal of this film was truly to emphasize the military and intensify the satirical aspect. The best way to do this was by using cliches, and of course adding irony. Getting incredibly white actors and actresses to play people from Buenos Aires is what I believe to be a nod at the lack of representation within the armed forces.
3. In my opinion, the military (and the rivalries within other forces) is being critiqued. After all, the sole objective of Rico’s force is to kill other things. While I do believe that armed forces are necessary, especially during times of war, they should also wish to build other skills than just shooting other things (this is only being based off of what was seen in the film). When all day, every day your job is to fire a gun and kill another biotic organism, it makes sense that you’d lose a bit of your humanity. This film certainly makes a nod towards that. As for the infighting between groups, that’s addressed as well. After Xander and John have their fight scene, someone says that their two groups don’t mix.
4. There is no solution offered in Starship Troopers. I feel as though the main goal of the film was to call attention to a problem.
I think that the goal of the makers of Starships Trooper had in mind was to illustrate how easy it is to overlook exactly what the characters in this kind of film are doing. The members of this future civilization (“The Federation”) are attempting to wipe out an entire race of life which previously had not disturbed them. The humans had attempted to colonize the planet and the bugs:/ arachnids retaliated. It’s very easy to overlook this and immediately side with these people, as the viewer finds themself doing.
ReplyDeleteI think that the invasion scene is meant to be jarring to the viewer, a very different kind of scene from those that feature beautiful people walking around, doing push-ups, or flying ships. I personally had to turn my eyes away for these particular scenes because they were too graphic. I think that the seamlessness of the invasion and the tactics they used are meant to be almost alarming in how well they work. Even though these are beautiful people, several (like Diz and Zander) end up dying terrible, brutal, gory deaths. It’s very scary to watch.
I think that most of the surface level satire in this film can be found in the little Federation broadcasts- children “doing their part” by stomping on cockroaches, Carl casually shooting an Arachnid in the nerve stem whilst the Mobile Infantrymen take several attempts to kill one, etc. However, there is a deeper satire as well- the film critiques Hollywood’s classic cast of beautiful (mostly white) people doing brave and valiant things, and, most importantly, always coming out on top with seemingly little damage done. Carmen and Rico exit the cave after one of Rico’s men has just blown himself up for their cause and Carmen has watched Zander’s brain get sucked out of his skull, and they immediately join the celebration.
I think that Starship Troopers doesn’t really give the viewer a solution to this problem. It simply pokes fun at the trope of overly attractive actors playing the roles of high schoolers, and entire unrealistic armies of beautiful people marching off to war.
1. I think the director did this because the plot to Starship Troopers is very similar to how the German army and civilian population acted during World War 2. One example of this is the invasion of Klendathu was an exact replica of D-Day. I think that all the propaganda was designed like the Nazi propaganda because it is basically the same thing, just from a different viewpoint. Also the reason to this approach is to show how real war is, buy comparing it to one of the most famous battles of human history.
ReplyDelete2. I think that they made the invasion of Klendathu so graffic and realistic so they can show a comparison of war in film and war in real life. In most films, war and batttle scenes often get dialed down on how violent they are, but on Klendathu, they violence and carnage is so overwhelming that it almost feels real.
3. I think the goal of the film was to show how sometimes our government can look evil from a different point of view. I also think that this movie is designed to show certain aspects of the military in a very satirical way. They critique the military and how they run operations and drills, but they also make fun of how the army and military use propaganda to get younger people to join the army, like when those soldiers gave the children guns to play with. I also think that the movie brings up how the military treats its civilians and enemies.
4. I don’t think that there is any solution offered in this movie. I think that it calls attention to the problems that it brings up, but doesn’t quite get to a solution.