Of course, because Heinlein was a fascist writing a fascist book; all Verhoeven had to do was turn and wink at the camera every 20 minutes (not to take away from Starship Troopers as a good film) and even then it took a decade for people to figure out it was satire.
Verhoeven supposedly couldn’t bring himself to finish reading the book because it disgusted him so much
Can't wait for the upcoming Israeli election when Bibi Dienes gets voted out in favor of Sky Marshall Tehat Meru
I recently read Starship Troopers and oof was that painful. Just page after page of Heinlein frothing out the mouth about his ideal militarized society. Needed a big time palette cleanser after that one.
The real tragedy about that novel is that Heinlein didn't live long enough to see the masterpiece that Verhoeven transformed it into.
It's not the most awful thing Heinlein wrote, though. I think "Friday" deserves that dubious prize.
"I'm doing my part."