Goodness, what a sad comment on American Education this is!
The Warriors is not just a “cult” flim. It is a very thinly veiled retelling, in a modern setting, of Xenophon’s Anabasis, also known as “The March of the Ten Thousand”. See here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_%28Xenophon%29 and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon ) Just as “West Side Story” is “Romeo and Juliet” only set in NYC, “The Warriors” is “The Anabasis” only set in NYC. This is obvious to anyone who is even vaugely aware of the source material.
As such Cyrus (in the movie) is a stand in for the real Cyrus the Younger, (hence the name and the robe as a choice of costume). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Younger
The Cyrus (in the movie) is only there as a plot device in order to explain why “the Warriors” are so deep in enemy territory; and thusly have to make the “march up country”. (Again the gang’s name is “The Warriors” an obvious hat tip to Xenophon and the Ten Thousand… get it?)
Cyrus (in the movie) and his “magic” are only a plot divice. His short monologe was created to help set up the plot; there is no meaning to it. That it mirrors standard leftist themes is not a suprise. What sort of speech would you expect gang members to come out to see? To the best of my knowledge the New York City street gangs don’t all come out for Billy Grahm Crusades or Barbra Streisand concerts; and I don’t see them dropping everything to attend a Bill Bennet talk on the importance of education.
This is a poor choice of analogy, at best, (in that Cyrus dies early in the film), and confession of a rather poor eduction at worst.
I’m with P.ami on this.
