Movies Movies!
I personally haven’t seen the movie yet, and chose to watch “Norbit” instead of it this past weekend, in what could only be explained as a desperate attempt to let out some laughs and ease out the stress of what seemed to be an endless week.
It took me a good half an hour sitting in that very comfortable chair sharing my armrest with a popcorn munching monster for me to realize that I have bound myself to a chain of strange, toneless collection of fat jokes, fart jokes and foul sex gags in a movie that redefined my concept of hell.
On the other hand, the movie “300″ depicting the Battle of Thermopylae between the Spartan Greeks and the Persian Empire, has proven to be so controversial. If you haven’t heard already, the movie has caused quite an uproar amongst modern Persians/Iranians who see the movie as not only something of a fabrication, but also an insult to their history. I quote the BBC:
The Hollywood film, which has broken US box office records, is an effects-laden retelling of a battle in which a small Greek army resisted a Persian invasion.
Javad Shamaqdari, a cultural advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was “plundering Iran’s historic past and insulting this civilization”.
He branded the film “psychological warfare” against Tehran and its people.
But Iranian culture was strong enough to withstand the assault, Mr Shamaqdari insisted.
“American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran’s historic past and insulting this civilization,” he said.
“Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the US initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture.
“Certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies.”
Daily newspaper Ayandeh-No carried the headline “Hollywood declares war on Iranians”.
The Iranians have gone so far as to prepare a UNESCO declaration against the film.
Apparently “the declaration emphasizes that UNESCO is responsible to protect civilizations and cultural heritage of nations, and it should not be silent toward degrading nations through art and cinema.”
ًWhile I find it ridiculous to believe such outrageous accusations of “conspiracy”, the timing of its release is rather inauspicious. It falls in the eve of Nourouz, the Perisan new year has been celebrated for at least 3,000 years and is deeply rooted in the rituals and traditions of the Zoroastrian belief system in the Sassanid period, the religion of ancient Persia before the advent of Islam in 7th century A.D. (More here) Thus, making it not exactly the perfect time to release a movie portraying their ancestors as blood thirsty barbarians that are bent on destroying the “democratic” ideals of the west. Bearing in mind that the Spartans had no historical records, literature, or even written laws (Source).
Whats funny is that the Iranian Academy of Arts wants to denounce an action movie that depicts ancient Iranian in a negative light whilst their current president heaps negativity onto the image of 21st century Iran with his calls for new genocides against the Israeli Government and his firebrand radical hatred of the West.
Not having seen 300, I cannot really comment on its accuracy or the quality of the film but it sounds like a simple action movie which probably stretches the truth for dramatic purposes. Most films do.
Kingdom of Heaven, Braveheart, The Patriot, Pearl Harbor, Saving Private Ryan, Elizabeth, Titanic – these are but a few major historical films riddled with historical innacuracies, errors and downright lies.
I wonder if it is the limitedness of their scope is to blame; in a country where everything from the press to the TV and even the internet is controlled by the Mulla’s, you are just blinded from understanding the concept of separation of the media and the state.
Happy Nourouz Everyone!
[...] blogger emoodz gives us his thoughts about the movie 300 here. “If you haven’t heard already, the movie has caused quite an uproar amongst modern [...]
Great review emoodz. Thanks for the info, its rich and well-researched. Have you noticed a trend in movies with a more political tilt to them these days? such as the ones you’ve listed in your post. I wonder if they are trying to atone to the guilt they feel for believing they are the center of the universe!
Peace,
SoulSearch
@SoulSearch:
I personally believe that the “political tilt” we see in movies the past couple of years is only caused by the on going action and drama in the political scene world wide. It’s only normal for the entertainment industry to touch on whatever concerns the average American.
While I admire the patriotism within the American people, some recent movies have just went over and beyond the purpose of entertainment movies such as United 93 push it off to an extreme!
But, atoning the guilt they feel for believing they are the center of the universe? Naaah! I doubt many have reached that level of self consciousness yet
The “enemy side” in a movie is always shown in a distorted way. Consider the Germans in any WW II movie, or the “Indians” in any classic Wild West movie. Even the Orcs were probably not really as bad as they look in the film.
I would expect an Indian film about the Indian Mutiny to show the British as evil.
Some Iranians are being over sensitive. If somebody insults you, the best thing is to laugh it off. Many Iranians seem to have a chip on their shoulders. They must realise that to Europeans (such as Greeks), any invaders from Asia are an evil enemy, whether they are Huns, Turks, Mongols, Persians or whatever.
good job, dude!
We watched it this afternoon and I can tell you that the effects are stunning! It certainly has the feel of ancient war movies like Gladiator.
It was good entertainment, even though it did portray the Persians in less than a good light (bloodthirsty conquering barbarians on one hand and a very gay looking and acting emperor on the other!) while showing the Greeks as democratic, honour-bound, studious, worldly yet deceitful, traitorous and scheming.
Oh hang on a minute, it portrayed both sides unfairly!
But although the plot is very shaky, the special effects certainly grabbed your attention. I would certainly buy it on DVD.
Good entertainment.
Now how the hell do the Persians find fault with a movie that is portraying events thousands of years ago as “insulting” is beyond me. But I guess everyone is looking for something to complain about!
Go watch it. It’s a good movie.
*Warning: Spoilers ahead*
I hated the movie. I found it ridiculously and painfully hilarious.
What kind of nation that fights for freedom and justice kill weak babies? What kind of nation brutally murders a messenger?
Since when were Persians black and had African looks? And their king, a dragqueen?! Give me a break! So you’re basically naming the enemy gay. This 4th grade attitude is just amazing.
It was awful. Full of references and obvious symbolism. To me it was nothing but a Bush’s policy propaganda, and a blunt warning to The Other.
You wouldn’t want to miss this movie. It’s absurd, but a must-see.
The movie is a great popcorn flick, something I would want to watch at home with the AC turned on high and me munching on a super supreme pizza with a coke (not that I would ever do such a thing) The visual effects are breathtaking, the story is rather catchy, the filming is OK. But that was all what it’s about really.
If there is one thing I loathed in the movie it’ll be the dialogue, sharp, emotional dialog, there’s a bunch of screaming mixed in between shallow discussions of freedom which sound like they came from bumper stickers or t-shirts.
I won’t get into discussing the historical inaccuracies or supposed racial undertones, as I personally can’t seem to get the concept of insulting people by portraying them as dark skinned, and the fact that they are shown as blood thirsty barbarians is merely the ancient art of story telling, the good and the bad. Maybe over glorified and amplified over and beyond the limit but not to a “degrading” level.
Most of those issues that were controversial (a couple noted by amal above) are in fact just a normality in ancient times, baby killing was practiced in many cultures (including the Islamic/Arabian one), it’s the instinct of the survival of the fittest I guess. As for the murder of the messenger, the King attributed it to the insult of “his queen” and the “insult of his people”.
Let’s not forget that the entire purpose of the movie is to entertain, I would certainly recommend it for someone who is looking to kill 2-hours on a decent story made well with apt actors and direction. The movie is not the greatest film ever made, and if it is enough to spur such discussions over it.. it is defiantly worth watching.
do you belive i didn’t have the time to go and watch it.
Re: the Persian army being made up of dark skinned warriors, well, you have to keep in mind that the Persians conquered an awful lot of territories and assimilated them into their empire (and they didn’t get all those nations to join them by sending fruit baskets either), hence all the invaders being referred to as “Persians”. Also, the story’s being told from the Spartan point of view and there IS a bit of embellishing in the story i.e. the impossible feats of strength, the size differences, etc. It’s not the complete truth but it’s a hell of a story and helps inspire the troops better.
As for dialogue, it’s pretty much taken word for word from the original graphic novel by Frank Miller (published in 1998): Good on the page, terrible when read aloud. The irony is that for all the talk of freedom, the Spartans were actually among the largest slave owners in Greece (an average 5 slaves to a household. The “What is your profession?” scene is pretty telling in that regard).
In the end, anyone who finds a fictionalized account of a battle that happened a few thousand years ago to be ‘insulting’, while they themselves do much worse to anyone within earshot, whine that they’re being oppressed when someone calls ‘em on it and make moderate muslims appear to be a tiny minority, well, they can direct their anger at a brick wall. The rest of us can enjoy life and be thankful that we wake up every morning and NOT have the urge to be mad at every insignificant thing, like the world owes us something, lol.
Now who’s up for digging a deep pit to kick offending Islamists into when they act up? “THIS IS BAHRAAAAAAAAIN!!” *boot* XD
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- Mohammed AlMaskati
East Riffa, Bahrain
I support a ONE Bahrain!
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