Purdue University Press

The Intergalactic Final Solution: Nazism and Genocide in Paul Verhoeven's Starship
Troopers
Author(s): Brian E. Crim
Source: Shofar , Vol. 28, No. 4, Holocaust and Genocide Cinema (Summer 2010), pp. 104-115
Published by: Purdue University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5703/shofar.28.4.104

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5703/shofar.28.4.104?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Purdue University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Shofar

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
104 ♦ Brian E. Crim

The Intergalactic Final Solution:

Nazism and Genocide in Paul
Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers
Brian E. Crim
Lynchburg College

The 1997 release of Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers generated controversy for
its obvious Nazi imagery and ironic endorsement of a fascist future. Based on
Robert Heinlein’s equally controversial novel in which a militarized Earth is en-
gaged in a war of annihilation against a race of insects, Verhoeven’s film portrays
a society that embraces the logic of extermination and uses Nazi language and
signifiers to express eliminationist rhetoric at every turn. Schools, the media, and
the future military consisently invoke Nazi terminology and allusions to frame
the conflict against the “Arachnids.” From the blatant mimicry of Triumph of the
Will to the twisted use of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, Verhoeven cleverly
mixes Nazi imagery with the patriotic fervor promoted in American propaganda
films from the Second World War. Verhoeven attempts to seduce the audience
into accepting and even cheering for genocide on a galactic scale. The irony of
this approach was lost on most of the audience and reviewers.

What could be more like paradise on earth than to live in a com-

munity without enemies? To create a world with no more need
for borders. A world safe from the deadly contaminations and
temptations of the other tribe? What could be more beautiful
than to live in a community with people who resemble each other
in every particular? What could be more seductive than to kill in
order to put an end to all killing? This utopia is so alluring that it
is a wonder the human race has been able to survive at all.
Michael Ignatieff

Michael Ignatieff, a Canadian scholar, activist, and politician, articulates the

appeal of utopia in the modern age and correctly notes that any quest for uto-
pia is as much a destructive act as it is a creative one. Utopias are defined
by what they exclude, and genocide is the ultimate expression of utopian de-
sire. Science Fiction is a natural site to explore the moral and even historical

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 105

implications of utopian thought.1 Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (1959)

depicts a utopian society engaged in an epic struggle against a race of insects
for galactic domination. The book remains controversial because it seemingly
endorses a militarized and authoritarian state in lieu of a traditional democ-
racy. Heinlein implies that a society faced with an existential threat is better
served by efficient militarism than a messy democracy.
Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 film adaptation of the novel is controversial for
portraying Heinlein’s society as a futuristic Nazi utopia. Verhoeven’s Terran
Federation is attractive, efficient, hyper-militaristic, and rife with Nazi signs
and signifiers. Verhoeven’s interpretation of the future is satirical, allowing
him to mock the forces of militarism and globalization at the end of the twen-
tieth century. However, Verhoeven’s choice of a Nazi aesthetic is instructive for
understanding his critique of Western Civilization. The Federation is a world
government mobilized for racial war, driven by a quest for Lebensraum, and ul-
timately invested in genocide. Verhoeven implies that these impulses resonate
in our own society. The fact that Verhoeven populates his utopia with attrac-
tive young people enjoying the benefits of a rationalized society is deliberately
subversive and not an endorsement of Heinlein’s essential message.
The film Starship Troopers follows the lives of a handful of high school
graduates who join the military shortly before a full-scale war breaks out be-
tween humans and the Arachnids, the insect race competing with humans for
planets and resources. The protagonist, Johnny Rico, comes from a prosperous
family that expects him to attend Harvard, but he decides to join the Mobile
Infantry to win the love of Carmen, an aspiring pilot with career ambitions.
The first half of the film revolves around a love triangle between Rico, Car-
men, and another female classmate, Dizzy. This melodrama is interrupted by
an Arachnid meteor attack on the characters’ home town of Buenos Aires.
The attack transforms Johnny from a spoiled and lovesick child into a venge-
ful warrior forced onto the front lines of a war of annihilation against the
Arachnids. The second half of the film concerns the humans’ failed offensive
against the Arachnid planets and the subsequent plan to capture a so-called
“brain bug” that holds the key to victory. Rico and his classmates play vital
roles in this initial phase of the war, and like the World War II dramas familiar
to American audiences, the film concludes optimistically as the young heroes
assume new and important positions in the ongoing struggle.

1
Joan Gordon, “Utopia, Genocide, and the Other,” in Veronica Hollinger and Joan
Gordon, eds., Edging into the Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transforma-
tion (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), p. 205.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
106 ♦ Brian E. Crim

Nazism pervades the film aesthetically and thematically. Screenwriter

Edward Neumeier, a frequent collaborator of Verhoeven’s, evokes ambiva-
lent feelings about the future in such films as Robocop (1987) and Total Recall
(1990), but the future society in Starship Troopers is appealing in every way.
“What I really liked about the idea of this movie was that it allowed me to
write about fascism,” Neumeier recalled. “I had a feeling that today’s film au-
diences would really appreciate Heinlein’s ideas. Because the message of the
original book was pretty straightforward: Democracy is failing, and we need
some strict controls on our culture.”2 Neumeier argues that fascism “is in our
biology” and can easily rear its attractive head in times of crisis. He warns us
that “[f ]ascism is around every corner, so watch out.”3
Fascism is difficult to define because it varies according to national con-
text, but there are some common characteristics transcending temporal and
regional differences. Alexander De Grand identified one of fascism’s core be-
liefs as “a radical repudiation of the liberal and parliamentary political order”
and “an appreciation of the irrational forces in modern society and glorification
of instinct and violence in political life.”4 Fascism is a “civic religion” uniting
disparate interest groups and regions into a national community governed by
a military elite. Competing loyalties like family, the church, and ethnicity un-
dermine the authority of the fascist state. Fascism has deep historical roots in
European culture, but it was Benito Mussolini who established the first fascist
party, named the ideology, and built a regime others would replicate. Mus-
solini viewed war as the most noble of pursuits and those who survived it the
only ones worthy of leading. Fascists of every nationality strove to translate
the comradeship and unity of the Front into a national community guided
by the same values. Mussolini wrote, “The Fascist State organizes the nation,
but leaves sufficient liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all use-
less and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding
power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone . . . .”5 The
Federation is a global community built on fascist principles. While Mussolini

2
Edward Neumeier, quoted in Paul M. Sammon, The Making of Starship Troopers
(New York: Boulevard Books, 1997), p. 10.
3
Edward Neumeier, “Commentary,” Starship Troopers, DVD, directed by Paul
Verhoeven (Culver City, CA: Tristar Pictures, 1998).
4
Alexander J. De Grand, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The Fascist Style of Rule (Lon-
don: Routledge, 1995), p. 10.
5
Benito Mussolini, “What is Fascism, 1932,” Modern History Sourcebook, http://
www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html [accessed July 18, 2008].

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 107

and Hitler’s visions were crushed by the weight of history, the existence of the
Federation suggests fascism will one day be redeemed.
The Federation is a highly militarized state, but it is seemingly free from
racism, sexism, and ethnic conflict. The only division in society is between
“citizens” and “civilians.” Military service, the Federation advertises, “guaran-
tees citizenship,” which includes political power and access to state benefits
like birth licenses and college tuition. The character of Rasczak, a disfigured
veteran turned civics teacher, delivers a historical narrative at the beginning
of the film that validates Mussolini’s essential philosophy and provides some
background as to why the Federation is in power: “This year we explored the
failure of democracy caused by social scientists who brought the world to the
brink of chaos. We talked about how veterans took control and imposed a sta-
bility that has lasted for generations since . . . .” Rasczak then compares voting
to exercising force and exalts violence as “the supreme authority from which all
other authority derives.” After Dizzy challenges Rasczak on the true efficacy
of violence, he again preaches the fascist ethos: “Naked force has settled more
issues in history than any other factor. The contrary opinion, ‘violence never
solves anything,’ is wishful thinking at its worst.”6
According to the Nazi’s own tightly controlled historical narrative, the
Volksgemeinschaft (national community) was the logical conclusion of the
Frontgemeinschaft (front community) experienced during the First World War.
The idealized front knew no class divisions or regional and religious differenc-
es (although antisemitism was rampant).7 Hitler identified himself primarily
as a front soldier destined to build this veteran’s utopia. The Federation is,
to use its own slogan, “A World that Works” because veterans implemented
their own version of the front community on a global scale. Although there
is apparent gender and racial equality within the Federation, other aspects of
the society are more indicative of traditional fascism. First, justice is swift and
severe, to the point that a criminal is tried, sentenced, and executed on live
television all in one day. Second, eugenics is taken for granted. When asked
why she joined the Mobile Infantry, a recruit responds, “I wanna have babies.
And you know it’s a lot easier to get a license if you serve.”8 The only imperfect

6
Edward Neumeier, Starship Troopers, based on the novel by Robert Heinlein, 1996,
p. 4–5.
7
See David Welch, “Nazi Propaganda and Volksgemeinschaft: Constructing a People’s
Community,” Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 39, No. 2 (2004): 213–238.
8
Neumeier, “Commentary” Starship Troopers, DVD.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
108 ♦ Brian E. Crim

bodies in the entire film are wounded veterans. Their missing limbs humble
the Johnny Ricos of the world, who are eager to prove themselves worthy and
acquire their own battle scars. Verhoeven and Neuemeier depict a politically
correct version of the Nazi national community that is attractive to audiences,
but it becomes clear that this gleaming future is just as capable of genocide
under the guise of “total war” as its Nazi antecedent.
Both the novel and the film are reminiscent of a classic Bildungsroman,
the genre of German literature that focuses on the moral and social develop-
ment of a young man. Johnny Rico’s coming-of-age story mirrors that of the
typical protagonist in the flood of German First World War memoirs and
fiction. These novels emphasize the transformative experience of war and the
inherent right of veterans to lead. Ernst Jünger, a prolific author lionized by
the Nazis, wrote important memoirs and novels about his own coming-of-age
during the First World War. Jünger’s personal odyssey mirrors Johnny Rico’s
journey from a clueless teenager to the “New Man” the fascist movement re-
vered. Edward Neumeier even cites Jünger’s famous war memoir, Storm of
Steel, as partial inspiration for the screenplay.9 Marcia Landy, an expert on Ital-
ian fascist film, notes that male characters typically undergo a “drama of con-
version” into this idealized “New Man.” Johnny Rico experiences something
similar after leaving his life of comfort and privilege for the collective family
of the Mobile Infantry.10 One of the most popular Nazi propaganda films was
Hitlerjunge Quex (1933), the story of a martyred Nazi boy who was killed
during a street battle with communists. Like Rico, Quex turns his back on his
family and gives himself selflessly to something greater than himself. When
Rico realizes he is cut off from his family fortune after joining the military
he accepts it: “Who cares! The Federation’ll give me everything I’ll need for
the next two years, right?”11 The weak civilians holding Rico back from his
destiny are as dangerous and subversive as the socialist family members fea-
tured in Hitlerjunge Quex. Rasczak once related to his class his firm belief that
“figuring things out for yourself is the only real freedom anyone has,” but the
Federation completely contradicts this message by encouraging conformity at
every turn.12 During the course of his training and exposure to battle, Rico is

9
Starship Troopers, DVD.
10
Lene Hansen, “Feminism in the Fascist Utopia: Gender and World Order in Star-
ship Troopers,” International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol. 3 (August 2001): 276–277.
11
Neumeier, Starship Troopers, p. 26.
12
J. P. Telotte, “Verhoeven, Virilio, and ‘Cinematic Derealization,’” Film Quarterly, Vol.
53, No. 2 (Winter, 1999–2000): 33.

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 109

stripped of his civilian identity and transformed into an ideal warrior, one who
never questions his role in the epic struggle ahead.
Starship Troopers is just one of many Hollywood productions that embrace
Nazi aesthetics without seriously engaging Nazism’s historical legacy. Tony
Barta maintains that this is Nazism’s ultimate victory, the escape from history
into cinema. Barta explains that “[t]he mythic Nazi was from the very begin-
ning the accompaniment of the nastier historical one and was designed—by
the Nazis themselves—to create the cinematic representation of the future.”
Leni Riefenstahl, Barta quips, “got the world hooked on Nazism, The Movie”
and future generations could not help but interpret Nazism through her im-
ages.13 Starship Troopers’ pervasive use of Nazi imagery provided easy fod-
der for film critics, most of whom were amused by the gory spectacle. Sight
and Sound entitled their review “Starship Stormtroopers” and Entertainment
Weekly lampooned the film as an “Aryan Spelling production” because of the
presence of so many actors from Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place.14 One
reviewer wrote tongue in cheek, “Let’s just enjoy the carnage. And wish Ken
and Barbie well as they goose-step their way into the future.”15
Verhoeven likely expected the mockery. He subversively blends Frank
Capra’s “Why We Fight” and “Know Your Enemy” propaganda style with Leni
Riefenstahl’s epic Triumph of the Will (1934). The sequences in which the
Federation produces slick commercials glorifying the military and the unwav-
ering unity of the homefront are lifted directly from Riefenstahl’s most famous
shots. In an interview, Verhoeven called this “wink wink Riefenstahl.” When
asked if he intended to link the Federation to the Third Reich, Verhoeven re-
sponded: “In a way. But it’s not saying that Starship Troopers’ society is wrong
because of that resemblance. It’s not making a judgment. These references say,
‘Here it is.’ The futuristic society that works on this level well—and it fights
the giant insects very well. Look and decide. The judgment is yours.”16 Edward
Neumeier was refreshingly honest about his affinity for Nazi set design: “The

13
Tony Barta, “Film Nazis: The Great Escape,” in Tony Barta, ed., Screening the Past:
Film and the Representation of History (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998), pp. 128, 131.
14
“Starship Troopers,” Sight and Sound 8, No. 1 (1998); Benjamin Svetkey, “The
Reich Stuff,” Entertainment Weekly, November 21, 1997, http://www.ew.com/ew/arti-
cle/0,,290338,00.html [accessed July 18, 2008].
15
Kathie Maio, “Ken and Barbie in the House of Buggin’,” Fantasy & Science Fiction,
Vol. 94, No. 4 (April 1998), http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ehost/delivery?
vid=9&hid=108&sid=63f524d [accessed April 16, 2008].
16
Paul Verhoeven quoted in Sammon, The Making of Starship Troopers, p. 138.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
110 ♦ Brian E. Crim

reason for all the German uniforms and everything is because Germans made
the best-looking stuff . . . .”17 When asked to comment on the controversy,
the Anti-Defamation League admitted “[t]he movie does have some not-so-
subtle Nazi symbols. But it’s so ludicrous. I mean—you can’t take giant bugs
that seriously.”18 The filmmakers ask the audience whether it wants the world
portrayed on the screen. The concluding comment after every government-
controlled news story is direct: “Would you like to know more?”
Verhoeven noted in interviews that “war makes fascists of us all” and
Starship Troopers is, at its core, a war movie modeled on the formulaic World
War II films from the 1940s and 1950s. The war against the Arachnids is
the backdrop for Johnny Rico’s evolution into a Federation hero. Verhoeven
chose a completely unsympathetic enemy to highlight the appeal of the fascist
utopia.19 Heinlein used bugs as his literary enemy because they are an apt
metaphor for communists, specifically Chinese and North Koreans, whom
he interpreted as “insect-like” in their discipline and unshakeable devotion to
a collective. Heinlein regarded communists as devoid of compassion, creativ-
ity, spirituality, and intellect.20 In the context of the Cold War, where each
side viewed the other as an existential threat, Starship Troopers illustrates a
total war between opposing worldviews. Verhoeven told Time magazine that
he lamented the loss of “that wonderful enemy everyone can fight.” Science
Fiction opens up new horizons, Verhoeven explains, since faceless aliens like
the Arachnids stand in nicely for communists and Nazis. “They’re bad. They’re
evil. And they are not even human.”21 Although monstrous and terrifying, the
Arachnids are a civilization, and the human race openly argues for its total
annihilation using rhetoric all too familiar in the twentieth century. The Fed-
eration resembles the Third Reich aesthetically, but its exterminationist war
footing and unmistakable quest for galactic “living space” suggests that even in
the limitless future the price of utopia is genocide.
We receive only limited background concerning the human-Arachnid
conflict, but the two civilizations are imperial powers interested in colonizing
the same planets. Humans, we learn from Federal Network broadcasts, may
have unwittingly provoked the Arachnids when “Mormon extremists” settled

17
Edward Neumeier quoted in Svetkey, “The Reich Stuff.”
18
Jill Kahn Meltzer quoted in Svetkey, “The Reich Stuff.”
19
Paul Verhoeven quoted in DVD insert, Starship Troopers, DVD.
20
Adam Roberts, Science Fiction (New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 107.
21
Paul Verhoeven, quoted in Rob van Scheers, Paul Verhoeven, tr. Aletta Stevens (Lon-
don: Faber and Faber, 1997), p. xiii.

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 111

inside the Arachnid zone of the galaxy. After the attack on Buenos Aires, the
Federation embarks on a war of annihilation using the rhetoric of racial sur-
vival. Historian Eric D. Weitz notes that genocide is a product of warfare:
“The emergency circumstances of wartime and the heightened fears meant
the rulers felt liberated to carry out extreme measures that they would not
dare venture in peacetime. War provided cover, but also provided the great
opportunity.”22 Although the human race may be unified, as evidenced by in-
tegrated units and even an African Sky Marshal leading the human offensive
against the Arachnids, the desire to cleanse the universe of competing races
is pronounced throughout the film. One survivor of Buenos Aires, played by
producer Jon Davidson, stands amidst ruins and tells a Federal Network cam-
era, “The only good bug is a dead bug!” In a more formal setting addressing
Federation leadership, Sky Marshal Dienes frames the coming war as a true
clash of civilizations, a concept all too familiar in our own time: “We are a gen-
eration commanded by fate to defend humankind! We must meet the threat
with our valor, our blood, with our very lives, to insure that human civiliza-
tion, not insect dominates the galaxy now and always.”23 If World War II is the
inspiration for the conflict with the Arachnids and the Federation is the Third
Reich thinly disguised, Dienes’ rhetoric assumes a more sinister meaning—
the Arachnids stand in the way of human expansion. The influential German
military writer Friedrich von Bernhardi gleefully predicted the First World
War, calling war “a biological necessity of the first importance.” A hero to Nazi
leaders, Bernhardi justified imperialism in terms the Federation leadership
would surely understand: “Strong, healthy, and flourishing nations increase in
numbers. From a given moment they require a continual expansion of their
frontiers, they require new territory for the accommodation of their surplus
population.”24 Johnny Rico and his classmates, “the bloom of human evolution”
as the script describes them, are the perfect instruments with which to cleanse
the universe of the ultimate “Other” and guarantee human supremacy.25
Verhoeven described Starship Troopers as “a kind of Battle of the Bulge,
with the bugs playing the Nazis.” However, a more apt metaphor may be Op-

22
Eric D. Weitz, A Century of Genocide: Utopias of Race and Nation (Princeton: Princ-
eton University Press, 2003), p. 4.
23
Neumeier, Starship Troopers, p. 55.
24
Friedrich von Bernhardi, “The Next War, 1914,” www.h-net.org/~german/g-text/
kaiserreich/bernhardi.html [accessed July 18, 2008].
25
Neumeier, Starship Troopers, p. 1.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
112 ♦ Brian E. Crim

eration Barbarossa, with the bugs playing the “Judeo-Bolsheviks.”26 The Nazi
Wehrmacht drove into the heart of the Soviet Union as part of a racial war
of conquest for German Lebensraum. Under the cover of this onslaught, the
Nazi regime implemented the Final Solution. The war against the Jews was
indistinguishable from the war against the Soviet Union, and extermination
was the only outcome. Historian Omer Bartov argues convincingly that the
German soldiers’ constant exposure to ideological training beginning in the
Hitler Youth and extending into basic military training led to the Wehrmacht
waging a racial war on behalf of the Nazi regime. Convinced that only the
wholesale elimination of the Soviet Union could save the German “race,” Wehr-
macht leaders embraced genocidal policies and relied on conscripted troops
to execute them. On the eve of the invasion of the Soviet Union, Wehrmacht
generals, such as Colonel-General Hermann Hoth, vilified the enemy with
language that parallels that used by Sky Marshal Dienes of the Federation:
More than ever we are filled with the thought of a new era, in which the strength
of the German people’s racial superiority and achievements entrust it with the
leadership of Europe. We clearly recognize our mission to save European cul-
ture from the advancing Asiatic barbarism. We now know that we have to fight
against an incensed and tough opponent. This battle can only end with the de-
struction of one or the other; a compromise is out of the question.

Similarly, General Walter von Reichenau declared, “The essential goal of

the campaign against the Jewish-Bolshevik system is the complete destruction
of its power instruments and the eradication of the Asiatic influence on the
European cultural sphere.” Reichenau essentially granted soldiers a license to
exterminate, heralding them as the “avenger of all the bestialities which have
been committed against the Germans and related races.” General Erich von
Manstein recognized the war as “a battle for life and death against the Bol-
shevik system” and asserted that Judeo-Bolshevism must “[n]ever again . . .
interfere in our European living space.”27 The Wehrmacht, like its futuristic
brethren in the Mobile Infantry, acts as the shocktroops in parallel clashes of
civilizations.
Genocidal regimes define the targeted race or ethnicity as both subhu-
man and dangerous. The Young Turks referred to the Armenians as insects;
the Nazis portrayed the Jews as vermin, cockroaches, bacilli, and every oth-

Paul Verhoeven, quoted in van Scheers, Paul Verhoeven, p. xvi.

26

Omer Bartov, Hitler’s Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich (New York:
27

Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 131, 129, 130.

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 113

er conceivable biological threat to the human race; Josef Stalin, the Khmer
Rouge, Slobodan Milosevic, Hutu Power, and currently, the janjaweed oper-
ating in Darfur repeatedly characterized their “enemies” as insects worthy of
destruction. At the same time, these “insects” threaten the health and safety
of the vastly superior race responsible for the genocide. Verhoeven, following
Heinlein’s narrative, employs actual insects to combat the human race, but the
same rules apply. Florentine Strzelczyk argues that the bugs portrayed in Star-
ship Troopers “seem to unite a German anti-Semite’s fantasies.” In a particularly
graphic scene, students dissect bugs in a biology class while the teacher extols
the virtues of the Arachnids: “We humans like to think we are Nature’s fin-
est achievement. I’m afraid it isn’t true. . . it reproduces in vast numbers, has no
ego, doesn’t know about death, and so is the perfect selfless member of society.”
When Carmen argues that humans are superior for having created art, math,
and interstellar travel, the teacher lauds the Arachnids’ evolutionary prowess and
their ability to colonize planets “by hurling their spore into space.”28 The sheer
monstrosity of the Arachnids serves the purpose of legitimizing genocide.
The Wehrmacht dehumanized the Soviet enemy using similar language.
An article in a Wehrmacht military journal detailed the threat posed by the
Bolshevik commissars, calling them “the embodiment of the Satanic and in-
sane hatred against the whole of noble humanity. The shape of these commis-
sars reveals to us the rebellion of the Untermenschen against noble blood.” The
same article states, “[w]e would insult the animals if we described these mostly
Jewish men as beasts.”29 Nineteenth century racial theorists like Houston Stu-
art Chamberlain and Artur de Gobineau argued that Jews are an extremely
strong race because of their single-minded focus on materialism and inclina-
tion to avoid racial mixing. However, Chamberlain and Gobineau maintain
that Jews are ultimately inferior to the more cultured Aryans.
The Arachnids are cast in a similar light. In a televised debate between
two “academics,” one argues that the Arachnids must be extremely intelligent
based on their military effectiveness. The other commentator declares, “Frank-
ly, I find the idea of a bug that thinks offensive!”30 In the end, the humans do
in fact discover an entire caste of “brain bugs” responsible for ambushing Fed-
eration troops. The idea that the enemy race is simultaneously dangerous and
inferior is common to both the Nazi utopia and the Federation.

28
Neumeier, Starship Troopers, p. 9.
29
Bartov, Hitler’s Army, p. 126.
30
Starship Troopers, DVD.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
114 ♦ Brian E. Crim

Producer Jon Davidson thought the idea of creating a fascist utopia “was
both interesting and amusing.”31 The “amusing” portions of the utopia con-
cern the presence of so many elements typical of the plastic world common
to teenage soap operas. The casting of veterans from shows like Beverly Hills
90210 and Melrose Place, a television genre that has lost none of its popularity
since the 1990s, reinforces this perspective. Some noted critics were bothered
by some of Verhoeven’s choices. Richard Schickel questioned the “unexplored
premise” of a future society that appears to be “a happy fascist world.” Similarly,
Mike Clark was seduced by the “army of sweet-tempered, fresh-faced fascists.”
The choice of attractive but forgettable actors floating through a Nazi won-
derland is at the heart of Verhoeven’s satiric vision. The twenty-third century
Earth is, as one reviewer notes, a mix of “California chic with clean, gleam-
ing futuristic fascism.”32 In another subversive nod to American pop culture,
the frightening character of Carl is played by Neal Patrick Harris, aka Doogie
Howser, M.D., the endearing television teenage prodigy. Carl evolves from a
sweet and bright kid into a cold and methodical killer working as a “govern-
ment scientist.” There is something disarming about seeing Doogie Howser
clad in an SS uniform torturing insects and preaching extermination, which
was precisely why Harris was cast in the role.33 Verhoeven forces the audience
to empathize with something it should find repellent, fascism, and implies it is
on the cusp of creating this world.
Verhoeven concentrates on the unfettered power of the media in his films
set in the future (Starship Troopers, Total Recall, Robocop). Verhoeven suggests
that the real culprit is not some shadowy government figure or the military,
but our culture and propensity to be distracted by slickly produced sex and
violence. J. P. Telotte argues that the Federal Network, the only manifestation
of the Federation the audience actually witnesses other than brief appearances
by Sky Marshals, is the incarnation of “a fascist spirit of control incubated in
a derealized environment.”34 Like any government at war, the Federation sup-
presses dissent and removes the notion that the conflict is more complex than
it seems. During a scene reminiscent of media coverage during the Gulf Wars,
an embedded reporter wanders the halls of a battlestation buzzing with activ-

31
Jon Davidson, quoted in Maio, “Ken and Barbie.”
32
Maio, “Ken and Barbie.”
33
Sammon, The Making of Starship Troopers, p. 69.
34
Florentine Strzelczyk, “Our Future-Our Past: Fascism, Postmodernism, and Star-
ship Troopers (1997),” Modernism/Modernity, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2008): 93.

Shofar ♦ An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The Intergalactic Final Solution ♦ 115

ity, stopping to chat with the Mobile Infantry. The reporter presents an oppos-
ing viewpoint: “Some say the bugs were provoked by the intrusion of humans
into their natural habitat, that a ‘live and let live’ policy is preferable to war
with the bugs . . . .” Rico grabs the microphone and responds, “Yeah, well, I’m
from Buenos Aires, and I say kill’em all!”35 The reporter smiles, acknowledging
that Johnny speaks for the Federation. There is no dissent in the Federation
due to the “stability” the veterans have imposed on humanity.
When asked about the tagline “Would you like to know more?” following
every Federal Network broadcast, Verhoeven stated, “For Neumeier and my-
self that meant, ‘Do you want to know more about this futuristic society?’ Or,
in another way, what we’re asking the audience is, ‘Do you like this society?’”36
Verhoeven works under the assumption that we are already halfway there. Flo-
rentine Strzelczyk argues that the film allows “viewers to indulge in an exalta-
tion of the beauty of fascist power and to engage in a mock-Holocaust without
ever having to confront historical legacies or current views of racism.”37 This
seems to be purposeful on the part of the filmmakers. Verhoeven’s attractive
and hyper-aggressive utopia is all too familiar, a reflection of ourselves. He
admits: “I tried to seduce the audience to join in [Troopers] society, but then
ask ‘What are you really joining up for?’”38

35
Starship Troopers, DVD.
36
Paul Verhoeven, quoted in Sammon, The Making of Starship Troopers, p. 138.
37
Strzelczyk, “Our Future-Our Past,” p. 98.
38
Paul Verhoeven quoted in Svetkey.

Vol. 28, No. 4 ♦ 2010

This content downloaded from

129.125.19.61 on Mon, 13 May 2024 14:51:42 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms