Now we all know that freedom is a virtue, a highly cherished Western ideal, a paramount value of Democratic Society. But Piracy?! As if we have a RIGHT to do absolutely any horrid thing we want to anybody else, and if anyone tries to stop us we’ll complain about the infringement upon our God-given freedom? Rubbish. In Pirates I, the first scene shows the Black Pearl coming into a quiet, peaceful harbor and killing men, women and children. Is that the kind of freedom that must be preserved at all costs?

In short, I found myself questioning who the heroes were. Elizabeth makes a grand speech about “Choosing Sides” – but what does her side represent? She’s involved in a loose coalition of pirates, all of whom, including her dearest friends and companions, are lying to each other to further their own selfish goals. They are all super cool, of course – Will Turner has never looked as handsome as he does after he’s had his heart cut out. But are they role-models? Are they fighting for principles which we can identify with? Freedom at all costs?

I am, myself, ethically ambiguous. If there were a breakdown in law and order, I might myself take to Piracy – but eventually, if we ever want to be able to live in peace, to sleep soundly, and to have some kind of social stability; then it seems law-breakers and non-conformists, especially the looting/pillaging/murdering kind, need to captured and punished.

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In fact, President Bush couldn’t have written the script better himself. A foreign army comes into Greek land and demands obedience. The Greek senate doesn’t support the war, but the king rounds up his soldiers and goes anyway. They win round after round, proving their claim that “free men” fight better than slaves. Finally however, they are surrounded and killed.

Meanwhile, back home, the King’s wife is trying to convince the senate to send more troops. She gives a moving speech about how more troops are needed, not necessarily for victory, but to show support for and comfort those who are already fighting. This movie came out very close to when the United States senate was actually voting on whether or not to send more troops – despite the movie 300, they voted “no”.

Interestingly, while President Bush earlier played up the Christian Faith card – describing the war as a war on evil, a Godly war, in 300 the Greeks are not the religious ones. Instead, they are described as reasonable and logical. Religion is what belongs to the other guys, and it is called “tyranny and mysticism”, probably a jab at the Islamic leaders that are causing so much trouble. Of course, it is easy to see that the Greeks are the “good” guys in this movie: they’re white. They speak English. It’s those other guys, who look Indian, or Arab, or Asian…those foreigners, that we have to watch out for. But wait – didn’t Greeks invent world domination? Weren’t they the first to successfully unite a large portion of the world, build roads, establish legal customs, foreign trade and schools? Isn’t that what we love about them, and the Romans who came after them? Yet, they often saw their own kings and leaders as Gods. How is this different from the foreign invader in the movie? Sure, he was a weirdo, but he would’ve left Greece alone. All he wanted was a tiny act of homage, some land and water. Is “freedom” really worth dying for? Is it worth fighting a war for?

We Americans like to think it is. We are free to go see any movie we choose, and come out desperately believing whatever it was they wanted us to. Conspiracy? You bet! Americans are so brainwashed to trust their freedom that they never question their opinions or values – which are spoon fed to them.

The war on Iraq is a complicated situation, and I don’t pretend to have answers. But as for justification – maybe, MAYBE, being attacked on American soil gives us some right to go after whoever is responsible. But what the hell are we doing in Iraq, anyway? Maybe the 300 Greeks in the movie, the heroes, are the people of Iraq, fighting to defend their land from a powerful army of foreign invaders

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