When is a "co-ed shower scene" not just a "co-ed shower scene"?
"Starship Troopers" is way more than just casual nudity, fascist formalwear, and giant
alien bugs.
This sci-fi satire was lightyears ahead of its time.
"Starship Troopers" goes to work right away, shaping its viewers' brains into the ideal
mindset for a soldier.
The opening scenes feature commercials from a 23rd-century regime known as the United
Citizen Federation.
The clips vary from information on the savagery of the arachnid enemy to positive outcomes
for enlisting in the military.
The not-so-subtle brainwashing leaves you confused about your feelings towards Starship
Troopers, and that's helped this cult classic shine brighter over the years.
The military propaganda videos are truly a unique form of satire, one that becomes more
transparent with each viewing.
Director Paul Verhoeven claimed to have only read a couple chapters of the source material
— Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel — before retiring it to the dust bin.
In an interview with Empire, he explained:
"It's a very right-wing book.
And with the movie we tried, and I think at least partially succeeded, in commenting on
that at the same time…All the way through we were fighting with the fascism, the ultra-militarism."
Rather than glorify the book's fascist elements, Verhoeven pulled us into the muck with an
awareness of something being terribly wrong with this totalitarian society and its military
obsession.
Its satirical attributes are constructed so well that it's easy to miss the film's intentions
as it presents a developed form of fascism on a cosmic scale.
These details even sailed right over the heads of many critics who accused Verhoeven of being
a neo-Nazi himself.
They completely misunderstood his achievement in taking fascist rhetoric and dressing it
up in satire as a warning.
The opening segment of "Starship Troopers" teases us with news footage of the battlefield.
Our primary protagonist, Johnny Rico, is delivered a major blow from his adversaries before the
intro sequence fades out to a more peaceful time, before all the mayhem on the bugs' planet,
Klendathu.
When we do return to the same scene later on, we get a different view of this same battle
through the eyes of the soldiers, complete with shots of the cameraman who captured the
carnage in the propaganda video we saw earlier.
While troops are unloading magazines at their enemy, the man holding the studio camera remains
in the thick of it, documenting the bloodshed with a steady hand.
There are numerous ways to die for the cause, and the news cameraman goes out in a barrage
of cinematic glory.
In the "Starship Troopers" universe, Earth in the 23rd century looks to be a lavish time
to be alive, complete with sleek technology and bright, shiny lights.
The central plot follows Rico closely while he reaches his decision to enlist in the military,
along with his girlfriend, Carmen, and his best friend, Carl.
From this narrative viewpoint, the people of Earth look like they live a cozy life.
In reality, we're seeing the lifestyle of someone in a much higher tax bracket.
The tax plans in this world aren't explained to us, but noticing the little details makes
it clear that Rico's parents are left with plenty of scratch.
Rico's home is a spacious house with towering, crystal clear windows, perched atop a mountainside.
The future looks wonderful from the viewpoint of the wealthy.
Also, lending credence to Rico's financial upbringing is his father's counter-argument
for enlisting.
Rather than doing his part for society, Rico's dad would rather him go on vacation with the
family before beginning his first semester at Harvard, neither of which are available
to those from meager means.
"Starship Troopers" does such a fantastic job of world-building that you won't even
recognize it's happening.
In the same way that new recruits are brainwashed into operating the cogs of war, we're subjected
to the same devices to help us realize the sordid reality of this future.
The propaganda commercials aren't presented as though the characters are watching them
at the moment, but as if the filmmakers are recruiting us to learn more about the world
they created.
And laced throughout the informative commercials are details about the vastness of this universe.
When we aren't getting battle advice, we are presented with inter-planetary diagrams and
Earth politics.
The commercials have a slightly humorous characteristic to them, but don't let that distract you from
seeing the bigger picture.
The small details in each quick segment expands on the world of "Starship Troopers".
It's through these moments that we learn about the location of the bug planet, foreshadowing
about smart bugs, Earth's war council decisions, and more.
It's here we get to see the fascist bureaucracy in action, and we see a world where the media
is controlled by the state.
We know creating a mental block when seeing commercials is instinctual for most denizens
of the 21st century, but we recommend paying attention to these ones.
As it stands today, we're approaching an Earth population of 8 billion souls.
The exponential growth will likely lead to gigantic numbers by the time we hit the 23rd
century.
On a planet led by a reactionary military government like in "Starship Troopers", you'd
think officials would enact a type of control for population growth.
Turns out there is one succinct chunk of dialogue that informs us of the bureaucratic path towards
parenthood in this future.
It's buried in a scene that every single viewer remembers ... and not for its informative
dialogue.
The communal shower scene in "Starship Troopers" has so much casual nudity that it distracts
from all the expository dialogue that serves to expand the world.
One of the soldiers begins asking his squad mates their reason for enlisting in the military.
Among the answers are career ambitions, college funding, and civic duty.
However, there's one especially interesting answer from a female soldier, and it involves
a desire to have children.
That tells us that not only do you have to register for a license in order to have kids,
but it's also not a sure thing and requires proving yourself to society.
It's something to think about while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Rico is delivered a tough blow when he loses a soldier while leading his squad through
a training exercise.
We could argue about how the man's helmet wouldn't have done much to protect him from
a bullet to the face, but that's of little consequence.
It's what happens after Rico signs his letter of resignation that's interesting.
After the incident, his parents call him and he informs them he's coming home.
The call ends with daylight slowly being snuffed out over his mom and dad before the signal
goes dead.
The reasoning behind the signal loss is explained so quickly that you might miss it — it comes
so fast because, evidently, news stations have a magical ability to assemble a compelling
news package instantaneously.
As soon as Rico grabs his bag to leave after his phone call, troops begin rushing to the
command center to take in the news of a bug meteor that's decimated Rico's hometown of
Buenos Aires.
The time between the phone call with his parents and the news being reported is less than a
minute.
Not only that, but in this span of time, the war council has gathered and decided Earth
is officially going to war with the arachnids of Klendathu.
In a population obsessed with military might, political bureaucracy moves much quicker when
war is involved.
The reaction to the meteor strike on Buenos Aires happens so fast that you have to wonder
if the government knew it was coming and saw it as a desirable outcome.
There's no better way to whip your population into a frenzy and march them into battle.
In the United Citizen Federation, becoming a citizen is paramount.
Citizenship comes with a highly sought-after level of respect in this society.
It opens pathways financially in the same way that it does in current times, but the
future residents of Earth view it as the only respectable way to become a contributing member
of society.
The most definitive statement in regards to attaining value in this world comes from the
funeral for Dizzy, when Rico is giving his eulogy.
The heartfelt speech is filled with emotion, and it's also a declaration on what's required
to garner respect.
It isn't enough to be a good friend.
Being a soldier is admirable, but it's more about the path it creates — a path towards
the ultimate goal of upgrading from simply being a civilian to being a citizen in the
Federation.
Individuality is of little importance, and your life is only given value when offered
up as a sacrificial lamb for the cause.
Anyone with basic understanding of human anatomy will probably have trouble accepting the Brain
Bug's ability to absorb our knowledge by sucking our gray matter out.
But it's a little easier to accept this detail when you remember the presence of psychics
in "Starship Troopers".
This ability isn't featured heavily, and it's only talked about in scenes with Neil Patrick
Harris' character, Carl.
In an earlier scene, it looks like he's trying to test Rico's psychic abilities with a playing
card prediction game, but it's actually about Carl flexing his own mental aptitude.
During the psychic test, Carl is trying to send a telepathic message to Rico, giving
him the answer as to what card is being displayed.
You can tell as much by Carl's mannerisms during the test.
The failed use of this skill plays a part in showing us character growth in the latter
half of "Starship Troopers".
After he rescues Carmen, Rico posits that it was Carl who mentally projected her location
to him.
Carl slyly rejects the claim, but his smirk reveals the truth about that statement.
If the uniforms and symbols featured on the United Citizen Federation's attire look suspiciously
Third Reich, it's because they are.
The filmmakers recognized the original "Starship Troopers" novel as having an intriguing sci-fi
story, but they also acknowledged the book contained a hearty dose of totalitarian rhetoric.
Paul Verhoeven aimed to have that characteristic shine through sarcastically in the form of
satire.
The Nazi symbolism was meant to help you realize that these characters may be heroes, but they're
heroes in a fascist society.
By the end of the film, the propaganda commercials have done a sufficient job of putting us into
the mindset of people living on Earth in the 23rd century.
In order to pull back on the reins, Verhoeven tried to make the nods to Nazi Germany obvious.
He stated in an interview with The Guardian:
"These soldiers were like something out of Nazi propaganda.
I even put one in an SS uniform.
But no one noticed.
I thought Neil Patrick Harris arriving on the set in an SS uniform might clear it up."
The small detail didn't stop some critics from warping the director's vision, instead
viewing "Starship Troopers" as a twisted nod to the Third Reich.
Verhoeven's motives may have been misunderstood when the movie was released, but we see the
underlying intentions now.
And we're still unsure about whether or not we should laugh.
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