Zack Snyder Says His ‘300’ is One of the ‘Gayest Movie Ever Made’

Zack Snyder has spent much of his career arguing with critics who seem determined to find a political or cultural manifesto hiding inside every slow-motion sword fight. Now the director has offered perhaps his strangest defense yet. His 2007 Spartan blockbuster 300, Snyder says, is “one of the gayest movies ever made.” Why? Apparently, putting 300 muscular men in capes and leather briefs makes a movie gay now. Snyder made the claim while speaking with Variety following the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his latest movie, The Last Photograph. The film has taken a beating from early critics, continuing the love-him-or-hate-him response that has followed Snyder through much of his career. That led Snyder back to the reaction surrounding 300, his adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae. Snyder recalled screening the movie at the Berlin Film Festival, where he said “everyone booed and walked out.” Critics called it “the worst movie ever” and a “fascist” movie. Snyder’s response to the fascism charge took an unexpected turn. “300 is one of the gayest movies ever made. I always go, ‘Look, there are few movies where people come in straigh...