I still don't intend to see the film, after all we've written about the graphic novel :) 

François
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http://gaycomicslist.free.fr

We saw the movie on Saturday at an IMAX theatre.  It sucked.  Really sucked.  The only reason to see it is the photography/effects, but those two hours of your life are worth more than that thrill.  If you are going simply see the hot men, there is far better porn available, and with it, you get the money shots.

That said, I have to give two thumbs up to the IMAX experience.  It was really a WOW.

Brian, I'm just speechless. All of our employees must be completely pure of heart!

It was as if I was a duck going to a pond, but instead of a pond, it was a sand box.

To quote someone over on Metafilter, "it was the most homophobic gay porn flick I've ever seen." 'Nuff said.

But there are a wide number of reasons to dislike 300; the blatant homophobia is just one of many. There's also the paper-thin plot, the one-dimensional characters, the total overdose on violence, and the fact that certain lines sounded like they'd come directly out of Tony Snow's mouth. But the really annoying thing is how the producers refuse to take responsibility for any of the subtext. "We didn't mean for it to be homophobic, therefore it isn't." "We didn't mean for it to be pro-Bush, therefore it isn't." You can't hide behind "it's just entertainment" because nothing's just entertainment. Everything conveys a message, whether you mean for it to or not.

If I had gone into the movie not knowing what people were saying I wouldn't have thought it was homophobic. There's one line where he says something like "The Athenians didn't give up their lives to them and if a bunch of poets and boy-lovers like them won't, neither will we." He's basically saying, those pussies didn't so we're not. But it was anti-gay. I guess I missed the rest.

 

It's certainly pro-military and pro-conflict.

 

The hottness ruled! The story was weak. The blood and fighting were FANTASTIC! Loved the flying body parts. There's one death in the movie that I was very disappointed in. No, not that he died but how they did it, it was so lame! It should have been glorious but it was so BLAH!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/21

I've been avoiding this film mainly because I'm not a big fan of gratuitous violence.  Sounds like I made the right call.

Given the degree of coverage and advertising within the gay media, I am a little surprised to hear about the homophobic subtext...

I really think we 'mos are being just a little sensitive here. The film is a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, and the reason Xerxes looks like he does is because he was drawn that way by Frank Miller. And I know at least 4 drag-queens who could, were they so inclined, lead an army of thousands on an inter-continental campaign of conquest.

To be somewhat serious, I think that since Xerxes is the bad guy, and the fact that he is "flamboyant," we are overlooking the fact that he is the God-King of the Persian Empire.

Just a thought.

 

is as much about the graphic novel as it is the movie. BTW, plenty of movies alter the original source material though when it comes to gay issues, it's usually to remove the gay content than to add it. And I don't think we are being too sensitive (surprise that, eh? LOL). I find it seriously offensive to take the real Xerxes and turn him into an eight foot drag queen to scare straight boys. If this had been done to a black, Hispanic, or Asian character those folks would have been rightly pissed.

I in no way intended to devalue anyone else's opinion, merely to put mine forth. Maybe the fact that I am coming from an illustrator's point of view and that I understand Mr. Miller's need to differentiate the Persians from the Spartans as much as possible in order to provide graphic contrast makes me more sympathetic.

I just wanted to make it clear we were talking both about the movie and the novel. Interesting to hear your thoughts as an illustrator.