Comment on hate your job? how about you die and still have to do it
cogman@lemmy.world 3 days agoit is more obvious in the book compared to the film.
The film was loosely based on the book and was explicitly written as a critique on fascism and the book. Verhoeven and Neumeier have said as much.
But also, I don’t think you know what fascism is. There’s always people in a fascist state that have a good quality of life. The question is what happens to people that don’t fit in the state mold? What happens to enemies of the state? Who gets classified as an enemy of the state? Who holds power or can hold power in the state? The fact that to be a citizen you’d have to start by joining the state party is de-facto a fascist state.
In the film, the enemies were the Arachnids. War started because of the colonization of arachnid territories and extermination was the next order of business. Even though Arachnids are depicted as being thinking and intelligent beings. That was the point of the final scene “It’s afraid!”. Rather than try to understand or communicate with the alien/foreigner/etc, the government prioritized extermination and learning to make it fear them.
yeather@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
“A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.”
I do not believe we know enough about the government or economy to call Starship Troopers fascism.
Centralization of authority under a dictator. In the books, we know very little about the Sky Marshal, in truth it isn’t revealed if they lead the civilian government at all, or if they’re just the equivalent of the highest ranking general. In the movies we do know the lead the civilian government and take a commander in chief role, but not enough about their powers to call them a dictator. Also, the incredibly high turnover rate I believe demonstrates it is not a dictatorship.
Capitalist economy under strict government controls. Again i think we do not know enough about the civilian economy to say. Though noncitizens participating and being wealthy might imply less control.
Violent suppression of the opposition. In the case of the Arachnids this is true, but internal opposition is never addressed. It appears that citizens and non citizens have some ability to oppose the ruling party. Voting rights are talked about in a way where people are optimistic they can make an impact for the better, implying some form of opposition. Also, we have no clue what the Arachnids were doing before the book or film. Contested space, where both parties are expanding, means conflict will arise. The Arachnids are also a credible threat, not a scapegoat.
Policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. True for the most part against Arachnids. I think the fascism argument cracks when you think further and realize the Arachnids cannot communicate at all to humans, we have 0 indicators at their intentions. The fact humanity is united and there seems to be no racism amongst humans towards each other is also not a hallmark of fascism.