Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

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".

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[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm not surprised they would be offended - on the basis of that movie alone its hard to see how it is justifiable. Granted its an adaptation of Frank Miller's work - but the movie takes things a lot further. Miller was involved quite extensively in the production of 300, so presumably he endorses it...

If you turn a recognizable group of people (the ancient Persians were a highly sophisticated people who were responsible for significant early advancements in mathematics, science and philosophy) into monsters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, its inevitable that someone will be offended by it. Of course someone will probably try to make it about Islam - despite the fact that Islam wasn't around in 480BC.

Still the reverse is true of the Greeks - who also complained about Oliver Stone's Alexander (Alexander was actually Macedonian not Greek) and the depiction of their 'national hero' as a bissexual; and the implication that homosexuality was rampant through ancient Greece (which by all accounts, it was). Similarly the idea that modern day Greeks are descended not from the ancient Greeks, but from the Ottoman Turks is something of a taboo subject over there...

The Iranians too (as Persians) also have lineage from a whole range of people's who conquered that region over the course of several thousand years - not least, the Mongols.

Its disappointing to me that to date there have been few if any accurate portrayals of Eastern civilizations - the sword and sandal genre is about where westerns were in the 50's and 60's, with native indians always being shown to be bloodthirsty savages whose only purpose is to be cannon fodder for the likes of John Wayne. Even HBO's Rome - which prides itself on its historical accuracy as far as the Roman Republic goes, resorted to cliche when depicting the Greek-descended Egyptians of Julius Caesar's day.

Edited March 13, 2007 by erekose

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

Not only at Thermopylae - there was a huge sea battle going on at the same time as the Spartans were defending the pass. Contrary to what is shown in that film - there weren't just 300 Spartans in the battle. They had a battle train of freeborn squires and helot slaves (2-3 per Spartan). About 7000 men in total (including their allies).

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

Not only at Thermopylae - there was a huge sea battle going on at the same time as the Spartans were defending the pass. Contrary to what is shown in that film - there weren't just 300 Spartans in the battle. They had a battle train of freeborn squires and helot slaves (2-3 per Spartan). About 7000 men in total (including their allies).

I know. That's why I said 'Greeks' not Spartans. The film doesn't address the sea battles at all.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

Not only at Thermopylae - there was a huge sea battle going on at the same time as the Spartans were defending the pass. Contrary to what is shown in that film - there weren't just 300 Spartans in the battle. They had a battle train of freeborn squires and helot slaves (2-3 per Spartan). About 7000 men in total (including their allies).

I know. That's why I said 'Greeks' not Spartans. The film doesn't address the sea battles at all.

Because Miller's comic was directly inspired by The 300 Spartans. It doesn't delve much into the wider context of that history - its more of a character study of Leonidas.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I didn't read that comic but I'm sure I saw the movie when I was a kid.

[pedroh 21]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

why? Darius and co. were pretty 'peaceful' rulers.. they let the conquered countries to continue their religion, government form and way of life.. they were pretty tolerant.. compared to the greeks, or later romans, they weren't that bad..

Edited March 14, 2007 by pedroh

[Scott & Lai 12]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

why? Darius and co. were pretty 'peaceful' rulers.. they let the conquered countries to continue their religion, government form and way of life.. they were pretty tolerant.. compared to the greeks, or later romans, they weren't that bad..

Perhaps their descendants could learn from their example....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

why? Darius and co. were pretty 'peaceful' rulers.. they let the conquered countries to continue their religion, government form and way of life.. they were pretty tolerant.. compared to the greeks, or later romans, they weren't that bad..

The Persians of today bear about as much similarity to the ancient Persians as modern Greeks and Italians to do the ancient Greeks and the Romans. The middle-east suffered quite badly from the Mongol invasions in the 13th century in which much of the remnants of the ancient civilization were destroyed.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

why? Darius and co. were pretty 'peaceful' rulers.. they let the conquered countries to continue their religion, government form and way of life.. they were pretty tolerant.. compared to the greeks, or later romans, they weren't that bad..

Woman's rights for one. And I prefer democracy over dictatorship. Even if the dictator is nice to you.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The Greeks stopped the Persian expansion into Europe. For that I thank them.

I just saw the movie at an Imax theater.

why? Darius and co. were pretty 'peaceful' rulers.. they let the conquered countries to continue their religion, government form and way of life.. they were pretty tolerant.. compared to the greeks, or later romans, they weren't that bad..

Woman's rights for one. And I prefer democracy over dictatorship. Even if the dictator is nice to you.

As far as the ancient world goes I'm not sure democracy really stood up. Greece started the democratic tradition, but they never really unified their society (in fact it took a dictator - Alexander) to do that. Greek civilization declined because of all the in-fighting between the different city-states. Ironically enough, Sparta was the closest thing in the Greek world to Totalitarian fascism.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

...If you turn a recognizable group of people (the ancient Persians were a highly sophisticated people who were responsible for significant early advancements in mathematics, science and philosophy) into monsters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, its inevitable that someone will be offended by it.

Apparently, not true if the group is defunct leaving no even-remotely-possible modern descendants in the same area (the Philistines were also sophisticated; the modern people who most resemble the ancient Philistines ethnically are the Tusi, mostly of Rwanda and Burundi--all Hamitic groups, which debunks the claim of a small section of Palestinians to be descendants of Philistines)

Still the reverse is true of the Greeks - who also complained about Oliver Stone's Alexander (Alexander was actually Macedonian not Greek)...

And, in this case, SLAVIC (Northern, or "erstwhile Yugoslav") Macedonian as opposed to semi-Greek (Southern).

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

...If you turn a recognizable group of people (the ancient Persians were a highly sophisticated people who were responsible for significant early advancements in mathematics, science and philosophy) into monsters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, its inevitable that someone will be offended by it.

Apparently, not true if the group is defunct leaving no even-remotely-possible modern descendants in the same area (the Philistines were also sophisticated; the modern people who most resemble the ancient Philistines ethnically are the Tusi, mostly of Rwanda and Burundi--all Hamitic groups, which debunks the claim of a small section of Palestinians to be descendants of Philistines)

Still the reverse is true of the Greeks - who also complained about Oliver Stone's Alexander (Alexander was actually Macedonian not Greek)...

And, in this case, SLAVIC (Northern, or "erstwhile Yugoslav") Macedonian as opposed to semi-Greek (Southern).

Well lets be honest here, the Persian Empire IS part of Iran's historical heritage, just as the Roman Empire is to the Italians, and the remnants of ancient Greek civilization are to modern day Greeks. Regardless of who lives in that country today - its a part of the national heritage and I don't think its really fair to defame that heritage (however unintentionally) in a movie that makes crude parallels between Thermopylae and the current time. It smells of propaganda to me...

[Anna C. 4]

Read here about the movie's historical background: http://www.thestar.com/article/190493

(The battle of Thermopylae was real, but how real is 300? Ephraim Lytle, assistant professor of hellenistic history at the University of Toronto, has seen the movie and offers his view.)

Of course Hollywood changes history for movies, they do it all the time. It's a movie, that's all!

Edited March 14, 2007 by Anna C.