That is to say, I noticed that my DVD collection lacked its very own copy of “Starship Troopers.” So I rectified that last week by ordering a copy from Amazon… and it arrived today. This is my Tuesday night, kids. It’s actually a pretty smart flick: satirical, sarcastic and chock-full of war and violence (but with a good dose of commentary there, too).

It’s based (and I didn’t know this until about 4 minutes ago) on a Robert A. Heinlein story called “Starship Soldier” that was published in 1959. The book was accused of supporting militarism. According to the Wikipedia entry, “Heinlein examines moral and philosophical aspects of suffrage, civic virtue, the necessities of war and capital punishment, and the nature of juvenile delinquency.” I haven’t read the book, so I’ll buy that. That’s reflected in the film, kinda.
The movie, directed by Paul Verhoeven, takes these ideas and sort of gallops off with them. Being a Dutchman, he joins most of Europe in mocking America’s sexual prudery on the one hand and the glut of depictions of violence on the other (there’s lots of violence that’s almost comical in its presentation, but also some totally unnecessary T&A - funny).

Essentially, we’re somewhere in the future. Earth is at war with a race of giant “bugs” on another planet. The movie opens with a military propaganda/recruitment film that goes from a segment of kids saying they’re doing their part (stomping on bugs in the street) to graphic scenes of soldiers literally getting ripped apart by the enemy bugs. Our protagonists, are high school kids who are taking their standardized tests and excited when they score well because it means they can go to the college of their choice - or enlist in the armed forces. Already, their test scores dictate whether they’ll be expendable infantry or higher level pilots or military intelligence.

One classroom scene really gives you a sense of the tone of the film. The history teacher, Jean Rasczak, is also a military commander who lost an arm (I’ll be sure in a minute) while serving his country. I’ve copied and pasted a portion of the script:

RASCZAK: Here in History and Moral Philosophy we’ve explored the decline of Democracy when social scientists brought the world to the brink of chaos, and how the veterans took control and imposed a stability that has lasted for generations since… You know these facts but have I taught you anything of value ? You. Why are only citizens allowed to vote ? Rasczak points at LANNY, 17, with his stump

LANNY:It’s a reward… what the Federation gives you for doing Federal Service.

Rasczak is crestfallen, makes a big show of patience.

RASCZAK: No. Something given has no value! Haven’t I taught you dimwits anything?I guess they ought to revoke my
teaching credential…

Laughter

RASCZAK: When you vote, you’re exercising political authority. You’re using force. And force, my friends, is violence, the supreme authority from which all other authority derives.

CARL JENKINS, 18, a superintelligent geek, jumps in.

CARL: Gee, we always thought you were the supreme authority, Mr. Rasczak.

Laughter. Rasczak grins.

RASCZAK: In my classroom, you bet. Whether it’s exerted by ten or ten billion, political authority is violence by degree. The people we call citizens have earned the right to wield it.

DIZZY FLORES, 18, athletic, pretty, no nonsense, chimes in.

DIZZY: My mother always says that violence never solves anything.

RASCZAK: Really ? I wonder what the city fathers of Hiroshima would have to say about that. You.

Rasczak points at Carmen.

CARMEN: They probably wouldn’t say anything. Hiroshima was destroyed.

RASCZAK: Correct. Naked force has settled more issues in history than any other factor. The contrary opinion ‘violence never solves anything’ is wishful thinking at its worst.

You get the idea. I can’t help but laugh at how some of the views presented as satire in this film are actually upheld by many (intelligent) people in this day and age. But I’m a liberal, so that’s not surprising. The movie is clever about the satire, though. It includes a generous amount of allusion to the Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl, and the WWII newsreels of old. I wonder how many young folks seeing it were even aware. In the DVD commentary, Paul Verhoeven says the message of the film is, “War makes fascists of us all”, and that he sees the movie as a satire of American militarism.

That was in 1997. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Oh, and Neil Patrick Harris is in the film and he is, essentially, a bug psychic. And tell me his uniform doesn’t scream Third Reich.