Towards visual semiotics of fascist utopia: Paul Verhoeven's "Starship troopers"

The article offers an analysis of ideological narratives in Paul Verhoeven’s cult film «Starship troopers» (1997). The Dutch-American author is known for his special and provocative approach to directing, which combines the low-brow with the high-brow. Among other things, in his films Paul Verhoeven offers statements about such philosophical categories as power, violence, utopia, sexuality, etc. «Starship troopers» is one of his most controversial works, representing an exoteric criticism of the fascist utopia. The author of the article points out that discrepancies in interpretations of the film, which can be found in the research literature, are worth analyzing. Using the methodological framework of visual semiotics and referring to the literary prototype of the film, Robert Heinlein’s novel of the same name, the article shows that in terms of critical expression the film went beyond the boundaries of the director’s plan. In the end, the direct interpretation of the film as apologetics for violence and chauvinism has its own real basis, which raises a number of questions about the neutrality of the role of the original source, the screenwriters’ work, and the visual style chosen by Verhoeven.