My Cinematic Chiasmus series began 12 years ago with 1987’s RoboCop, a film directed by Paul Verhoeven, produced by Jon Davison, and co-written by Ed Neumeier. I had noticed that the film seemed to repeat itself quite a bit, and upon closer inspection I realized that it did so in an almost perfectly symmetrical way. That’s how I found the chiasmus, which seemed deliberately set in stone.

To add credence to that initial discovery, I recently discovered another chiasmus in a film that those three filmmakers worked on together 10 years after RoboCop in 1997: Starship Troopers.

I can’t take full credit for this discovery. My friend Jordan recommended it. He’s responsible for suggesting the following films that all turned out to be examples of Cinematic Chiasmus: Escape from New York, Dreamscape, Akira, Conan the Barbarian, Scream, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Goldfinger, Revenge of the Sith, X2: X-Men United, The Running Man, and Forbidden Planet. That’s quite a list, and it’s time to add another to it.

Let’s go ahead and dive right into Starship Troopers to see how symmetrical it is.

The Chiasmus

Here is the way Starship Troopers’ chiasmus unfolds. Each event in the first half mirrors a similar event in the second half.

A. Federal Network propaganda asks for recruits while showing nameless soldiers
 B. The first attack on the bug planet Klendathu ends in defeat for the humans
  C. Johnny Rico learns that “violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor”
   D. Carl Jenkins shames Johnny in front of his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez by publicly revealing his poor math skills
    E. After Johnny dissects a bug by pulling its innards out, Carmen gets sick and runs away
     F. Carl demonstrates his psychic abilities by telling a ferret to find his mom
      G. Johnny defeats the rival for Carmen’s affection, Zander Barcalow, in a football game
       H. Johnny’s parents tell him not to join Federal Service because he’ll likely die
        I. Johnny asks his teacher Rasczak’s advice about signing up for Federal Service
         J. Johnny takes Carmen away from Zander, and the two plan to stay together
          K. Johnny, Carmen, and Carl sign up for Federal Service together. They promise to stay friends
           L. Johnny’s parents are angry about his decision to join Federal Service. He gets cut off when he needs their support
            M. Johnny bids farewell to Carl offscreen and later says goodbye to Carmen as she leaves
             N. Federal Network propaganda shows the aftermath of a compound devastated by a bug attack
              O. Dizzy Flores joins Johnny’s squad to be close to him at basic training and gets defeated by the bigger, stronger drill sergeant
               P. A girl lightly hits Ace for cutting in line while their drill sergeant watches in the background
                Q. Ace gets stabbed in the hand by a knife
                 R. Soldiers reveal their motivations for joining the military. Johnny loves Carmen, thinking only of her
                  S. Johnny records a video letter to Carmen and nearly dies of embarrassment because of his squad
                   T. Carmen avoids hitting any obstructions as she flies a shuttle and large spaceship around the Moon
                    U. Johnny wins a game of Capture the Flag and becomes squad leader
                     V. Carmen breaks up with Johnny via video letter
                      W. A member of Johnny’s squad gets killed by friendly fire during a live-fire training exercise
                       X. Johnny gets reprimanded by his superior officers for negligence, and they give him 10 lashes
                        Y. Carmen celebrates being promoted with Zander, and she barely avoids getting destroyed by an asteroid heading straight for her ship
                        Y. Johnny is castigated by Dizzy for resigning, and he barely avoids leaving the military when he hears that the asteroid destroyed his hometown
                       X. Johnny gets reprimanded by his superior officers for resigning, then they rip up his resignation form
                      W. Johnny’s hometown gets destroyed by a bug attack, and Federal Network propaganda shows the aftermath
                     V. Johnny sees Carmen for the first time since she broke up with him
                    U. Johnny fights Zander to a stalemate after they agree that rank doesn’t matter
                   T. Carmen avoids hitting most obstructions as she flies a large spaceship over Klendathu
                  S. Johnny yells into a camera and nearly dies at the hands of an onslaught of bugs against his squad
                 R. Commentators debate the motivations of the bugs for fighting. Carmen mourns Johnny, thinking he’s dead
                Q. Johnny recovers from getting stabbed in the leg by a bug
               P. A girl punches Ace for cutting remarks about their squad leader Rasczak, who suddenly appears
              O. Johnny joins Dizzy in a tent, finally fulfilling her wish to be close to him, after defeating a bigger, stronger bug
             N. Johnny’s squad enters a devastated compound and fights for their lives against a bug attack
            M. Johnny mercy kills Rasczak and later says goodbye to Dizzy as she dies
           L. Johnny is angry about Federal Service’s decision not to bomb Planet P. Their transmission cuts off abruptly after denying support
          K. Johnny, Carmen, and Carl are reunited in different branches of Federal Service. They’re still friendly to each other
         J. Johnny leaves Carmen with Zander, and Johnny says he’ll see her again
        I. Johnny quotes Rasczak’s words to new recruits in Federal Service
       H. Carmen’s captain tells her to escape a damaged Federal Fleet ship to avoid dying
      G. Bugs defeat Carmen and Johnny’s rival Zander in a life-and-death firefight
     F. Carl demonstrates his psychic abilities again by telling Johnny to find Carmen
    E. After a Brain Bug kills Zander by sucking his brains out, Carmen fights back and retreats
   D. A soldier saves Johnny and Carmen by privately showing his great heroism
  C. Johnny cheers when Carl reads the mind of a Brain Bug and learns that it’s afraid of the violent, forceful humans
 B. The final attack on the bug planet P ends in victory for the humans
A. Federal Network propaganda asks for recruits while showing soldiers we know by name

Let’s Bug Out

You might find it strange, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen Starship Troopers. For many years, I heard it wasn’t a very good movie, but then it rose in people’s estimation in recent years as they reevaluated it. After watching it, I can say that I see the merits of both interpretations, though I think there’s a lot more going on than just an action movie, much like Aliens, Die Hard, and Predator, which are also chiasma.

Here are my favorite points of comparison in this chiasmus. A and B stuck out to both Jordan and me before I even analyzed the film. I knew enough about the movie beforehand that I had heard about how it begins and ends. So those were obvious bookends. F really wowed me. Johnny tells Carl not to use his psychic powers on him, and Carl smiles knowingly. It’s like he knows that he’s going to manipulate Johnny later at the exact right spot on the chiasmus.

Like RoboCop, the news segments don’t all correspond with each other perfectly, but they still match up well with points on the opposite side of the chiasmus at N, R, and W. Ace gets punched at P, and a wound is received and patched up at Q.

The things that really made my eyes bug out were K, V, and Y. The three best friends are together for the last time as innocent teens and then reunited as hardened veterans at K. They form the heart of the movie, so seeing them change so much is quite a shock. Johnny and Carmen break up and see each other for the first time since that painful moment at V.

And then there’s the turning point. Everything changes at Y. Carmen is at her highest point, while Johnny is at his lowest. She’s getting promoted alongside the man she loves, while he’s quitting and failing to recognize the girl who loves him. Communication is interrupted between Carmen’s spaceship and Earth, as well as between Johnny and his parents because of an asteroid. Carmen manages to avoid disaster by getting mostly out of the path of the asteroid, but Johnny’s parents aren’t so lucky. They are killed by that asteroid when it slams into Buenos Aires.

Johnny’s motivation shifts from love for Carmen to revenge for his parents. And war breaks out, pushing Johnny to make hard choices he doesn’t want to make. The turning point took me by surprise because it happened before I expected it to come. But once I saw it, I knew it had to be that. It works perfectly as the turning point of the entire story and the chiasmus.

What do you think? I hope you enjoyed uncovering Starship Troopers’ chiasmus along with me. Thank you, Jordan, for asking me to look into this. It was a very interesting experience. Let’s bug out.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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