http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-238178961.html
Religion, Sexuality and the Image of the Other in 300
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Lena Roos
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
Lund University
Abstract
The graphic novel and the film 300 retell the battle between Greeks and Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BCE. The heroes of the story are 300 Spartan warriors. This article analyses how the readers/viewers are moved to identify with the Spartan warriors, and to feel repelled by their opponents. This is achieved by portraying the Spartans as the defenders of reason and justice, and of the freedom of not just Greece but all of Europe against “the armies of all Asia.” Their normalcy is underscored by portraying their sexuality in accordance with mainstream, heteronormative Western values. Their opponents, the Persians, the Spartan priests, and the Spartan traitors, are portrayed as monstrous, superstitious, and sexually perverted. This emphasis on the connection between religion and sexual perversion stands out as the most important element which the creators of 300have added to the story, as compared to the classical sources.
[1] The movie 300, dealing with the battle between Greeks and Persians at Thermopylae in the year 480 BCE, aroused considerable international controversy when it appeared in 2007. The fiercest objections were voiced by Iranian critics who resented the way the Persians were portrayed in the film.1 The film is based upon the graphic novel with the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley from 1999.2 The aim of this article is to study one of the controversial aspects of 300: how religion and sexuality are connected and how these two themes together are used to arouse sympathy for the Spartan warriors and aversion towards their opponents.
[2] This article takes as its point of departure a model for analysis developed by the sociologist Joane Nagel in her book Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality: Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers. Nagel shows how sexuality is often used as a tool to define borders between different ethnic groups, by describing those outside one”s own group as impure, undersexed or oversexed, or generally sexually deviant as compared to the normative sexual behaviour of one”s own group.3 This way of “othering” members of other ethnic groups is a way of discouraging sexual relations with members of other groups, but also of promoting feelings of superiority connected to one”s own group. In this article, I will apply this model for analysis on the graphic novel and film 300, but also add one more factor into the equation: religion. My basic question is: how are descriptions of religion and sexuality used in order to express the superiority of the group the audience is meant to identify with and the essential otherness and inferiority of “the others’ and can such an analysis shed light on some of the vehement reactions to the film?
[3] The film follows the graphic novel very closely. The close correspondence is not only found in text and images. Through computer graphics, the film does not attempt at realism, but rather resembles the fantastic scenarios of a comic book. This can be studied for instance in how the pattern of blood spatter is used in the battles scenes, which does not aim to be realistic but rather is added for its graphic effect and aesthetic quality.4
[4] The book and the film tell the story of the battle of Thermopylae, when a small army of Greeks resist a vast Persian army, led by the Persian King Xerxes, thereby thwarting his attempt to conquer the entire known world.
[5] At the beginning of the film, the Spartan King Leonidas attempts to convince his fellow Spartans to mount a great army to resist the approaching Persians. First, however, he must consult the ephors, the ancient priests of Sparta, and their oracle. The oracle, and subsequently the ephor, forbid such a military campaign, on account of the fact that they are in the sacred festival of the Carneia, when war is not allowed in Sparta.
[6] Leonidas, realizing that following the decision of the ephors would mean laying Sparta and all of Greece open to destruction and slavery, circumvents the prohibition of the ephors and the council, simply claiming to “take a walk” with a contingent of his personal guards, the 300 after whom the book was named. They join ranks with Greeks from other regions and bravely do battle with the Persians at “the Hot Gates’ (Greek: Thermopylae), a narrow pass which the Greeks meant would rob the Persians of the advantage of their numbers. The Greeks, and especially the Spartans are initially victorious and Xerxes tries to bribe Leonidas into submitting by offering him to become warlord of all Greece, under Xerxes’ command. Leonidas declines and the battle rages on.
[7] The luck of the Greeks turns when they are betrayed by a fellow Spartan, the grossly disfigured Ephialtes. Because of his disfiguration his parents had been forced to flee Sparta in order to save him. He now seeks out Leonidas and offers his services as a warrior as a way of redeeming his father’s name. Leonidas refuses this on account of the fact that Ephialtes’ left arm, because of his disfigurement, is too weak to raise his shield high enough. Should he be admitted into the Spartan battle formation he would be unable to protect his fellow soldier and would thus become a weak link in the Spartan armour. Furious at having been rejected, Ephialtes instead offers his services to Xerxes. He shows the Persian king a way of defeating the Greeks by leading them to a goat-path which allows them to attack the Greek forces from behind. When the Greeks realize that they have been outwitted by the Persians, thanks to the Spartan traitor, most of them flee. The Spartans, however, decide to stay and fight to the end, following the Spartan code of war: “no retreat, no surrender.”
[8] Leonidas and his 300 warriors die on the battle field, but it is still a kind of victory. The story of their brave fight inspires the rest of the Greek nations to assemble a great army that can repel the Persian forces and save Greece.
[9] Both the graphic novel and the film give a brief characterization of Spartan society as a background and prelude to the battle. The description focuses on the cultivation of “manly” virtues: physical and mental strength, loyalty, courage. The boys are from an early age taught to endure pain, to fight for survival, to show no mercy and to surrender to no one. Showing no mercy also applies to their own: babies are inspected upon birth and those who are found wanting are mercilessly disposed of. All of this focuses on the Spartan boys and men. The Spartan women who appear do so mainly in the capacity of mothers of sons, in order to express their agony when the boys at the age of seven are sent to the gruelling agoge(school).5 In 300 “spartan” means “spartan man.” Women are referred to as “spartan women.” That the main function of Spartan women is to produce future warriors is made clear by a short dialogue in the beginning of the film. This episode has been added in the film as compared to the book, and it illustrates how the character of Queen Gorgo has been developed in the film. A Persian emissary seeks an audience with King Leonidas. Gorgo reproaches him for the way he addresses the King. The emissary then replies: “What makes this woman think she can speak among men?” Gorgo replies: “Because only Spartan women give birth to real men.”6
[10] The image of women is also used in the dialogue as a contrast to the manliness of the Spartan warriors. One of them mockingly says to his comrade after the battle: “You fought well today … for a woman.” Still, the Spartan women are portrayed as more “manly” than other women. When Xerxes threatens Leonidas with the fate that awaits the Spartan women should they fall into the hands of the Persians, Leonidas replies: “Clearly you don’t know our women. I might as well have marched them up here, judging by what I have seen.” The position of Queen Gorgo is also hinted at in the beginning of the film, when Leonidas receives the Persian emissary who threatens him with destruction, unless he submits to Xerxes. Not until Leonidas receives a nod of consent from Gorgo does he kill the emissary, thereby making the Persian attack inevitable.
[11] Part of the manly ideals portrayed in the film is illustrated by a certain humorous cynicism and impassiveness in the face of death. This is found already in the classical sources and echoed in 300 through a brief dialogue between a Persian messenger and one of the Spartan warriors:
Persian: “One hundred nations descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun.”
Spartan: “Then we”ll fight in the shade.”7
[12] Likewise, as Leonidas goes to meet the Persian king he says, by way of explanation to one of his captains: “Besides, there’s no reason we can’t be civil, is there?” |
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