Gladiators

Long gone are the rippling, oiled bodies of Gladiator and Spartacus. Forum beckons in an age ripe with the smell of thick sweaty thighs and an indifference to conventional toga movie men. The arena in Forum is filled with gladiators training for their fifteen minutes of fame. The camera moves to a pair,  a more experienced gladiator showing a novice the tricks of the trade. A line of slaves moves as if on a conveyer belt, each to be stuck down by the novice. Sounds a bit morbid, but alas, the instructor’s bland indifference to the slaves as he discusses the novice’s technique is so absurd, one can’t help but laugh. The scene is made humorously ironic when the pretty, mute prostitute, that Pseudolus is running around with, throws a spear (a la Spartacus) with absolute precision, and pins a man shoe soul to the ground, rendering him immobile. This play on the famous arena scene in Spartacus further humanizes the gladiators in Forum, since a pretty girl—dressed like a lemony I Dream of Genie—is the best gladiator.

Gladiators are synonymous with toga movies. A fight to the death, in nothing but little skirts and (generally) inaccurate armor is what the collective American conscious has come to expect of toga movies. This is of course why Forum is still funny and relevant today. Although made in 1966, toga movie after Forum have not deviated from the common gladiatorial conventions described above. Intensity, sensual dress and handsome chiseled men are still the standard today as they were in the sixties. In my opinion, Forum’s depiction of gladiators is it’s very best use of parody. It shows us how we grossly exaggerated our depictions of gladiators are in cinema. More importantly, it makes this message funny.