cnn
03/12/2007
300 Makes Millions
There's probably only one movie being discussed in offices today. A grotesque spectacle of warfare, 300 earned $70 million for Warner Brothers this weekend. What was it, exactly, that drove audiences to the theater: long-standing admiration for Scottish actor Gerard Butler, or a desire to see some beautifully-filmed violence? Probably the latter.
It's hard to say if anything political can be read into the American desire for beautifully-filmed violence. But in these interviews with cast members and director Zack Snyder, the universal values of the story are emphasized over any potential modern-day allegory. After all, just because a lot of Americans wanted to watch Spartans slaughter Persians doesn't mean that a lot of Americans also support an increased deployment in Iraq. At least, that's what we hope.
