The Movie 300 and response by Iran

[MAJOR_Baker]

A rather interesting read on the movie the 300. 

http://english.people.com.cn/200703/12/eng20070312_356565.html

 

[Journeyman]

Maybe our societies aren't so far apart...

Shamqadri, [art advisor to Iranian President] who is also a filmmaker, said that production of more domestic and artistic films which portray Iranian achievements is a proper response to movies like "300".

A "government advisor," whose advice is that the government should give him more money - - imagine that. 

 

[niner domestic]

Mods, could this thread be merged with this one? http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/51695.0.html  The flick was great but not great enough to warrant 2 separate threads. Thanks

 

[armyvern]

Mods, could this thread be merged with this one? http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/51695.0.html  The flick was great but not great enough to warrant 2 separate threads. Thanks

I'm not going to merge at this point in time.

Although both threads are ref the movie 300; the subjects of those threads are totally different in their meaning and intent.

The other thread is about this movie and it's entertainment value.

This thread has identified (and is discussing) the political aspect of the movie from the Iranian POV, and their political response to it.

 

[geo]

Critics seldom get the story right.

Either you like the movie or you don't & if you don't, don't spend your money going to watch it.

 

[Journeyman]

The other thread is about this movie and it's entertainment value.
This thread has identified (and is discussing) the political aspect

Yes Geo, so your comment should have gone in the entertainment section, not this political one (although I personally see the Iranian claim of 300 being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture," as entertainment.  ;D

It's all a deep ops conspiracy between the US* and the Greeks - - 2500 years ago - - to make up the Battle of Thermopylae as a PsyOps tool to piss off Iran in 2007, as a pretext to invasion. (Nay-sayers will try and convince you that the US didn't exist 2500 years ago)


---------------------------
*OK, maybe not the whole US, but definitely Hollywood.....oh, hang on, Reagan was an actor AND the President , so maybe Hollywood is the government.
Sa-aaay.....didn't Iran release fifty-two American hostages, which they had held for 444 days, while Reagan was delivering his inaugural address in 1981?!  Is there no end to this conspiracy!??!


I am so glad this is already down in Radio Chatter 

 

[I_am_John_Galt]

It's all a deep ops conspiracy between the US* and the Greeks - - 2500 years ago - - to make up the Battle of Thermopylae as a PsyOps tool to piss off Iran in 2007, as a pretext to invasion. (Nay-sayers will try and convince you that the US didn't exist 2500 years ago)

Is it not obvious to you that Karl Rove paid-off time traveling aliens through a secret shell company owned by the CIA, with funds backed by Haliburton?

*OK, maybe not the whole US, but definitely Hollywood.....oh, hang on, Reagan was an actor AND the President , so maybe Hollywood is the government.
Sa-aaay.....didn't Iran release fifty-two American hostages, which they had held for 444 days, while Reagan was delivering his inaugural address in 1981?!  Is there no end to this conspiracy!??!

And the movie 'just happens' to come-out right when the US Government seizes the only F-14s in private hands ... and who is the sole remaining operator of the Tomcat?  Hmmmmm ....

Connect the dots, maaan, connect the dots!

 

[Journeyman]

And the Canadians managed to get a half-dozen Americans out of Iran during the hostage-taking - - was Iran in on it?

I was blinded by the Iranian self-psyops to the true conspiracy 

 

[brihard]

Hah. I bet if you picked a hundred random people, maybe eight or nine of them would associate 'Persia' with 'Iran'. The Iranians greatly overestimate the average knowledge of history in our part of the world...

 

[niner domestic]

They only use Persia in the flick because no one could pronounce, Achaemenid (648-330 BC) or say it fast three times...not with actors with scottish brogues anyway. 

 

[armyvern]

I am so glad this is already down in Radio Chatter   

Which would explain exactly why, despite the fact I didn't merge, that I left both threads running in Radio Chatter. 

Some would view Iran's response to this as comedy, some would take their political response seriously.

We'll keep this thread for expressing our opinions regarding the politcial side of the movie and reactions to it.

Keep the comedy...over in the entertainment thread. Thanks.

 

[niner domestic]

Well, as mentioned in the other thread, Frank Miller, the author of 300 penned the story not for the political aspects but rather for the mythical attributes of a rendition he heard as a youngster (for those of you who aren't aware, Miller writes for Marvel/Batman as well as his graphic novels Sin City).  The more you know about the time period, the more one can find the humour in the film.  Now, Frank Miller is about the only person I know of that has the capacity to get away with this marked departure from historical accuracy and turn it into an inverse historical fictional comedy.  Miller is known for his heavy use of suspension of disbelief in his works.  He's also not known for his political astuteness (well ok, maybe as much as Henry James convinces us he knows how to write a fight scene.)  Miller writes with sardonic humour so his works tend to spawn the same kind of humour from his audiences.

Regardless of whether the Iranian response was about this film or Alexander or ____ insert film in/about/referencing/ anything to do with the Middle East and heavens if it also is somewhat historically correct, you are going to hear righteous indignation and lip service from those who would see a revisionist history written or simply from those who didn't have the chutzbah to produce a film that grossed over 70 M in 2 days.  Recall if you will, the cry and hue surrounding the Passion, the Pope reciting from an ancient text, all wanting in some way for history to be revised and falling that, to be eradicated or accused of being an American ploy to destroy Islam or whatever the flavour of the day is at that time...I recall flim where Afrikaners, Germans, Soviets, Chinese, Algerians, Italians and yes even Greeks were the bad guys. Heard similar protests from a small voice then as well.  The difference is now, every time an Islamic country protest we give it front page coverage, and debate the issue ad nauseum. 

Yes, there were moments in the film I caught myself thinking, hmmm...this is a current day political commentary but then quickly shook it off as I know Miller's works and while he doesn't make a secret of disliking  organized religion and government his films aren't all that news stopping political commentary and to attempt to make them into one is well, quite humourous.  Not to mention that while fleeting thoughts flashed on by about the commentary so did as well, comparisons to current day battle doctrine, uniform lineage and all things borrowed from other civilizations that came in contact with the Hellenics that tend to pop up a millennium or two later.

This is not a hot political topic.  It's a film.  The hot topic button is our inability to shut down the voices of protests and to stop giving them air time. 

 

[Remius]

Well critics are linking it to american propaganda, flag waiving, blah blah.  And that's here in North America so no wonder the Iranians are taling the same opinion.

But they should keep this in mind.  300 Spartans held off the entire Persian Army for three days at the Hot Gates.  They were wiped out to a man. (keep in mind that other city states had sent men as well est. at 7000 total, the 300 fought a rearguard action when they were surrounded) This is a fact.  Some place the numbers the persians had at 2 000 000.  Doubtful.  More conservative numbers have it at around 250 000.  Still it is said to have been the largest invasion prior to D-day.

I mentioned this in the other thread, Spartans were fanatics.  utterly devoted to their way of life and their city-state.  So patriotic fervour and all that "flag waiving" would have been quite common.  

 

[geo]

Journeyman....

I WAS commenting on the political side........

 

[Jarnhamar]

I for one am OUTRAGED

Did you see in the movie where the king looked to his wife for support often?
Or how the wife talked to the messenger without permission?

Unacceptable!

 

[sober_ruski]

Yeah! It is all a conspiracy to make Iran look bad.. yeah! Miller as a kid after seeing 300 Spartans thought in his little, at the time, head: "hmm... i can make an awesome comic book which will later be made into a movie for the sole purpose of making Iran look bad. AMERICA... FUCK YEAH!  :threat:"  :

 

[armyvern]

This is not a hot political topic.  It's a film.  The hot topic button is our inability to shut down the voices of protests and to stop giving them air time.  

Perhaps not to you but it is to others.

Enough said, twice now.

The Army.ca Staff

 

[Loch Sloy!]

Yes, there were moments in the film I caught myself thinking, hmmm...this is a current day political commentary but then quickly shook it off as I know Miller's works and while he doesn't make a secret of disliking  organized religion and government his films aren't all that news stopping political commentary and to attempt to make them into one is well, quite humourous.

I'm not sure you're correct (if I understand you correctly) about him having no political intent.

In Miller's own words:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24146_Batman_Artist_No_Moonbat&only

 

[CougarKing]

What is wrong with these radical idiots in the govt. of Iran???? I wouldn't be surprised if President Ahmedjinad of Iran never got some during college, which is why he was so angry to help storm the US Embassy during the Iran hostage crisis. Oh well... : Some people can't see it's JUST A MOVIE!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070313/wl_mideast_afp/afpentertainmentusiran_070313120951

Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic Tue Mar 13, 8:09 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - War epic "300", a smash hit in the United States for its gory portrayal of the Greco-Persian wars, has drawn the wrath of Iranians for showing their ancestors as bloodthirsty "savages".

The press, officials and bloggers have united in denouncing the film as another example of "psychological warfare" against Tehran by its American arch enemy at a time of mounting tension over its nuclear programme.

"Hollywood declares war on Iranians," said the headline in the reformist daily Ayandeh-No of the film which tells the story of the 300 Spartan soldiers fighting off ancient Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.

"It seeks to tell people that Iran, which is in the Axis of Evil now, has for long been the source of evil and modern Iranians' ancestors are the ugly murderous dumb savages you see in '300'," fumed the paper on its front page.

A cultural advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the film as "American psychological warfare against Iran."

"American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization," Javad Shamaghdari told semi-official Fars news agency.

Three MPs in the Iranian parliament have also written to the foreign ministry to protest to the production and screening of this "anti-Iranian Hollywood film".

The film has already proved a major box office hit in the United States and, unsurprisingly, Greece.

It is highly improbable the film would ever be screened in the Islamic republic but contraband DVDs of the latest American movies are often available on the streets no sooner that they are internationally released.

Cyber savvy Iranians have already started online petitions and set off "Google bombs" against "300".

The furore over "300" is by no means the first time Iran has been left fuming over Western portrayals of its ancient history.

Iranians were also enraged by the 2004 epic 'Alexander' about the conquest of the Persian Empire and a notorious 2005 British newspaper review of an exhibition of antiquities which branded ancient Persia the "Evil Empire".

 

[Journeyman]

...which is why he was so angry to help storm the US Embassy during the Iran Contra crisis.

Pardon?
???
Interesting grasp of history