3 ms·

I learned about all this from Starship Troopers, with my friends and I noticing the satire immediately while watching it at the theatre. It was basically Colbe

I learned about all this from Starship Troopers, with my friends and I noticing the satire immediately while watching it at the theatre. It was basically Colbert Report before Colbert Report, literally making fun of its source material. The thing is, very few people got it, including professional reviewers. A reviewer from the Washington Post even mentioned how nothing made sense and seemed way more fascist than intended, noticing the similarities between Doogie Howser's uniform and a Nazi SS uniform. It really was privilege to know satire, and we have to tread carefully when using satire to make a case, because very few people will actually get it.

ghaff 8y ago
And it's also a good example of how the lines delineating satire can be fuzzy. (Hence </s> tags and the like.) After all, as you suggest, you don't have to approach Starship Troopers as satire. I think it's a better movie viewed through that lens. But you can absolutely watch it as a straight (and not very good) adaptation of Heinlein's novel.
- Udik 8y ago
  > ... not very good adaptation of Heinlein's novel Why? It's an excellent apology of fascism disguised into a cheap sci-fi blockbuster with a teenager comedy's aesthetics. It really makes you wonder on whom the joke really is.
bostik 8y ago
You picked a good example, and IIRC Starship Troopers is not the only Verhoeven film that veers heavily into satire. (The book is an ode to fascism.) But for me there is one satirical film above everything else: Full Metal Jacket.
BeetleB 8y ago
I'm surprised you're being downvoted. I too had the same experience. It was obviously satire - it was way too ridiculous a movie not to be. Yet about half the people I know hated it because they did not see any satire and took it to be a serious movie. (None had read the novel). Evil Dead: Now that's a movie that most people don't realize is satire.
- ghaff 8y ago
  It can be hard to be sure though. For example, IMO The Circle is unreadable unless you approach it as a satirical, deliberately over the top cautionary fable but I don't think that was its intent. (Haven't seen the movie given its reviews.)

ghaff 8y ago

And it's also a good example of how the lines delineating satire can be fuzzy. (Hence </s> tags and the like.) After all, as you suggest, you don't have to approach Starship Troopers as satire. I think it's a better movie viewed through that lens. But you can absolutely watch it as a straight (and not very good) adaptation of Heinlein's novel.

Udik 8y ago
> ... not very good adaptation of Heinlein's novel Why? It's an excellent apology of fascism disguised into a cheap sci-fi blockbuster with a teenager comedy's aesthetics. It really makes you wonder on whom the joke really is.

bostik 8y ago

You picked a good example, and IIRC Starship Troopers is not the only Verhoeven film that veers heavily into satire. (The book is an ode to fascism.) But for me there is one satirical film above everything else: Full Metal Jacket.

BeetleB 8y ago

I'm surprised you're being downvoted. I too had the same experience. It was obviously satire - it was way too ridiculous a movie not to be. Yet about half the people I know hated it because they did not see any satire and took it to be a serious movie. (None had read the novel). Evil Dead: Now that's a movie that most people don't realize is satire.

ghaff 8y ago
It can be hard to be sure though. For example, IMO The Circle is unreadable unless you approach it as a satirical, deliberately over the top cautionary fable but I don't think that was its intent. (Haven't seen the movie given its reviews.)