Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Reel Review features engaging conversations about film and television with interesting folks and USC experts from across disciplines (public policy, governance, theatre, and cinema) to look at visual storytelling, media literacy, diversity, and the public good.

Hosted by Erroll Southers, Reel Review reminds us that film and TV are powerful and passionate mediums that not only entertain, but reflect and comment on our society. Culture, policy, and politics affect our everyday lives, ideas about how we live, and how we live together. It also influences what we watch, as well as what we take away from those programs.

We want to be smarter about the images and stories we see, and how we can be better together.

  1. All Episodes
  2. Starship Troopers (1997 - dir. Paul Verhoeven)

Starship Troopers (1997 - dir. Paul Verhoeven)

Aug 21, 2020

The 2020 Presidential Election brings us to an important tipping point in the American experiment.

In July 2020, the New Yorker ran a piece called "How “Starship Troopers” Aligns with Our Moment of American Defeat," by David Roth. We thought that it would be a great excuse to revisit the 1997 film directed by Paul Verhoeven and the question of fascism in our time.

"The anti-Fascism of 'Starship Troopers' is mordant and merciless, but Verhoeven advances his argument by making its every frame lavishly, overbearingly Fascist." What can the fascism of "Starship Troopers" tell us about autocracy and community? Do we fight for democracy or give over to the Federation?

Host Jonathan Schwartz is joined by Alex Ago, Aubrey Hicks, and William G. Resh to think about the film and the question of fascism in our time.