It'll probably come as no shock to anyone that I don't quite agree.
300 is about the master race going to war lead by their brave president, excuse me, king.
America is probably among the least applicable countries in the world for this sort of claim. We're the Melting Pot, not a Master Race, and -- not to be too dramatic -- but we lost millions of citizens fighting a man who felt otherwise on the matter. You can say a lot of things about America, perhaps, but I don't think this is one of them.
They fight not for wealth or power but for freedom and the American, excuse me, the Spartan way of life.
This part's somewhat fair. They took the Spartans and made them a lot bigger on individual freedoms than I believe they were, presumably to make them more palpable good guys for western audiences. I don't think this means the film has any kind of agenda, however.
The brave 300 and their king Leonidas ignore the corrupt Congress, excuse me, priesthood and goes to war anyway.
Er, wouldn't it make more sense that Congress represents...Congress? I see no reason to swap in the priesthood other than that it helps butress the idea of
300 as conservative propaganda. And besides, even if the film took the opposite tack, you'd be left with religion dictating political policy. Isn't that a criticism often levelled against conservatives, too? It seems to me you could call either position "conservative" if you wanted to.
It's probably the most explicitly conservative film I've ever seen, ideologically speaking, but it was great fun!!
I'm really not sure how it's conservative, unless you start with the assumption that all conservatives support all war, regardless of circumstance.
All it really does is depict a necessary war, with an emphasis on the courage of those fighting it, and the glory they earn as a result. If depicting a war as necessary makes the film conservative, then we'll have to throw every WWII film onto the pile, too. Ditto for any war film which does not make "war is hell" its only message.
I realize that people always have a tendency to view everything through the prism of current events; especially today. And I'm certainly one of them, at times. But, in my opinion,
300 doesn't say anything explicit about anything other than the event it depicts. I think it can only be called a "conservative" film in that it doesn't take an
entirely "liberal" stance on the nature of war.
Oh, and to keep this on topic a bit: I liked both films quite a bit, but definitely preferred
The Departed.
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My views just like your views are of course subjective so we can debate this back and forth.... Bottomline: I'm right. You're wrong. 