Just a heads-up: Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood flick hits the screens in a couple of weeks. Expect weighty discussions throughout the blogosphere on the “Steal From the Rich, Give to the Poor” ethos and its implications for tax policy.

BizTaxBuzz certainly doesn’t intend to be the exception. After all, R.H. is one hugely intriguing semi-historical figure.

Given the mission statement of the organization he led, redistributionists can surely claim him as one of their own. On the other hand, since the “rich” in question were traditionally rather nasty unelected officials, you could just as easily peg him as a defender of the yeoman citizenry and small merchants in their fight against rapacious government and the depredations of the taxing classes. Kind of an early Tea Party type, only more violent and less bizarrely dressed.

So which side was Hood really on? After weeks of painstaking historical research, I can reveal that he wasn’t actually on any side, being basically fictional. But that hasn’t stopped certain groups from trying to cash in on his brand, as I noted here.

If you really can’t wait until May 14, when the movie comes out, you can check out the trailer here. And in the meantime, you might consider a more educational offering, An Inconvenient Tax, for your weekend viewing, if you can find it playing anywhere (I still haven’t managed to). ###