by The year is 1959 and the world is divided into two equally-sized portions. One is good and one is bad, personal opinion probably predestined by an individual’s residence. Robert A. Heinlein is one of the biggest science fiction writers in the world, his story Starship Troopers is published to critical acclaim and aimed at an audience that would be shortened these days as YA, for Young Adult. In 1960, the novel is even awarded the Hugo Award, one of the highest honors to writers in science fiction. Starship Troopers is as good as it is ambiguous. While there were few concerns regarding its plot, message or target audience back in the days, things have changed starting in the 1980’s. To assume this happened coincidentally and not thanks to a general shift in attitude toward the military, technology and the threats of communism worldwide certain proves too simple.
Claiming a uniformly valid explanation to Heinlein’s intentions wouldn’t do his writing justice, for it always epitomized the author’s strong belief in freedom, libertarianism and democracy – and at the same time his conviction that neither came for free. But then to dismiss allegations of advocated militarism and right-wing propaganda would be fundamentally wrong as well. Back in the day, Starship Troopers was considered a comment on the communist threat that admonished YA readers to stand up for what they believed in, to even fight for democracy and the right to vote, never to fully rely on the miracles of technological advance and first and foremost to grow into responsible adults that would never hesitate to do the right thing. When Paul Verhoeven read the novel though, he saw things a bit differently.
To the acclaimed director of classics such as RoboCop or Total Recall, Heinlein’s late 50’s novel was unreadable and fascist. And who could’ve blamed him? The world of Starship Troopers is solely united on the grounds that mankind’s existence is threatened by a species of brainless space bugs ruled by so-called brain bugs, much like a bee hive, in short a social system that isn’t social at all and doesn’t tolerate individualism. If you believe in symbolism and draw the right conclusions, the space bugs are actually all communists in the world. Suddenly, the books premise is utterly changed. Suddenly, it’s a fascist pamphlet. Whether or not Verhoeven was right, he made the right decision and left it to the audience to judge – by turning Starship Troopers into a satirical film.
Johnny Rico is the typical athlete in high school, a good arena football quarterback and swell-looking, with a big heart but only half the wits required, if at all. With no future plans other than marrying his high school sweetheart Carmen Ibanez, Rico enlists upon graduation to impress her, a girl that is not only beautiful but also brilliant and qualified to pursue her career goal of becoming a pilot in the military. Add to the new recruits Rico’s friend Carl, a master medium quickly climbing up in ranks, and Isabelle “Dizzy” Flores, a girl on Rico’s football team and secretly in love with him. Rico is the only one who doesn’t know what he is getting himself into, and this is allegorically explained by his role as quarterback: supposedly in charge of the game, he is merely carrying out orders. It doesn’t come as surprise he’s assigned to the Mobile Infantry, a haven for those that lack the proper grades to do anything more responsible and still deploy military techniques as dated as if they were up against Napoleon’s Grande Armée.
So you could argue Rico is getting into the military for the wrong reasons, despite his parents wanting better for him so desperately, and despite his teacher Lt. Jean Rasczak’s effort to educate his students and eventually dissuade them from enlisting, even though it would gain them the right to vote. In the beginning, the three new recruits vow to always remain friends but Verhoeven clarifies symbolically what Rico refuses to admit to himself when he says goodbye to Carmen and they’re separated by the glass panel of a shuttle before it speeds away from him at amazing speed. It is not the only scene in the film that is charged up with symbolism, yet one of the most powerful. It is no wonder Rico is annoyed when Dizzy shows up at his battalion’s training facility, and even less so that he shows potential as a future soldier and leader. But during a combat simulation with live ammunition, Rico tries to help one of his soldiers struggling with his helmet by taking it off to fix it, resulting in the poor devil’s death. Rico’s explanation is simple: he wanted to win. Essentially, this is still the same high school student trying to win football games by roughing the opposition and impressing a girl that cannot be impressed, even less so had or controlled. There’s a lot Carmen Ibanez embodies, one symbol certainly the strive for unattainable perfection, but also a loss of innocence.
In the book, Rico by accident kills one of his comrades while fighting in a combat suit, an exoskeleton that increases strength by a multitude and enables infantry soldiers to carry atomic bombs, one of them responsible for the death. The outcome is the same. Rico is punished by whipping, a brutal and barbarian penalty yet unheard of in arena football played with a silvery ball, but changes his mind to stay in the military when he learns the bugs attacked his home town of Buenos Aires, killing his parents. With this link to his past lost, the boy has no choice but to mature and excel in the process. And the process of making men and women is, in short, devastating.
This is for all you new people: I only have one rule. Everyone fights. No one quits. You don’t do your job, I’ll shoot you myself. Do you get me?
Johnny Rico
The bug soldiers are a resilient, spidery breed with huge jaws, fighting in swarms and refusing to die. Particularly so when fought with nothing more than machine guns. The death toll is tremendous, and Rico nearly dies but is repaired by technology that rebuilds his leg. That changes something about his attitude, for when Dizzy visits him while he is swimming in a sophisticated tank to recuperate, she shows his death certificate and leaves with a kiss. Indeed, Rico is reborn and scraps his plans with Carmen, embracing his new self as a member of the Mobile Infantry when he fights with Carmen’s new love interest, a guy he’d played in football before and who is also a pilot. And of course, this comes at a price. For the upcoming invasion of the bug’s home planet of Klendathu, Rico and Dizzy are assigned to the Roughnecks, one of the best outfits that is led by their former teacher, Rasczak. Rasczak intervenes only once again in forming Rico by telling him to take what he can get, referring to Dizzy Flores. Apart from a brief romance, the two never happen to enjoy their love that seems as pragmatic as Rico becoming a soldier. It is the effort that matters, not the result.
The Roughnecks answer a distress call that turns out to be a trap, and while Rico becomes an ace performer, even promoted to the rank of lieutenant by a dying Rasczak, he can’t prevent the death of Dizzy. If it weren’t for the ideology and lifestyle he learned to embrace and master, Rico’s struggles would’ve been wasted, leaving him unable to cope with the ordeal. But he did become that man, if arguably not person, and the Roughnecks manage to capture a brain bug that is analyzed by Carl and his team while saving Carmen’s life in the process. Knowing their enemy now, they feel sure to soon be victorious, and Rico, Carmen and Carl are presented as ideal soldiers to attract new recruits. New recruits to protect a world that makes us wonder if there is anything in it worth fighting or dying for.
Verhoeven’s satire has a clear message. Militarism is bad. At the same time, the question arises what steps could be taken, should the world ever be attacked by swarming space bugs that never negotiate. In the end, Starship Troopers is as ambiguous as the novel, arguably only with a different lesson. If it were another splatter alien film, it wouldn’t have attracted a cult fan base and spawned several sequels in various genres, most of them lacking the sophistication that Verhoeven managed to add to the pallet without spoiling the fun for those that want to be entertained, not lessoned.
