David Hobby wrote:
Dan wrote:
> > Personally, I think the movie is superior to the book. The book takes > > itself seriously.
David H. replied:
> I agree. The movie is actually pretty good, you just have > to watch it the right way. View it as a propaganda film produced > by a state so warlike that only soldiers can vote...
Adam responded:
The book is a really fascinating thought-experiment. Heinlein's "big 3" books each look at different political systems: Stranger in a Strange Land can be viewed as an exploration (and possibly satire) of communism and/or socialism (along with a dollop of libertarian personal mores), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is Heinlein's Libertarian Manifesto, and Starship Troopers looks at the idea of a democracy where the only people that can vote are those that shown that their country means enough to them to give a few years of their lives to it. I'm not sure I would like to live in a Veterans Democracy, but then again, could it be any worse than what we have now?I view it as a P.O.S. that you couldn't pay me to see again.Paul Verhoeven (sp?) is the Lizzie Borden of satire. I've seen 7th-grade film projects that were better, and that's if I count the shower scene with Denise Richards' boobies. The book, though - it's an interesting thought-experiment. Did Heinlein actually believe in the philosophies espoused by Johnny Rico? Maybe, some of them, but I'm almost always willing to separate the author from the book. I enjoyed it the day in 5th grade I pulled it off the shelf, and I've enjoyed it ever since. First piece of SF I ever read, so I've got a sentimental attachment.
Starship Troopers is really a book about taking responsibility for your actions, both individually and corporately. That's the core of the Veterans Democracy idea. That's the reason the book takes a detour into the story of the soldier that eventually "danced Danny Deevers;" the military was taking responsibility for "one of it's own," as the book puts it. And Rico's story is one of starting with no concept of responsibility, and then learning all about it and eventually becoming a very responsible person. That's why the ending of the book is ultimately satisfying. The war with the Bugs is not resolved because that's not what the story is really about. It's about the transformation of one person from an irresponsible boy to a responsible adult.
The movie had nothing whatsoever to do with responsibility. The movie was about a guy who started with no personal responsibility and ended with none.
And the movie failed not only in that regard, but also in terms of the boot camp sequences. According to a couple of my friends who have served in the U.S. military along the DMZ in South Korea and in Desert Storm, Starship Troopers (the book) has the most realistic portrayal of boot camp that they've ever seen.
The CGI animated series, for all it's problems, was 10 times the movie that the movie was.
(And from a marketing standpoint, the studio could have made a mint on marketing if they'd have only used the powersuits from the book!)
Oh, and someone mentioned Delaney finding homo-eroticism in Starship Troopers. As much as I like some of Delaney's work (_Nova_ springs immediately to mind), he would probably find homo-eroticism in a VCR user's guide...
Reggie Bautista
Curmudgeonly Today Maru
_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
