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November 29, 2004
Satan is coming! In a theater and closet near you!
I see that the Alexander the Great film is stirring more nonsensical controversies like this: .... conservative Christians have loudly denounced Alexander as "pro-gay" propaganda from Tinseltown, insisting that Alexander was a firmly hetero hero. To add to the film's problems, the public has stayed away from what was to be the big movie of the Thanksgiving weekend.As I have argued before, both "sides" (assuming they are that) are missing the point. Alexander's homosexuality cannot be measured, judged, or even fairly portrayed in modern terms. He was not "gay" in the Hollywood sense as the ancients did not see sexuality that way. They didn't offset homosexuality from heterosexuality as sexual identities, much less human identities (or "isms"), and the modern concept of gayness -- so hopelessly mired in reactions to guilt and shame -- is at least as inapplicable to ancients like Alexander as are contemporary conservative religious views. To claim Alexander was heterosexual is as ridiculous as claiming he was homosexual. Even claiming he's bisexual presupposes two sexualities. It just doesn't work. Alexander had male lovers and many wives, and I doubt he saw much of a contradiction there. But enter modern politics, and they'll slam a closet door on a man who never imagined such a thing, then open the closet and "out" him, then argue over and denounce a "sexuality" he wouldn't have comprehended, and then place him in the "Satanic" camp when he never knew Satan. The whole thing is laughable. Except no one seems to be laughing.
But then, I'm not Oliver Stone. . . UPDATE: Once again, Belmont Club's Wretchard has an excellent post about what Oliver Stone is not saying about Alexander's dark side, especially the cruelty and slaughter so common in ancient times: While attempting to organize a resistance against Alexander, Darius was betrayed by one his subordinates, Bessus, and slain. Bessus had calculated on winning the gratitude of Alexander; but the demi-god understood above all how treason, now that he was king, had to be rewarded. Bessus was cruelly mutilated at Alexander's command and executed.I am reminded of a previous post about cruelty and pain -- and I suspect the ancients' attitudes toward pain and cruelty are as analogous to modern ideas as ancient "homosexuality" is to the "gay movement." Try as we might, we can't feel either. More: Pain and ancient morality: Gaius Mucius, a Roman youth, vowed to assassinate the Etruscan King Porsenna but mistakenly killed the king's treasurer, who was distributing wages to the soldiers. Brought before Porsenna, Gaius announced that he was but one of many youths sworn to slay him.Ouch? posted by Eric on 11.29.04 at 09:10 AM
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» Alexander. from blake taylor
Nope, haven't seen it and don't plan to do so, but... I agree with Eric of Classical Values in his assessment of the buzz and especially appreciate the brief and general overview of classical Greek sexuality. Stone is right to say that "sexualit... [Read More] Tracked on November 29, 2004 06:22 PM
Comments
Surely you aren't suggesting that Oliver Stone would blame his own failure on bigotry! Perish the thought! Eric Scheie · November 29, 2004 10:15 AM I think the obvious point here is that this movie does not represent American Values. The real question is, when The Rapture comes, do you want to be floating up to heaven with everyone else, or do you want to be Left Behind? Reviewers might try to skirt the issues, but this is the single most important question of our times. bink · November 29, 2004 10:37 AM Been there, done that. ;) Eric Scheie · November 29, 2004 10:56 AM :) I guess the thing that concerns me here is that now, ever since the media latched on to the "values voters" theme from the election exit polls, everything that happens in our society is being held up for a sniff test -- where the criteria is, "Does this measure up to American Values?" The American Values that they are talking about are the values of a group of Southern, white, lower middle class Evangelicals who are, largely, extremely obese and have a tendency to erupt in passionate displays of obedience whenever anyone stands in the Town Square and raises a fist. I agree that these folks are just ... fascinating ... but they do not represent the mainstream of American values. These folks are not "average Americans." They are absurdist fantasms out of a Flannery O'Connor or William Faulkner story. American values are: Moderation. Entrepreneurship. Thrift. Piousness. Compassion. Etc. These things pave the path to the long tradition of prosperity, security and liberty that we all enjoy. Gluttony. Shrieking about Jesus. Floating into the air in The Rapture. Free-basing OxyContin. These things are just about as foreign to the average American and to real American values as anything I can imagine. How all of this got mixed up in the media is anyone's guess. bink · November 29, 2004 11:55 AM Bink, you've shown your true colors: glaring shades of ignorance and superiority. Dennis · November 29, 2004 01:01 PM I love the doctrine of the Rapture. I love the doctrine of the Ascention of the Christ. I love the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin, the Queen of Heaven. I love these holy myths, this striving upward toward the Divine. Steven Malcolm Anderson (Cato theElder) the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · November 29, 2004 03:08 PM Steven Malcolm Anderson (Cato theElder) the Lesbian-worshipping man's-man-admiring myth-based egoist · November 29, 2004 10:17 PM |
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Pfft. Everything I've heard about Alexander has been bad. As near as I can tell, the whole gay thing is a convenient excuse for why this bloated Thanksgiving turkey failed to fly.
What did the Phillie news paper say about it? Oh, yeah, "Colin Farrell appears overmatched in this unintentionally hilarious biopic."
Why would I want to waste my money on a movie like that?