Kubrick’s Spartacus: A Romantics Revolt Against Red Pill Imperialism ft @RealSicklySweet

One of the common themes currently playing out in society is the fragmentation of our 20th Century Models for how society works.

Economics, Politics, Business, even Social models are left grasping in 2024, in my opinion because of the technology and economic changes sweeping through society.

The past 100 years have been relatively the same.

The world of our great grandparents only differed slightly from that of our grandparents and parents, but with the creation of the internet, things started getting radically wonky.

In the late stages of the great fiat experiment, the creation of more advanced machines and the propagation of the internet are accelerating us toward what I consider the exponential age.

The rate of change is itself changing, every day we accelerate a little bit faster than we did before.

Slowly but surely, our old-world, linear understanding for how things work falls apart, and in that vacuum lies an opportunity to redefine a model for understanding reality.

Enter my great friend @RealSicklySweet.

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Sickly and I go back a while now. I forget where and how we met in cyberspace.

Quickly, we realized that we were aligned in thought, and since then we have shared many deep conversations about life, dating + relationship dynamics, and how to approach this gargantuan task of defining new ways of understanding reality.

Which leads us to today’s stack, in which Sickly points out inconsistencies in the typical red pill understanding of reality, based upon the cult classic film Spartacus.

My hope is that at the very least, this post will inspire you to question your understanding of reality, specifically as it relates to relationship dynamics.

With that - over to Sickly.

Kubrick’s Spartacus: A Romantics Revolt Against Red Pill Imperialism

Ripped through Kubrick’s Spartacus a few nights ago in a hazy feverish stupor and wanted to share some observations I had on how the themes of romance and attraction are depicted. Particularly through the lens of the contemporary redpill dominant culture we find ourselves enveloped in today. And what we can stand to gain by using the themes explored therein as a referential antidote to the many glaring flaws of the redpilled worldview.

Fair warning – spoilers for the entire narrative of the film ahead!

In this piece I’m going to present an argument that Spartacus is a resounding refutation of the ideals perpetrated by redpill ideology – especially and specifically the defining characteristics in a man garner attraction from women. At the same time, it is decidedly NOT a bluepilled film. It is not filled with naivetes and well intended delusions on the nature of attraction between the masculine and feminine. It is absent of the things that we’ve become accustomed to from the Hollywood machine responsible for much of the romcoms of the 80’s through the aughts that many would argue were one of the predominant cultural bastions that the redpill aimed to rebuke in it’s come up.

For those who have not seen the film – the following is an abridged version of the story focusing on the love triangle between Spartacus, Varinia (a fellow slave woman held captive by the Romans), and Crassus - who is a Roman politician and the films central antagonist.

Spartacus is first introduced to Varinia in the confines of the gladiator school where he’s being held captive and where their romance initially sparks. During a visit to the school, Crassus becomes infatuated with Varinia and decides to purchase her and take her back to his estate. Later – Spartacus sparks a riot against the guards of the school that eventually metabolizes into a full-scale revolt. He hatches a plan to lead the freed slaves of his company to the southern shores of Italy to embark on a voyage in collaboration with Cilician pirates back to their respective homelands. Varinia is among the slaves that he liberates along his journey whereby at some point she becomes pregnant with his child. Spartacus and his army are later betrayed by the Cilician pirates and are forced to march back toward Rome to find another route by which to escape.

Along the way they are confronted by a Roman army led by Crassus and, vastly outnumbered and overmatched, they are soundly defeated. Spartacus, Varinia, and their newborn are amongst the survivors who are all recaptured by the Romans. Varinia is enslaved once again by Crassus, who is still enamored with her, while the rest of the other survivors, including Spartacus, are condemned to a forced march back to Rome and are sentenced to crucifixion along the way. After she arrives back to the estate of Crassus - a rival politician of his arranges for her and her child’s escape as one last attempt to undermine Crassus. As Varinia is being smuggled out of the city – she passes by a crucified Spartacus on the roadside at the verge of succumbing to his injuries. Right as he’s about to die – Varinia shows him his son one last time and assures him that his ultimate vision has been accomplished. His son will live on to be a free man and the symbol of his perseverance for freedom will go on to exist long after he is gone. Thus, concluding the tale of Spartacus.

With that background in mind let’s dig into the thematic elements of romance and attraction from an interpersonal angle as well as accounting for broader sociological considerations.

Spartacus is of low social status in the beginning of the tale. He is a captured slave condemned to entertain the masses of Rome and the ruling elite as a gladiator. He is defiant, stubborn, and deeply devoted to his core values and beliefs – namely that he and his fellow slaves should be free men. He is devoted to this overarching vision at the expense of his own material welfare, sacrificing several opportunities to acquire his own freedom to prioritize the greater pursuit of securing it for everyone who relies on him

Varinia is also of relatively low social status. She is equally as defiant as Spartacus, which forms a core basis of his initial attraction to her, and is considered to be stunningly beautiful by all who lay eyes upon her.

Crassus is the most high status character in the film. He is representative of every single dark triad trait that the red pill promotes as the most essential characteristics one could possess in positioning themselves as an attractive figure. He is Machiavellian, entirely self-serving, and idolizes himself above all else.

Why is Spartacus attracted to Varinia?

She’s beautiful. In her defiant nature she is a natural fit for his vision that he places above even himself. In this sense she is a complementary figure to not only his intrinsic desires as a masculine being but also sentimentally to his role as steward of his greater life’s purpose.

Conversely, why is Crassus attracted to Varinia?

Well, she IS beautiful. And she serves as an extension of his endless pursuit of power. Which in itself is a pursuit of pure self-appeasement. There is no grander vision beyond what he can stand to accomplish for him and himself alone. Her commitment to him would serve nothing more than as a further confirmation of his prowess and social standing alongside satiating whatever other hedonistic whims he desires.

What sorts of things does Spartacus do to attract Varinia? Well, he desires her unapologetically. He leads with his intention to romance her. Shamelessly. But never at the expense of his greater vision. He does not pedestalize Varinia as the end all be all. The most important part of Spartacus’s life is not even his own life. It’s securing the freedom of everyone that relies on him as a catalyst of their liberation, again, even at the expense of securing his own if he would just agree to leave the rest behind. He also wants to build something with Varinia. He wants her to be free. He wants their child to be born free. It is, again, beyond himself.

What markers of attraction does Crassus rely on for securing the affections of Varinia? He is one of, if not the most, powerful men in Rome by the films end. He defeats Spartacus in battle and seemingly destroys his life’s work in the process. He entices her with all sorts of material riches. Fine jewelry, servants at her beck and call, access to anything and everything that the ruling class has to offer. He also threatens the welfare of her child if she does not comply with his demands. He constantly negotiates for her love. He gives her this if she will give him that. It’s purely transactional. And wholly built on the supposed hypergamous and solipsistic nature of women that the red pill espouses as the primary driving factor for attraction. What more can he do? He proves that he is better than Spartacus in literally every meaningful sense, a better military commander, superior in class, in wealth, in influence, in power - truly in every single material facet that can be measured and observed.

And yet Varinia does not love Crassus. She is revolted by him. Even in defeat she maintains a steadfast devotion to Spartacus. This flies in the face of everything that the redpill would have us believe about how female attraction works and who their attracted to. Shouldn’t she submit to whoever the top dog is?

The reality is that in nearly all occasions – it is better to be a beautiful loser than an ugly winner. At least in so far as the conventional connotations we typically constitute for “winners” and “losers”.

Varinia loves Spartacus for a multitude of reasons. He allows her to be free. It’s always her choice to love him. He does not need anything from her. He doesn’t even need anything from himself. He spends the majority of the film concerned with the welfare of the men in his command and the families that rely on him for their eventual deliverance to salvation. He has a vision that is grand and expansive. It’s romantic. Freedom. In this idyllic vision, Varinia has autonomy to lead her life how she wants. And in turn, paradoxically, she submits her own life in devotion to the life that Spartacus envisions.

He is also a dominant man. While he is low status in the grand scheme of society - locally, he is of high status. He is a leader of warriors and unconditionally benevolent to those that depend on him. He gives his warmth and his energy to all those that may seek it. He can be trusted. He refuses to betray his people in exchange for material comforts and safety. Make no mistake, he is a dominant figure but not an authoritarian one. Nothing comes above his vision for freedom and love for Varinia and their son. He is willing to, and ultimately does, pay the ultimate price for this.

And conversely Varinia does not love Crassus for the antithesis to all of those reasons. He needs her as a source of validation for his own self esteem and perception. She must confirm his own vision of self. He can’t NOT have her as a reaffirmation of his perceived status. He has no vision beyond himself outside of the pursuit of power which is just a vehicle of self-idolization. A means to serve himself as the ends rather than any transcendent ends itself. Such a man cannot be trusted by a woman as he can always be manipulated to compromises and concessions if he were to feel like it gets him closer to the ever elusive carrot at the end of the stick. He also tries to negotiate for love logically. Treating it as something that can be bought, not something that materializes as a byproduct of a true and pure connection. For him everything has a price tag of some sort or another. Including himself.

I believe that Spartacus is a quintessential artistic portrayal of the pitfalls of redpill thinking and the glorification of the dark triad traits when it comes to attraction. At the same time, it does not propose stereotypical bluepilled conventions as a superior alternative. Spartacus still possesses a will to power – just not beyond his vision and greater life purpose. He does not pedestalize Varinia beyond this vision either. It is easy to love a man like Spartacus as you can trust that what he does is for something greater and more expansive than just himself. It is a resolution toward a greater consciousness and way of being. This is infinitely more magnetic and attractive than an ideal that prioritizes subjugation, fear, power games and politics, and zero-sum transactions. Nothing could communicate a greater sense of scarcity and paranoia than the latter ideals.

In the modern dating landscape, we are often propositioned with two starkly contrasting worldviews. Either be the most ruthless, narcissistic, domineering, and self-serving man you can be. Or just be a nice guy. Hope that a sweet girl will just come by your way and notice all of the soft and sensitive features you possess that go unappreciated by the cruel and harsh superficialities of our modern culture.

The themes of Spartacus offer us hope for a third alternative. Be strong. Have steadfast convictions in a romantic vision in the purest sense of the word. Lead from the front – driving towards something with an infectious energy teeming with love and abundance for all that life could be when we don’t constrain ourselves to petty power games. It is ultimately what we show that we can give rather than our displays of how much we can take that attracts people into our lives. When we try to subdue others into feeling like they would be irrational or foolish to choose anything other than us is when we invite the most resistance to sincere connection. When we offer a true no strings attached choice for people to choose their own destiny in love and life – they gravitate towards the source of that feeling of freedom and limitless possibility.

My goal in the ever devolving collective dialogue on dating we see is for more men to know that the choice to abandon the chains and shackles of redpill/bluepill thinking is there – right here right now. The freedom to choose a better way of living and of loving is there for us, if only we are courageous enough to grasp it.

I want for all of us to one day find the conviction to stand up and too be able say “I am Spartacus.”

Closing Remarks

Big thanks to @RealSicklySweet for bringing Spartacus into today's conversation on relationships.

This epic isn't just about rebellion—it challenges the typical "red pill" view by showing that attraction isn’t just about power and status, there are some intangible, romantic undercurrents to male/female interactions as well.

Sickly breaks this down in a clear way that forces us to consider that maybe the “red pill” paradigm isn’t 100% infallible, that maybe it doesn’t explain everything that happens in relationships.

Thanks, Sickly, appreciate you taking the time to write.

Until next time… 🫡