Gladiator – is you not entertained?
Gladiator was quite an experience at the cinema, I was pleased to see I wasn’t the only person crying at the end, but I was more impressed with this bold new hero that was chucking swords into the crowd!
A bit of background, Gladiator is about a Roman called Maximus Decimus Meridius played by Russell Crowe, who is in charge of and has gained the respect of a massive army, but on the very day the Emperor has promised him a succession the Emperor is killed by his jealous son who usurps the leadership.
In the meantime the Maximus refuses to believe the flimsy story that the Emperor died in his sleep bull shit and is sent out to be killed by the jealous son, he escapes and heads back to Spain to protect his family, but gets there just in time to see their charred bodies hanging in the gardens, from there on Maximus is a broken man. He gets picked up by Oliver Reed , an ex Gladiator himself, who managed to win his freedom and now pimps him as a gladiator, but while he’s excellent at despatching other slaves in the mini coliseums, he has little outbursts, frustrated that the man who slaughtered his family is still living and breathing, and this has to be his best outburst!
This scene is particularly interesting as Reed (Proximo) can see the greatness in Maximus and is trying to coach him into winning his freedom but Maximus is a lost cause at this stage, acting more like Kevin and Perry. He tells him to remember that he’s an entertainer. Maximinus then goes out on his own to kill the other gladiators and after the short electric bloodbath and decapitation he launches a sword at the nobility and shouts “are you not entertained” but even after this outburst, the crowd still chant his name in respect. No matter what he does he will be loved by the crowds, something that will come to save his life later on in the movie.
For sure folks, are you not entertained??
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