Plot Synopsis

Just to make sure that everyone’s on the same page, here’s a quick recap of the plot of The Arena (warning: there will be spoilers). Actually, as long as I’m thinking about it, the best thing to do if you’d like to see The Arena is to go to the website that I’ve put up to go along with this paper and click the link to the film’s theatrical trailer on YouTube. It’s much funnier than the movie and, arguably, better all ‘round. Definitely shorter. Okay, enough pimping for the website - there will be more of that later. What happens in The Arena is nicely summed up by the declaration in the trailer: "They live as slaves, fight as gladiators and love on command." Sweet. There’s no mystery about where this all is headed: female slaves are forced into gladiatorial combat as a novelty act; they aren’t happy about it, eventually rebel, and a couple of them (Pam Grier’s character Mamawi and Margaret Markov’s character Bodicia) do escape. Along the way, they are abused physically and sexually, made to wear absurdly short skirts and utter very earnest speeches about freedom and the injustice of Roman imperialism. And let’s not forget that they are stripped and hosed down in public within about five minutes of the film’s beginning. Pretty standard women-in-prison stuff.