Everyone remembers the film “300″ I presume, correct? Released several years ago – I want to say at the beginning of 2007, but I could be off by a few months give or take – it fictionalized the story of the warriors of Sparta – 300 of them of course – stopping the mighty Persian army of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, at a narrow pass on the Greek coast. It’s a very stylized imagining and telling of the story, shot with a unique lens that lent the film an other-worldy quality that many fans found appealing.

The film itself was an adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name. Miller is of course famous for “reinventing” Batman with his 80s series “The Dark Knight,” which itself was adapted into a wildly successful eponymous film.

One of the more commented upon issues with the film version of 300 are the 300 costumes. The Spartans are all portrayed as hulking, almost grotesque versions of masculinity. Their abdominal muscles in particular attracted great notice, as they looked quite cartoonish. The reality is that they in fact were cartoonish, as they had been enhanced by computer generated images, or CGI, in post-production. Combine the graphically enhanced abs with the Spartans’ uniform – nothing but sandals, a loincloth, a shield and a cape – and you had on your hands 300 costumes that were postiively homoerotic. As a result, the gay community in particular took great notice of the film and applauded its glorification of male sexuality as a landmark moment in gay cinema, sad.

There are of course other 300 costumes worty of mention in the film. The Spartan who betrays his fellows to the dastardly Persians is rendered as a grotesque, hunchbacked figure of scorn, ridicule and pity. Even in such a state he is dressed as the fellow Spartans are, even given his own grotesque CGI abs and muscles. The interpretation from the cinema theory community was, of course, immediate and nearly unanimous: Only those fitting the highest ideals of male masculine sexuality could be perceived as honorable and worthy.

Another of the 300 costumes that gained much notice was that of Xerxes, the Persian emperor. Rendered as an impossibly tall demigod of dubious sexuality and gender, Xerxes sported piercings just about everywhere and seemed an affront to the transgender community. All of these made for some serious debate about just what, exactly, the film was trying to get across.

A Guide to Men’s Halloween Costumes

Halloween is a time for disguises and dress-up, and it is no different for men than for women. Men’s Halloween costumes are often overlooked despite the fact that half of the people dressing up for Halloween are men. True, a Halloween costume is only worn once a year, but here is a guide to Men’s Halloween costumes that will help you get the best costume possible out there this year.

Men’s Halloween costumes typically fall into one of three categories. The first is the “cool” costume. This is harder to pull off than you might think, yet people try all of the time. Mostly, people trying to be something or someone cool fail, because trying to be cool is, at its essence, an un-cool thing. Dressing up as a pirate or a mobster seems cool; until twenty other guys are dressed up as the same thing. I recommend not going the cool rout with men’s Halloween costumes, unless you can really pull it off.

The second category of Men’s Halloween costumes is scary. This is usually, actually, more cool than the cool costumes, especially if there is some effort to be put into it: fake blood, fake scares, creepy masks, etc. On the other hand, though, what starts out as cool and scary quickly becomes weird. People begin to wonder how much time is being spent on a Halloween costume, and for many of the scary ones, it is more time spent on creating the costume than on wearing it.

Personally, I prefer the third and final category of men’s Halloween costumes: funny. Now, funny backfires just as much as cool or scary; particularly with pun-based humor, but I applaud a guy for not taking himself too seriously. Also, try to stay away from grotesque and/or sexualized religious figures. I am sure you and your circle of friends may or may not find such stuff funny, but if there are people you do not know at the party, it does not make any sense to accidentally offend them.

All in all, there are a few different kinds of men’s Halloween costumes and choosing one over the other is a good place to start. Just keep in mind that what might be cool or scary or funny to you might not be to other people. Plan it out ahead of time and be considerate of others and your Haloween costume can probably help you have the most fun Halloween you have ever had.