Tuesday, July 27, 2004

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thoughts: King Arthur, among other things...


Went down with the guys to watch King Arthur... it's nothing like that 'Sword in the Stone' stuff we've all learnt to know and well, 'love' in a sense.  this is a more true to life version, where there are real issues faced by people.

The knights are a special division of the Roman army, made up of Sarmatians (who are apparently from Russia, or around there). They're 'bonded' to the Roman army for 15 years, as part of some deal between the Romans and their ancestors (think long term NS. but not even for your own country. that REALLY sucks). And they are sent on their very last mission before they can claim their freedom (like being sent for one last excercise before ORD).

Arthur, or Arthurius, is one such Sarmatian descendant, who's very roman (in a sense, to the point of being the only Christian among his knights). He believes in the teachings of some Roman philosopher (that all men are to be equal and free - hence the concept of Arthur's 'Round Table'), who's teachings were later denounced by the Empire. So in effect, Arthur's Rome no longer exists, only in his dreams.

So what did i learn from this movie? that well, not everything is what it seems. The Sarmatian knights don't believe in Christianity, and some of the 'Christians' they see don't show the same qualities as their famed leader in terms of compassion and other such things. These Romans, who profess to be Christians, mistreat the local Britons, to the point of condemning to death (through execution) those that would not convert, believing that by that they are 'doing God's work'. in real life, i've seen such behaviour from 'Christians' and have also been guilty in some respects. In fact, i got the impression that the Sarmatians were more upright morally than the Romans.

Arthur tried to live the dream - the dream he was taught by the roman scholar. but times change, and sometimes, so does the dream. the knights were forced to fight by the romans for a cause that was not their own, the only thing that sustained them was that after 15 years, they would no longer be 'bonded' to Rome. but after the romans abandoned Britain to leave them at the hands of the invading Saxons, Arthur and his knights found a new cause to fight for - freedom. like Guinevere said to Arthur at one point - 'it is the natural state of any man to want to live free... in their own country'.

i've come to believe you can learn something from anything. just a matter if whether you look out for it. sure, sometimes you just wanna watch a movie and not have to think deep, but King Arthur really is in some sense a thought provoking movie.

till next time...

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chr1s0ng put the word on the street at 3:09 PM
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