• GalacticSushi@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    17 hours ago

    Author: Satirizes toxic masculinity via cartoonishly terrible male characters

    A concerningly significant portion of men: basedbasedbasedbasedbased

    • janewaydidnothingwrong@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Heinlein was suuuuper in favor of a colonial/martial culture. The whole reason he wrote Starship Troopers was because he was disappointed that the US suspended nuclear weapons testing which he saw as further evidence of the decline of martial culture. The book clearly advocates for the promotion of civic duty as a moral imperative as well as for things like corporal punishment. He WANTED the “toxic masculinity” culture, that was his own culture as he perceived it.

      The movie is basically the complete opposite, satirically portraying colonial/martial values against the backdrop of an imperial state. It’s one of the biggest disparities in intent vs interpretation I have ever seen.

      The movie rocks, by the way. Still watch it once a year

      • Enkrod@feddit.org
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        10 hours ago

        Rico is an officer in the war-machinery of one of the more fascist systems imagined in film. After the events of Operation Royalty he sends what basically amounts to child-soldiers to their deaths. He believes only military service should grant citizenship and shows unquestioning loyalty to the Federation.

        But I’m sure he only followed orders, that’s a perfectly good excuse.

          • Talcosis@lemmy.zip
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            9 hours ago

            Well, in the movies alone he’s pretty much the same thing: officer of a fascist war machine. And while he is presented as a dumb jock at the beginning, by the end of the movie (movies, too) he’s pretty much shown absolutely no character growth, besides being much more pumped about the fascist war machine.

            Every time I think about Rico, I remember when he talks about citizenship. First in school, then at the funeral. Same definition, word for word. Just more conviction the second time around.

      • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Rico was a terrible person, but through experience and hardship learned the weight of being an adult comes with a high price.