Cards of History@GodPlaysCards
My father took us to see Starship Troopers when I was 10. Back then, Dutch cinemas left it to parents to decide whether their kids were ready, my father decided we were.
Verhoeven intended it as satire. I didn't get that memo and it changed the course of my life.
Here's how.
For the uninitiated: the film is based on Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel. It's set in a future where humanity is locked in a savage interstellar war against a race of giant alien bugs, and where the only path to citizenship is military service.
I've only finished reading it recently and it is one of the first time in my life that I say, the movie is actually better than the book.
It could be because I saw the movie first, and the child's mind is highly influential, especially at age 10 when you slowly become a teenager.
The heroes were beautiful and brave, (Denise Richards was my first crush). The villains were literal monsters. The society rewarded sacrifice and punished weakness. Everyone knew their role, everyone pulled their weight, and citizenship was something you earned.
You served, you sacrificed, you belonged. It was that simple. As the meme goes, it activated an ancient blood memory.
It looked like exactly the kind of world history had always promised but never delivered. A meritocracy with teeth and honor made into law.
Years later, in high school, someone made a presentation on its dangerous ideologies and why Verhoeven decided to make a satire linking it to the tyrannical regimes of the 20th century.
She got a A+ for the talk. I understood the rational behind it, but instinctively it didn't make sense for me.
Luckily I can give voice to that instinct now. The movie significantly changed my trajectory in life. I wanted to become part of something bigger, get the girl, be all I can be.
Did I fall for its propaganda? Yes, hook line and sinker, and in hindsight, that was a great thing to happened to me.
Sure we can break down why some (but not all) of the political ideologies the books are flawed (yawn), but that is not the point. The point is that the underlying archetypes and societal models can be tremendously inspiring.
Because at 10 years old, I didn't need a political science lecture. I needed a picture of what a man could be. Someone who showed up to the call of duty, who didn't quit, who earned his place instead of inheriting it.
The noble visions of sacrifice and comradery were literally awe inspiring.
So yes, the propaganda worked on me, but what it produced wasn't blind obedience. It produced ambition. A hunger to be worth something. Johnny Rico was the perfect role model. The movie was a perfect key in to the lock of a 10 year old mind.
Not every child gets handed that image. I got mine from a fellow Dutchman (Verhoeven) making fun of fascism.
I can still feel that evening. The cold air outside the cinema, the three of us spilling onto the pavement, me, my younger brother, my older one, heads still full of bugs and battle and beautiful soldiers dying for each other.
Something had shifted. I didn't have the words for it then. I just knew I wanted more of whatever that was.
My father gave us that. I don't think he knew what he was handing us.
