Box Office
Hit · 4.5xBudget$103M
Worldwide Gross$465.5M
Gladiator scores 1/10 wokeness: pure timeless epic on honor, revenge, and heroism with zero politics, identity lectures, or progressive intrusions—just unadulterated spectacle.
Gladiator (2000) is a classic epic focused purely on timeless themes of personal honor, revenge, family loyalty, and the fall of a corrupt empire, with no progressive ideological intrusions whatsoever.
The storytelling remains firmly traditional, centering Russell Crowe's Maximus as a stoic Roman general betrayed by the petulant emperor Commodus, emphasizing individual heroism and moral virtue over any social justice messaging. Casting is historically plausible: protagonists are white Europeans fitting ancient Rome, while supporting gladiator Djimon Hounsou plays a Numidian warrior from North Africa, an organic inclusion given the diverse origins of real gladiators that adds to the film's spectacle without clashing or driving the narrative.
No race-swapping, gender alterations, LGBTQ+ focal points, or lectures on systemic issues appear; villain Commodus's effeminacy serves character weakness, not modern identity politics. Ridley Scott's direction prioritizes entertainment and grandeur, earning universal acclaim and Oscars without creator statements pushing activism. Audience reception celebrates it as peak cinema, with zero notable backlash over 'wokeness'—a refreshing triumph of unadulterated storytelling that entertains across generations.
Methodology: Each score synthesizes audience discourse, critic and aggregator reception, and press coverage — weighed against the work itself, not any single source.
See how this title scores across all 5 woke subcategories with detailed explanations.
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We've run a full content analysis on Gladiator and scored it 1/10 on the woke scale. Read our detailed breakdown above to see exactly what we found.
Our analysis checks for themes like identity politics, race-swapping, gender ideology, environmental activism, anti-religious messaging, and other progressive agenda elements. The score breakdown above shows which specific categories were flagged and how heavily they factor into Gladiator's overall score.
Wokeometer focuses on ideological content rather than traditional ratings (violence, language, etc.). Gladiator is rated R. For a full picture, combine our woke analysis with the age ratingto decide if it's right for your family.
We evaluate media across multiple ideological categories on a 0–10 scale. Scores of 0–3 mean story-first, 4–6 have moderate elements, and 7–10 flag heavily agenda-driven content. Learn more about our methodology →
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