Graphic Novels and Their Effects

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 2007)

It's absurd how many people are forgetting that 300 is based on a graphic novel, a comic book. One of the major parts of a comic book is to glorify the hero and discredit the villains. All Frank Miller did was write a comic book that told a story in a legendary way. Yes he built the Spartans up to be some kind of super human army, and yes he portrayed the Persian as vile scum trying to take over the world, but that is exactly the kind of story telling audiences of graphic novels are looking for. If anyone knew anything about the film and the novel, they would know its not supposed to be accurate. Its supposed to be a legend, and legends aren't always the truth. It was also written from the Spartan point of view. From that view point, the Persians were the enemy and they wouldn't have been seen as great people. They would have been seen as terrible even though it was not the truth. Its like when you're a kid and you don't like someone else on the play ground because they beat you at a game. They could be an amazing kid, but you will only see them as bad because you are opposing each other.
As for the criticism over the colors and lighting of the movie, they were trying to keep the graph novel feel of Frank Miller. The dramatic slow motion and speeding up had a very graphic novel feel. It was an amazing depiction of the graphic novel in movie form.