Verhoeven had grown up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, and was disturbed by some of the fascist tendencies he had started to see in places like Texas in 1990s America. You might think the idea of fascism in America is ridiculous, but the fact that, in 1997, critics missed the satire and thought Starship Troopers was celebrating militarism, may have vindicated Verhoeven’s worries.
When criticism comes in the form of satire, those being criticized often can’t detect the sarcasm. Nazis would have thought that Starship Troopers was a movie about the beautiful future of the Third Reich. Perhaps Americans were unable to realize that we were being mocked, precisely because Starship Troopers’ pro-militarism hit a little too close to home.
Verhoeven had grown up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, and was disturbed by some of the fascist tendencies he had started to see in places like Texas in 1990s America. You might think the idea of fascism in America is ridiculous, but the fact that, in 1997, critics missed the satire and thought Starship Troopers was celebrating militarism, may have vindicated Verhoeven’s worries.
When criticism comes in the form of satire, those being criticized often can’t detect the sarcasm. Nazis would have thought that Starship Troopers was a movie about the beautiful future of the Third Reich. Perhaps Americans were unable to realize that we were being mocked, precisely because Starship Troopers’ pro-militarism hit a little too close to home.