Troopers Endure

One of the biggest oddities in the history of cinema must surely be 1997's Starship Troopers, the red-blooded, sci-fi action extravaganza that's actually a gossamer subtle, viciously smart satire. It was a misunderstood movie on its initial release, much like Showgirls, also from director Paul Verhoeven, but audiences caught up to Starship Troopers much faster than they did to Showgirls.

I remember when it came out, the trailers offered no hint to what it actually was. I think a lot of people approached it like RoboCop, another Paul Verhoeven movie which also featured dystopian satire but its main character was much cooler and more sympathetic. The main characters in Starship Troopers are sympathetic but in a different way. They're built for 1950s teenagers, dewy eyed kids with enthusiasm for good clean living and moral righteousness, unlike any kids in 1990s America, in other words. But if you go with it, you do get caught up in Casper Van Dien's need for personal validation and fulfillment which he finds through the military and for the romantic drama between him and Denise Richards. The propaganda film that it is successfully portrays this military as a place where the young and attractive people forge their careers and identities. One of the dystopian concepts is that military service is required in order to become a citizen. The story shows that military service is required for emotional maturation and self-actualisation, too. It's not just the legal path to becoming a full fledged human being, it's the spiritual and psychological path, too. It's full service propaganda.

There's also a subtle, very sinister aspect to the character played by Neil Patrick Harris who goes through special therapy and training to gain the ability to read the thoughts of the aliens. There's one line where he's asked if this will ever be adapted for use on humans and he gives a coy response about how that's a classified topic. Think about that in the context of that dialogue being propaganda. To the good denizen of the Federation watching, it's like, "We probably can't read your thoughts. But maybe we can. Better stay clean 24/7, inside and out, just in case."

It is a right wing dystopia and, for all the strait jacket bureaucracy of a left wing dystopia, the right wing variety is truly chilling. Behind the message that "might makes right" is the ultimate freedom is the bottomless right wing capacity for disgust that needs an inferior being to define itself against. It'll always find bugs to squash.

Starship Troopers is available on Netflix.

Sonnet 1996

The vanished road was hid behind the shack.
Another drop to sleep invests the bed.
But phantoms dance around behind her back.
The stranger's headlights fade, his batt'rey's dead.
The shops were all the same but folks had changed.
The oranges freshly squeezed were kept engaged.
Beyond essential need, the war is raged.
The tyrant's meaty hand has glued the page.
No baking soda lifts the oil stain.
The desert sun has bleached the beach of charm.
The power tie is weak just like his brain.
She tries to surf on milk around the farm.
They sent her back to shovel hay and shit.
She's not the only one who's sick of it.