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Watched this last night. Trying to get a grip on it. I mostly really liked it. Initially, it seemed like a reversal of, maybe even an apology for 300. But it's not really that. It's the same exact conflict, just presented with a bit more levelheadedness. The undead of Las Vegas (alphas as Spartan analogues and shamblers as the wimpier Greeks) live in defiance, not just of a powerful empire but of all previously-held laws of nature. They are the future. YET, at the same time, as they toil under a traditional king and queen, make rudimentary tools and ride horses, they resemble the past far more than the encroaching, technologically- and politically-advanced empire does. Because they're starting fresh. It's more Planet of the Apes than Game of Thrones IMO. The undead don't appear to be expansionist, but they do seem to represent fascism as much as the Spartans did. Only here, rather than sexy buff white people, it's nasty walking corpses who do little else but shriek and leak goop outta their faces. Which is, at least, a more accurate depiction of fascists. But the film, as did I as the viewer, still sympathized with them. Meanwhile, the heroes of AotD, the heisters, are a perfect representation of woke capitalism. A diverse group of people living equally stagnant lives who just want to get paid and laid. They try to make their individual identities coexist, self-correcting and attempting to weed out the truly despicable among them, only to realize that their team, a wonderful success from an IDPOL perspective, was just fodder all along. The top-down authoritarian power structure is present in both the undead and the living, it's just obfuscated in the latter and starkly, classically heroic in the former. The king of the dead uses his privilege to fearlessly lead the fight. Hiroyuki Sanada and the generals we see him with, the "kings" of the living, are a bunch of lousy, cowardly maniacal pricks. I don't feel comfortable classifying Snyder as fascist or not fascist. But this movie is definitely a depiction of how Snyder compartmentalizes his fascist inclinations and makes them coexist with genuine concern for the rights of marginalized people. The whole conflict struck me thus: a bold, unabashedly amoral authoritarianism which is equally beautiful and grotesque, long-dead but unkillable; versus this self-destructive, schizoid authoritarianism, that is revolted by itself and has to present a different face to each part of its mechanism in order to survive. Both are doomed. I haven't seen his superman batman movie, or justice league, and I don't think I will, but I'll bet it's got that kinda thing going too.
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Jun 23, 2021 17:51
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Also, did anyone else get BIG Phantom of the Paradise vibes from Zeus's helmet?
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Jun 23, 2021 17:56
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:This is where it’s important to be careful about what words mean, because in what sense is the Zeus character authoritarian? There don’t appear to be any laws that his people must submit to. How can the characters be fascist without industrial capitalism? Is Zeus anticommunist? What are we even talking about here? I don't think the Alphas are literally fascist, I meant they represent fascist ideals a lot like the Spartans did in 300. They are the improved form of man sought by fascists, paragons of Western ideals. They live without industrial capitalism, but like fascists, are the product of industrial capitalism. And funnily enough, Zeus is unquestionably an anticommunist. Look at the wealth distribution. There's no shortage of metal wreckage in the ruins of Las Vegas, yet Zeus is the only one who gets a rebar spear and a helmet. That helmet, a form of "healthcare" that every zombie could benefit from, is on the head of one dude only. He's active and brave and honorable but a one percenter through and through.
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Jun 23, 2021 19:27
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:What? How so? They’re weird-skinned homeless kept in a fuckin’ quarantine zone by Literally Donald Trump. Well yeah they're literal zombies. Things which should be dead, not being dead. Zeus is an ancient ideal made flesh in modern times. Of course he and his subjects are going to appear grotesque by our standards.
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Jun 23, 2021 20:50
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:So are we talking “ancient ideals”, “western ideals”, or “fascist ideals”? Like I said, I don't think Zeus is a literal fascist. And yes I'm definitely making associative leaps, but they're leaps within Zack Snyder's body of work. Like if I'd never seen 300, I wouldn't have brought up fascism at all. But, hell, maybe 300 isn't fascist either. The ideals I've been referring to, as embodied by Zeus and the alphas, are the Apollonian, particularly the concept of resistance against death and decay via order, form, and discipline, especially in relation to human characters, who represent a more chaotic, Dionysian force. The mistake I've made is equating Apollonianism with fascism. They're linked, but definitely not the same thing. bushisms.txt posted:Please watch owls of gahoole I never expected anyone to say this to me, but sure, why not!
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Jun 24, 2021 05:52
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 18:56 |
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DOPE FIEND KILLA G posted:hey SuperMechagodzilla big fan here mind if i hang in your bathroom and watch you poo poo Hey jackoff, take a number and get in line like the rest of us.
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Aug 23, 2021 20:06
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