300: A Fangirl's Rant

Zack Snyder Overthought Us Fangirls

By Laura Martin
April 1, 2007

According to several interviews with Zack Snyder, Queen Gorgo's role was expanded to appeal to the female market. Two test screenings rated so well with women 25 and under that Warner Bros. rethought their marketing to reach out to more female viewers. At EW.com, Steve Daly surmises that it was Queen Gorgo, her romance with King Leonidas, and her new storyline of political corruption that attracted such high ratings from women. What Mr. Daly fails to recognize is that it's a lot simpler than that.

I'm willing to bet that the high ratings from female viewers was due in large part to three hundred mostly naked, chiseled heroes. Mr. Daly, let's give red-blooded, straight women the benefit of the doubt here. Sure, female viewers respond to complexity, romance, and psychological conflicts in their characters. But that's not what Frank Miller intended with 300; he wanted a "boys' movie" that focused solely on King Leonidas and his warriors.

And that would have appealed to me just fine ... perhaps even better than the final product.

Before I go on, I should explain where I'm coming from: I was an instant fan of the graphic novel when it first came out, and I'll argue that it's one of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's most cohesive, poignant, brutal, and beautiful projects they've ever done. I really respected the way Sin City was visualized onscreen, so I had a lot of faith that Miller would insist on bringing 300 to life with the same faithfulness to the source material ... and in that respect, I was most richly, gloriously rewarded.

But did I need an expanded female role and an entire subplot of political corruption in order to enjoy the film? No.

Gorgo was admirably portrayed in the film as a strong, regal, beautiful queen, worthy of the title of Spartan woman. Certain elements of her expanded story were completely acceptable: her partnership with Leonidas, the respect bestowed upon her as a Spartan mother and queen. But the political corruption subplot? The subplot that had nothing to do with the original graphic novel? Completely unnecessary and disappointing.

I wasn't the only person who picked up on the unsubtle "freedom isn't free" reference; it's almost too easy to assign Leonidas' role to a certain present-day leader, who entered into war without the sanctioning of a governing body (like, say, the United Nations). It was so heavy-handed that it pulled me right out of the movie.

What disappointed me the most was that at the beginning of the movie, Queen Gorgo explains to a confused messenger that Spartan women are given voices and respect within the Spartan community. By the middle of the movie, Gorgo has been reduced to a powerless female, a second-class citizen, railing against a patriarchy and being forced to earn her way into the council hearings by the oldest trick in the book. She's the Queen, for Xerxes' sake! She should have had easy access to the council. She clearly avenges her rape in the end, but that doesn't change the fact that she was forced into that position in the first place by the patriarchy — a patriarchy which she herself described earlier as being an advanced society in its views on women.

So, I was disappointed in the Spartans who stayed home and proved to be not very Spartanish at all. I was disappointed in Gorgo for stooping to their level. I was disappointed that Theron could so easily sow the seeds of dissent and discontent among a council ostensibly made up of Spartans, whose glorification of death in battle is the driving force of their entire culture.

Save the political corruption and misogyny for some other ancient culture famous for it; it's not like there's a dearth of cultures that match this description. Leave Sparta's notoriety where it belongs: on the battlefield, among insurmountable odds.

There had to have been a better way to expand the Queen's role, without sacrificing her leadership role or her body, or Sparta's warrior philosophy. What could have been done differently? Perhaps flashbacks to the birth of her son? Gorgo preparing herself for the very real possibility of becoming a queen without a king? Maybe visiting the oracle herself to see how the battle was going?

That would have been perfect. Frank Miller handed Snyder the perfect 'in' for adding a political corruption story: the bribe-taking, rotten Ephors, the watchers of the Oracle! That single scene of religion, sex, and power plays could have easily blossomed into a fine expanded subplot. After all, the Council's interpretation of the law is based on the Oracles, so why wouldn't Gorgo go to the source of that law to seek support for Leonidas' army? She could have exposed the Ephors' corruption at the end, which would have been just as gratifying a payoff as her retribution on Theron.

Getting back to the question at hand — did Zack Snyder do me any favors by expanding Queen Gorgo's role? No. It would have been less annoying if it were presented in a way that was more true to the source material, with a nod to historical accuracy, but it was by no means a deal-killer if the Queen's role was as fleeting as it was in the graphic novel. 300 had everything I wanted without the additional scenes: glory, valor, strength, brotherhood, incredible fight scenes, ethereal settings and powerful music ...

... and let's not forget three hundred mostly naked, chiseled heroes and their mostly naked, chiseled King.

Steve Daly's review on EW.com
300 on IMDB.com