This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this.

The name of this post was a line used in the movie 300. My first time seeing it was tonight, well- early this morning (to be politically correct). It was a bit brutal for my taste, but it was definitely a good movie. I am no critic. Nonetheless, there were certain lines I really liked, and I just had to write them down. I guess that comes with being a writer and all. Of course I'm going to share them with you.

"This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your King." -This was said to the queen when a man in the council she was speaking to the next day offered to vote in her favor (and get other council men to do the same) if she gave him her body. Being that she was speaking with them so they'd send more soldiers to fight with her husband, she did it out of love. However, the council men let her know that she would not find any pleasure in the act and it was not an act of compassion, as it was with her husband (King Leonidas).

Yet, she flips it on him. When she's speaking before the council, he sells her out and calls her a whore. He says she offered his body to him, and someone else, but they are not weak men- so they refused her. In an outrage at his lie, and knowing the state of her husband depends on what the council believes, she kills the man. As she sticks the knife into him she whispers, "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your Queen."

On another occasion, a messenger comes to speak with King Leonidas. She accompanies him and gets smart with the messenger (representing the Persian empire who has come to tell the King to surrender). The messenger gets sick of her remarks and ask what gives her the right to speak amongst men. The queen replied, "Only Spartan women give birth to real men."

Lastly, when King Leonidas was going off for war, the queen had said, "Goodbye, my love." The King did not reply, and the narrator goes on to explain how "there's no room for softness... not in Sparta... no place for weakness... only the hard and strong may call themselves Spartans." The queen (possibly realizing her mistake) beckons him back to her. While tying her necklace around his neck, her final words were, "Come back with your shield or on it."

Gangsta, aint she?
Needless to say, I liked the queen.

Don't get it twisted, her husband (the King) wasn't no slouch either. When Xerxes, whom considered himself a God-king, told King Leonidas he could keep his land, become Greece's warlord, and have all kneel before him- provided he kneel before Xerxes- the King replied, "You are generous as you are divine, oh King of Kings. Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the idea of kneeling... you see, slaughtering all those men of yours has left a nasty cramp in my leg. So kneeling is going to be hard for me."

When teaching his son the rules of battle, he instills the virtues of "respect and honor" into his lesson. And let's not talk about the King on the battlefield. Some of my favorite lines from him: "Give them nothing, but take from them everything!", "No prisoners, no mercy!", "Immortals? (referring to the name his opponents went by) We'll put their name to the test.", "Persians, come and get them!" (his reply to someone who said "Spartans, lay down your weapons!", and his final words before dying were "My queen, my wife, my love..."

I realize I am going on a "300 rampage", but it's like everything they said was so catchy, so poetic, so passionate. My final example is this: Xerxes (the "God-king") tells King Leonidas to consider the fate of the Spartan women. He went on to say how they will be made slaves once the Spartans were defeated. The king replied by saying, "Clearly you don't know our women! I might as well have marched them up here [the battlefield], judging by what I've seen."

Long story short, I loved the pride in their people that was displayed in this movie. Everything done was done with such an arrogance and assurance about ones capabilities (as well as their neighbors) and with all the Spartan communities welfare in mind. The king even speaks about how Spartan warriors stand together when being attacked and hold their shield to the left, guarding the body of the man standing next to them. If every shield is not held correctly, their safety is compromised and ruined. That's a lot of faith to have in the person beside you. Not to mention, the king took so much pride in his wife. Though the movie was one strictly of guts and glory, this could not go without notice.

Alright, alright, alright- I'm done,
B