Still ahead of the curve: Starship Troopers

First they rip off my movie ideas.  Next they rip off my blog posts.  Remember when I wrote about Starship Troopers and how it was a misunderstood and underrated movie?  That was back in March of 2011.  Well now the Atlantic is working a swagger jacker as well.

Starship Troopers is satire, a ruthlessly funny and keenly self-aware sendup of right-wing militarism. The fact that it was and continues to be taken at face value speaks to the very vapidity the movie skewers.

But I said it better:

Some people think the movie is pro-war.  Some people think the movie is satirical and is anti-war. Why do you think they dressed Doogie Howser like Dr. Mengle?

I think Calum Marsh, aside from making an article based on my uncredited work, misses what is the real charm of the movie and why critics don't give it is a break.  Critics bash the movie because it was so radically different from the book.  But just forget about the book and judge the movie based on its own merits as a stand alone film.  And also keep in mind the way that we see and view wars today and how that was changed after the film came out.  The bugs launch a terrorist attack against civilians and there is a jingoist rise to wage war against them.  We watch the war passively through video clips and embedded journalists while the enemy's mastermind is hunted in the caves in the mountains.  And even if we catch the mastermind the war will go on, doesn't it?

Starship Troopers: A movie ahead of the times

Starship Troopers was a movie ahead of the times.  I know what you're thinking.  The book was better.  The plot was juvenile, the acting wooden.  Campy.  But watch it again and look at the details.  Embedded journalists.  Watching newsfeeds in a youtube like manner.  It was a movie that was oddly prescient in depicting how future wars are waged.  The dramatic show down where they are ambushed in hills that look like Kandahar.  The search through mountainous caverns for the leader.  Remind you of anything?





Just saying'

Some people think the movie is pro-war.  Some people think the movie is satirical and is anti-war. Why do you think they dressed Doogie Howser like Dr. Mengle?



Is this a pro or anti war statement?

Anyways, feel free to disagree, but first watch the movie with a critical eye.  Think critically about the themes and the way the movie is presented.  And remember; I'm not arguing that Starship Troopers is a good movie.  I'm just arguing that it was ahead of the times.