“Starship Trooper” director Paul Verhoeven went on to explain his fascination with how differently nudity and violence are received in American cinema. As many artists have noted, it’s much easier to get audiences on board with extreme and graphic violence than it is to make them comfortable with accepting the human body.
“It is strange, but of course, Americans get more upset about nudity than ultra-violence,” the director mused. “I am constantly amazed about that. I mean, I haven’t seen any sex scenes in American film that are anything other than completely boring. A bare breast is more difficult to get through the censors than a body riddled with bullets,” Verhoeven concluded.
As for what this particular “Starship Troopers” scene was meant to represent, it was yet another critique of the overtly fascistic nature of the original story. Verhoeven was very critical of the book that his film is based on and wanted to skewer some of its right-wing messaging and propaganda throughout the adaptation.
“The idea I wanted to express was that these so-called advanced people are without libido,” the filmmaker explained. “Here they are talking about war and their careers and not looking at each other at all! It is sublimated because they are fascists.” It’s likely safe to assume that in a modern world where fascism is on the rise, many more viewers will recognize his point today than they did over 25 years ago when the film was first released.
