I watched Starship Trooper again the other day, after it was brought up at a dinner party I was at, but this time I had the DVD version and managed to listen to the director's commentary and wanted to comment on the audiences' reaction to Dizzy and Carmen.According to director Paul Verhoeven, audiences around the world hated Carmen, from the USA, to Europe, to Thailand. From some of the test screening, comment card came back with feedback such as "Kill the slut", meaning Carmen and that the wrong girl died. There was so much negative reaction to Carmen, that Verhoeven even cut some scenes of Carmen and Zander together, and the final kiss between Carmen and Johnny.
Verhoeven and writer Edward Neumeier, postulates that if the Carmen character was a man, and he decided to follow a career as a pilot, then the reaction would not have been so strong. They think it just reveals the latent sexist attitudes that exist on the role of women, as the audience has no problem with Dizzy as she follows Johnny all the way to the mobile infantry.
They say reaction to the parallel between Dizzy and Johnny, and between Johnny and Carmen shows the differing views we have on the women, relationships and careers.
But they have it wrong. Imagine, if Dizzy follows Johnny to the mobile infantry, and they Johnny dumped her and hooked up with another girl (via a video letter). How would we feel then? I guess we would feel sympathy for Dizzy and that Johnny was a bit of a bastard, surely.
And this is the reason behind the strong reaction against Carmen. Not because she wants a career, but because she just casts Johnny aside so easily. I also felt there was no warmth from her toward Johnny. She smiles a lot, but I don't know what she's smiling at. A bit suspicious if you ask me.
And perhaps we do like Dizzy more, because she believes in love more than in career. Because love is ultimately a higher power and something we all subscribe to. So we hate Carmen, not because she pursues career, but because she doesn't pursue love.
4 comments:
i had a long argument with a friend about this film who refused to accept it is satirical. To this day he stoutly believes it's just a guns ablazing war film with giant bugs. Still, it entertained him :)
Finding love is a lot more hard work than finding a career. Some say it is because it does not exist.
Even professional film critics have missed the satirical edge, so your friend isn't alone in that thought. (Or maybe we have it all wrong and it really is a paean to fascism.)
Finding love is the hardest thing anyone has ever done and will ever do forever and forever into eternity and beyond. And a bit harder that that too.
True - I noticed that from some reviews.
Love is like dust - apparently there is a lot in the air but you never see it.
I'd never really stopped to think about the impact of the gender roles shown in this film. It's a parody war film in which quazi-nazi beautiful people (and a long-faced goon with a violin) shoot the shit out of giant killer bugs. It's fun. And I always fanicied the one with the curly hair anyway. And wasn't Casper Van Dian's (was that his name)character a bit of a twat anyway? I'm going to watch something more highbrow now, like Deuce Bigalow
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