Why Gladiator (2000) Made Me Think Of A Pressing Emergency

Why Gladiator Made Me Think of A Pressing Emergency

My writing coach, Eli, who is amazing by the way, advised me to find books, movies, or other creative works similar to A Pressing Emergency.

I think this is great advice, especially because it can help a potential agent or editor have an idea of what to expect when they read a query letter, listen to an elevator pitch, or a submitted manuscript. The more recent the work, the better, since it can help me and them determine where my book might fit within the current publishing landscape.

While I could have listed many movies and books, one movie would be Gladiator (2000).

Initially, Gladiator Seems Like an Unusual Comparison

It is not a science fiction film, nor is it rooted in Christianity. A Pressing Emergency is a work of Christian speculative fiction, so on the surface, the two stories don't seem to have much in common.

But the comparison between Gladiator and A Pressing Emergency isn't about genre.

It is about the themes underneath the story.

Sacrifice. The human body. Military service. Political power.

And what happens when the state claims ownership over the lives of marginalized people.

My First Time Watching Gladiator

I had never seen Gladiator until a few months before Gladiator II was released in theaters back in 2024.

I watched it on Samsung TV, and I'm actually glad I experienced it as an adult, as a Christian, and as a self-described faux historian.

When I was born again, I felt as though I had been given more eyes to see and ears to hear.

Watching the film, I noticed themes that resonated with me on a much deeper level.

There were things I was thinking about while watching the movie that I probably would not have thought about years ago.

I wasn't just watching the story of Maximus. I was watching the themes.

I was thinking about power.

I was thinking about sacrifice.

I was thinking about military service.

I was thinking about the human body.

And I was thinking about what happens when a person's life becomes connected to a much larger political system.

That is where I started seeing a connection between Gladiator and A Pressing Emergency.

Maximus and Project Lazarus

Like Tony, Althea, and Amos in my novel—with Tony being the primary focus—Maximus is someone whose body and well-being ultimately become sacrificed to the state.

He begins as a top-ranking military commander and eventually becomes an entertainer whose victories and suffering are used to keep the masses entertained. Remember the famous question, "Are you not entertained?" Through his victories in the arenas, he becomes a crowd favorite.

The circumstances are obviously very different.

Maximus is a Roman military commander. Tony, Althea, Amos, and the other test subjects of Project Lazarus are characters in an unfinished speculative story that I am writing.

But the underlying question is similar.

The test subjects of Project Lazarus have had their bodies modified so they can endure combat.

Their modifications are funded and sponsored by the state because they are intended to serve as auxiliary forces for the U.S. military for a final defense to protect the home front.

Their bodies become instruments of a larger political and military system.

And that is something I keep thinking about.

What happens when the human body becomes a tool for the state?

What happens when someone's value becomes connected to what their body can do in the name of nationalism and tyranny?

Maximus's circumstances are different, but the underlying idea is still there.

He begins as a celebrated military commander, loyal to Marcus Aurelius and devoted to Rome.

Political upheaval strips him of his rank, his family, and his freedom.

He is captured, enslaved, and eventually becomes a gladiator whose suffering and survival are transformed into entertainment for the masses.

While the people are distracted by bread and circuses, Maximus's body becomes the arena in which political power, violence, and public entertainment converge.

All of this while being a crowd favorite.

That part really stood out to me.

The same body that is being exploited is also the body that people come to admire.

His strength becomes entertainment.

His suffering becomes entertainment.

His survival becomes entertainment.

And that made me think about the people in Project Lazarus.

Their bodies have been modified because someone believes there is a greater purpose for them.

But what happens to the individual when their body becomes part of that greater purpose?

The Human Body

The human body is something I have thought about quite a bit while developing A Pressing Emergency.

The people involved in Project Lazarus aren't simply soldiers.

Their bodies have been modified so they can withstand things that ordinary human beings cannot.

That raises questions for me.

Who gets to decide what happens to someone's body?

What happens when an institution decides that a person's body can be used for a greater purpose?

And at what point does the person become less important than what their body can do?

Those are questions that I don't necessarily have all the answers to.

I am still writing the story.

I am still learning.

And I am still discovering things about my own characters.

But this is one of the reasons Gladiator made me think about A Pressing Emergency.

The Christian Speculative Fiction Connection

Of course, there is a major difference between Gladiator and my novel.

A Pressing Emergency is Christian speculative fiction.

That matters because I am not simply exploring political power, military service, human experimentation, or the use of the human body.

I am also looking at these things through a Christian worldview.

What is the value of a human being?

Who determines that value?

Is a person valuable because of what they can do?

Is a person's value determined by what they can contribute to society?

Or is there something deeper?

As a Christian, I believe there is something deeper.

Human beings have value because God creates them.

That belief affects the way I think about Tony, Althea, Amos, and the other people involved in the Project Lazarus experiment.

It also affects the questions I am asking through the story.

I don't want to give away everything about the book because, well, I still have a book to write.

But these are some of the things I am wrestling with.

Why Gladiator?

I know Gladiator is not a perfect comparison.

It isn't supposed to be.

My novel is not historical fiction.

It is not a retelling of Gladiator.

And I am not saying that someone should watch Gladiator and expect A Pressing Emergency to be the same type of story.

The connection is thematic.

Both stories ask questions about what happens when powerful institutions take ownership of human bodies and lives and what it costs the people caught inside those systems.

That thematic connection is what makes Gladiator meaningful to me as a comparable title.

And perhaps this is part of what Eli was trying to get me to see.

I don't necessarily need to find a book or movie that is exactly like A Pressing Emergency.

Instead, I need to find works that help me explain different parts of my story.

Gladiator helps me think about sacrifice, military service, political power, and the human body.

Another movie or book may help me explain another part of the story.

And honestly, I think this process is helping me as much as it would help a potential agent or editor.

The more I look at other stories, the more I begin to understand my own.

Maybe that is part of the writing process.

Sometimes you don't fully understand what you are writing until something else helps you see