SMALL SOLDIERS GIVE OUT BIG CARNAGE

"Small Soldiers"
PG-13
110 minutes
1998

by MC234

When MIM writes a review of a movie or other cultural work, we 
always ask: is the world better off with or without this work? 
In the case of "Small Soldiers," a film about military toys 
called the "Commando Elite" that come alive, the world was a 
better place a few weeks ago before the film. It does have two 
redeeming qualities, however. First, the bad guys are neither 
people nor the peace-loving alien toys, but the toy soldiers. 
The soldiers are very Amerikan, and speak in Amerikan war 
movie clichés to patriotic music.

Second, "Small Soldiers" has the kid movie cliché in which 
parents treat a kid like crap, and then get upset when he 
"acts out." After being sent to psychiatrists, the parents can 
just label their kid with fancy psychological labels and then 
ignore the child. Predictably, after the usual hijinks the 
parents learn the kid is can do things right and is telling 
the truth. Like most other Hollywood "kid movies", this never 
gets beyond a criticism of some temporary bad parenting into 
the systematic criticism of the patriarchal family that is 
required. If anything, the frequency of this plot device 
should suggest that parents lot listening to their kids is a 
common occurrence and a problem with the system.

In this film, Heartland Toys is acquired by Globaltech, a 
company with many divisions, including military. The CEO of 
Globaltech criticizes the upcoming soldier product of 
Heartland because the commercial features the toy speaking and 
breaking out of the box. Instead of asking "What role should 
toys play" he instead says "I want to make a toy that actually 
does what it does in the commercial."  He gives Heartland 
access to the Globaltech computer system so that they can in 
fact make a toy that moves and speaks.

The Heartland employees discover and order the most advanced 
chips in the Globaltech inventory, ignoring the fact that 
these chips were designed for a military application.

Also pitched to the Globaltech CEO was a separate series of 
toys named Gorgonites, peaceful lost aliens on a search for 
their home planet. The Gorgonites instead become targets for 
the Commando Elite. Heartland uses the military chips to 
process movement and speech, but are unaware that the chips 
give real intelligence and the ability to learn beyond their 
core programming.

"Small Soldiers" got some criticism in the mainstream press for 
being violent. Others defend the film "But what do you want 
soldiers to do?" Which gets back to MIM's point, in a more 
just society such as in socialist China (1949-76), the 
military exists to serve the people. In China, many movies 
were made about the People's Liberation Army and the 
sacrifices they made to serve the people. Here in Amerika, 
soldiers exist only to kill enemies and movies are made--
including for children--that glorify war against the oppressed 
or just senseless violence.

MIM doesn't oppose this movie on pacifist grounds, but because 
the violence in the film serves no purpose other than to make 
violence fun. While the "bad guys" are the soldiers, the film 
doesn't demonize them as they deserve to be. And the public 
relations folks in Hollywood saw fit to label the film after 
the soldiers and to make millions of soldier toys to 
distribute in Burger King.

A young teenager who works in his father's toy store gets 
early access to the Commando Elite and the Gorgonites. The 
toys come alive, with the Commando elite discarding their 
plastic weapons for ones they construct, and the hunt for the 
Gorgonites begins.  Humans are identified as the protectors of 
the Gorgonites, so they are targeted as well. As the Gorgonite 
Emissary, Archer, warns, the Commando Elite show no mercy. The 
Amerikan reluctance towards so called "humane" war is also 
shown, with the Commando Elite not accepting the surrender of 
a human and instead trying to kill him.

From the advertisements, MIM thought the violence in the film 
would be between animated figures. We were wrong. The Commando 
Elite use knives, fire, and a nail gun against the humans. And 
of course the humans fight back with equal force, with clubs, 
a garbage disposal, and a lawnmower.

Amerika leads the world in two kinds of violence: First in 
violence against the oppressed which is necessary to maintain 
the status quo. Secondly, Amerika also leads the world in the 
senseless kinds of violence, such as people shooting up 
McDonalds, Post Offices and schoolyards. The anti-oppressed 
violence and its media fanfare desensitize people to violence, 
and movies like this one take that several steps forward. 
Bringing it all together, the Burger King in Springfield, 
Oregon has stopped distributing Commando Elite promotional 
figure "Kip Killigan" because his name sounds very close to 
that of a local teenager accused of killing his parents and a 
number of schoolmates. 

Even Globaltech in the film recognizes that the two kinds of 
violence are not so far apart. At the end of the movie, 
Globaltech buys off all the witnesses and people who suffered 
property or physical damage in the Commando Elite assault. The 
CEO asks the Heartland employees: "What are we charging for 
the Commando Elite?" To the response, the CEO then adds: "Add 
a few zeros and transfer them to the military division. I know 
some South Amerikan guerrillas that are in for a nasty 
surprise." The Heartland employees, one of whom had serious 
misgivings about violent toys, don't object to this plan.