The film 300 portrays the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC, in which 300 Spartans held off a huge Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days. It angered many Iranians for the way Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil in contrast to the noble Greeks.
If I remember the movie correctly, at least one of the Spartans was a conniving, backstabbing coward who lusted after the queen. A bunch of those in the political assembly were blind idiots who followed a good speech. So it wasn't all one way traffic.
The Iranians ignore that part of the movie and focus on the historical inaccuracies to do with King Xerxes and the Persians.
Comic book writing genius Frank Miller (Dark Knight, Sin City) and the producers of 300 have already gone on record saying they play loose with the facts. Anyway, we expect that from Hollywood and comic book writers. Especially if the movie ever starts with "based on a true story".
I'm not sure anyone would believe that the Iranians fit the Xerxes mold anyway? If anything, the stereotype is that they stone people to death if they are flamboyant and sexually decadent. And an Iranian couldn't possibly think of sexual relations with a 13 year old girl unless they were prepared to marry then first!
Persians also include Iraq. In fact I think that Xerxes may have come from Iraq. Hmm, Uday was Persian wasn't he? Maybe he was the troll personified in the film 300? I liked that particular battle scene.
I don't know how up to date this summary is on Iranian laws covering sex and marriage [link], but what is interesting is that Iran battles with sexual impropriety just as our society does. Their extreme approach to control human nature seems no more effective than our overly permissive approach in a society where sex is even used to sell consumer products.
Somewhere in the mix are the 'market signals' generated by the DPB and allowing fathers to walk away from their responsibilities too easily (I'm thinking more of how solo mothers expect full benefits and yet decline to establish paternity)
Ultimately, teaching sound ethics, fostering a culture based on personal responsibility and making self mastery an important aspect of personal development is going to trump the problems in both overly liberal societies and ones ruled by religious fundamentalism.
In writing that last paragraph, I'm reminded that my own levels of self-mastery are lower than I'd like (I'm working on it). If it weren't for the fact I'm slightly ahead on the ethics and personal responsibility scores, I'd probably be in a lot more trouble in my life :-). That's slightly off topic, but then maybe this is all about me?
The film 300 has been banned in Iran. I might just go watch it again. Those noble Spartans are rather inspiring.
Source Story: Iranian Irate: If I've told you once, I've told you 300 times
Related Link: The 300 Spartans
A worthwhile trip: Frank Miller and Warner Bros "300" web site
Bonus for Kiwiblog readers:
David Farrar as King Xerxes of Persia in 1962's 'The 300 Spartans'. He had a bit more hair back then.
Iranians were angry because they felt it was an attack on a noble period in their history. Even if one argues the film was purely fantasy, the timing was the problem. Why release it now? I have many Iranian friends and they are open minded, educated people. They do not wish to stone anyone. If you'd like to know about their culture and ideals try looking passed the last 30 years and read up on figures like Cyrus the Great, creator of the first recognized declaration of human rights. Living as a citizen of the Persian Empire was probably a lot better than in some homo-fascist state like Sparta. Also, Iraqis aren't Persian. They're Arab.
ReplyDeleteOops, you are right about Iraq and Arabs of course.
ReplyDeleteActually, I agree with all your comments.
When you ask "Why release it now" I think you'll find a simple reason for releasing it at this point in time: The story had been done, the people were found to make the movie and there was money to be made.
You think Dan Brown for one moment cared about misinformation in the Da Vinci Code, and how he was playing to stereotypes only found in movies like this?
Same deal really.
This post gets a lot of hits, not sure why? And I see the comment I responded to has disappeared. Now that's strange. Will have to check the backups at some point.
ReplyDelete