Spartacus: An American Tale
Over the last four years, the Starz original program Spartacus has managed to shock and awe audiences with its trademark stunning visuals and unabashed use of violence and nudity, but this Friday it will all come to an end as Starz airs the series finale. And even though the program’s precarious past nearly ended its run before it started, Spartacus remains one of those truly Americanized versions of history.
After dominating the arena as a gladiator, escaping from servitude and slaughtering any Roman in his path, Spartacus will reach his final destination this week when he takes on the the mighty Crassus. This climatic collision will surely be gut-wrenchingly gory (hopefully literally) and probably preluded by a raunchy sex scene (fingers crossed), but the underlying theme is one that is especially American… freedom.
Spartacus and the rebel forces that follow him are all freed slaves who are fighting the empire that once held them in servitude. If you can ignore the frequent dismemberments and more than occasional full frontal shot, there are also scenes of pure drama that elicit the American ideal that is freedom. They envision a world where they can live in peacefully without prejudice, but of course first they must defeat the single most powerful entity in the entire world, the Roman Empire.
And did I mention the show is explicitly violent and full of nudity? Let’s face it, if there is one thing Americans like more than freedom it has to be a tie between a good beheading and great set of… wits. Even if the story line doesn’t pique your interest and the pronounless dialogue distracts you, at least there is some good soft-core smut to get you interested.
In fact, since the death of star Andy Whitfield after the first season, the producers of Spartacus have upped the ante. Not so gradually, the gore has gotten gorier and the nakedness has gotten… well, nakeder.
So whether you watch it for the story (history class on steroids), the jaw-dropping visual accomplishments (things have come a long way since Kirk Douglas) or the nearly constant threat of nudity (seriously, everyone is one pull on their toga away from baring all) tune in this Friday. And for those of you who lie and say you don’t like these things, you are threatening the American way of life.
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