#LiberatedFromFB #Verhoeven #StarshipTroopers #fascism #militarism #imperialism

So brilliant and so a'propos text by "The Mom & Pop Video Store"

Starship Troopers: The most fun you’ll ever have cheering for fascism.

The first time I watched Starship Troopers (1997), I thought I was watching a very fun, very loud bug-exploding movie. And to be fair - I was.

It had everything: dramatic speeches, shouty instructors, those endlessly quotable lines you find yourself repeating years later. But what really stuck with me were the characters: all of them brave, ridiculous, and painfully sincere. They believed in each other. Died for their ideals. They were strong-jawed, clear-eyed, good-hearted: the kind of heroes who charge into danger without a second thought. Not because they’re reckless, but because they trust the mission. And each other.

Even Carmen, smug as she was, believed in what she was doing. And Carl, clever, funny Carl, just wanted to do the right thing for the Federation.

I loved it.

Still do.

Obviously, I noticed it was jingoistic. Authoritarian, certainly. The news segments were clearly propaganda, and the whole thing had the feel of a military fantasy turned up too loud. But that didn’t feel unusual. Not in the 90s. We’d all seen Top Gun, Red Dawn, Rambo III. This felt like their sci-fi cousin.

It was just so much fun.

Then I watched it again, a few years later. And somewhere about a third of the way in, my jaw hit the floor. And I had to laugh - not because it was silly, but because it was brilliant.
How did it take me that long to realise what I missed?

It wasn’t a clever twist or a buried clue. It was the enormous, full-screen, absolutely unmissable fact that the United Citizen Federation wasn’t just authoritarian — it was full-out, axis-of-evil, Reichstag-level fascism. There are no nods. They’re not playing with the aesthetic. They’re right there. Fully costumed, goose-stepping through the galaxy in Hugo Boss cosplay and I somehow didn’t see it.

Because Verhoeven never asks you to look for subtext. He hands you a surface so bombastic, so enthusiastically evil, that you think - well, it can’t mean that. Look how much fun it is.

That’s the sleight of hand. It’s not subtle. It’s blatant. So blatant you think, surely not. You don’t look closer because you’re too busy following the clean-jawed heroes charging into danger, saying noble things and dying for their friends. And you like them. You trust them. That’s what gets you.

Verhoeven doesn’t ask you to examine your complicity. He demonstrates it.
He builds a world where fascism doesn’t creep in, it arrives centre stage, smiling and covered in commendations. And you don’t flinch. Because he’s made you complicit before you even realised there was a line to cross.

You focus on the characters. Their aspirations. Their tragedies. Their moments of bravery. He draws you in on the micro level: a magic eye picture of a film, and by the time you step back and realise what you’re actually looking at, it’s already too late. You’ve rooted for them. You’ve cheered.

And when Carl reappears at the end, cloaked in full SS regalia, gaunt and shadowed and jubilant that the enemy is afraid of him — you’re weirdly still on his side. Because he’s clever, earnest Carl. It's not comfortable but it's ok because he's not a villain. He's just doing what he has to.

That’s what makes it genius.

It’s not a satire that tells you how fascism works. It shows you how easy it is to cheer for it when it’s well-lit, well-edited, and wears a hero’s face.

And then it grins at you and says:
Would you like to know more?

• Mom