I saw Spartacus last night on the Disney Channel. I’m not sure why I found it so ironic. But I happened to see it about a half hour after I saw Disclosure on Cinemax.
Spartacus was probably done about 35 years ago. I remember seeing it for the first time when it came out.Disclosure came out last year or the year before.
Spartacus starred Kirk Douglas. Disclosure starred Michael Douglas, Kirk’s son!
The similarities stop there.
I hadn’t seen Spartacus in probably over 20 years. Tony Curtis and Jean Simmons were “hot” at the time and Kirk Douglas was an established and visible star.
I was too young to really make the connections, but I did recognize that Spartacus was not a “run of the mill” film.
Disclosure was right there too. It wasn’t Spartacus by any means, nor was it intended to be—it was far too pragmatic for that. But it was definitely a 90’s film. I guess it could be said that Spartacus was to the 60’s whatDisclosure is to the 90’s.
I hate sounding old fashioned (it reminds me of my parents), but I preferred Spartacus to Disclosure. Yes, of course, Disclosure had modern themes which are second nature to us all. I don’t even need to think them through; I get it, from the inception.
But Spartacus rang true. It was noble in its authenticity. It was grand in its agenda. It was one individual against the might and power of Rome.
Think about it! Rome. You can’t even equate Washington, DC. with Rome, because DC does not control the known world. Rome did.
Imagine that your personal agenda pitted you against the might, grandeur and power of the only civilization in the world whose authority was unchallenged. That was Rome. It is not Washington, DC and it is not corporate America.
Is there any question in your mind that Spartacus was a hero? Put Tony Curtis and Jean Simmons aside and the legions of thousands that made the movies of these times so compelling. Leave all that to the side and simply talk about Spartacus, the character. Was he not clearly a hero?
The slaves’ right to be free! Freedom at any cost! Freedom over death!
The might, the power, the arrogance of Rome. All of that can go to Hades.
Freedom over death—that’s the issue! And at any cost.
Now that’s a hero.
But what is our modern day prototype for that kind of hero? Michael Douglas in Disclosure? Really? A sexual harassment lawsuit in some technobabble workpace? Is that the best we can do for principle over power? And Michael Douglas fought it to the end, winning the clever battle over Demi Moore because “good” always wins out. Please!
Is that what heroism is about today? A successful mediation? Computer-based sabotage and a last minute reverse-nelson?
It’s as if, as I watched Disclosure, I downed a Wendy’s double-cheeseburger and washed it down with a ’85 Napa Valley Cabernet. But when it came to Spartacus, I had to slow down, inhale deeply, and pair its strains of quaint nostalgia with genuine empathy for the human condition.
Who are we? And what have we become?
Who truly is our hero of the day? Is Spartacus some laughable icon of millennia past supplanted by some post-modern corporate functionary driving corporate mergers and acquisitions?
And more importantly, what does that say about who we choose to emulate as our own role models for day-to-day conduct we can associate with heroism? Does the question of freedom at any cost, dignity at any price, respect and self-esteem matter less than winning wars of the day—the corporate tussle or the executive match point?
Each age produces its own heroes. I realize that. But it seems to me that the hero’s work would be futile indeed if the only wars our heroes could win were as shallow as some corporate shark’s front fin.
Freedom, yes! Dignity, of course. Respect. Self-esteem. All of that…and much more. Now those are themes. Those are principles. Those are worth the effort. Absolute and sublime. They echo in our hearts as we strive. And they are far too big to be ever so small that each minor action that affirms embraces them all.
Original writing date: December 1996