300 Versus 70 Million Iranians

[StrangeCheez]

300 Versus 70 Million Iranians

Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2007
By Azadeh Moaveni/Tehran

All of Tehran was outraged. Everywhere I went yesterday, the talk vibrated with indignation over the film 300 — a movie no one in Iran has seen but everyone seems to know about since it became a major box office surprise in the U.S. As I stood in line for a full hour to buy ajeel, a mixture of dried fruits and nuts traditional to the start of Persian new year festivities, I felt the entire queue, composed of housewives with pet dogs, teenagers, and clerks from a nearby ministry, shake with fury. I hadn't even heard of the film until that morning when a screed about it came on the radio, so I was able to nod darkly with the rest of the shoppers, savoring a moment of public accord so rare in Tehran. Everywhere else I went, from the dentist to the flower shop, Iranians buzzed with resentment at the film's depictions of Persians, adamant that the movie was secretly funded by the U.S. government to prepare Americans for going to war against Iran. "Otherwise why now, if not to turn their people against us?" demanded an elderly lady buying tuberoses. "Yes, truly it is a grave offense," I said, shaking my own bunch of irises.

I returned home to discover my family in a similar state of pique. My sister-in-law sat behind her laptop, sending off an e-mail petition against the film to half of Tehran, while my husband leafed through a book on the Achaemenid Empire, noting that Herodotus had estimated the Persian army at 120,000 men, not one million as the film claimed. The morning newspaper lay on the table with the headline "300 AGAINST 70 MILLION!" (the population of the country). It was echoed by the evening news: "Hollywood has opened a new front in the war against Iran."

The timing of the computer-generated film, which depicts the ancient confrontation of Sparta and the Persian empire at the Battle of Thermopylae, is certainly inauspicious. It falls on the eve of Norouz, Persian new year, a time when Iranians typically gather in proud celebration, observing rites that date back over 3,000 years, way before Islam, to the age of Zoroastrianism, when their ancient land produced the world's first monotheistic religion. It is not a particularly welcome season to be portrayed as pillaging, deranged savages. Since the entire country will be on two weeks of official holiday, there will be no shortage of time to sit about discussing the slight and what it portends for Iran's current confrontation with the United States. For a people prone to conspiracy logic, the box office success of 300, compared with the relative flop of Alexander (another spurious period epic dealing with Persians) is cause for considerable alarm, signaling ominous U.S. intentions.

While the hullabaloo over 300 may dampen Iranians' holiday spirits, it offers common cause between people and their estranged government. Top officials and parliament have scorned the film as though it were a matter of state, and for the first time in a long while, taxi drivers are shaking their fists in agreement when the state news comes on. Agreeing that 300 is egregious drivel is fairly easy. I'm relatively mellow as Iranian nationalists go, and even I found myself applauding when the government spokesman described the film as fabrication and insult. Iranians view the Achaemenid empire as a particularly noble page in their history and cannot understand why it has been singled out for such shoddy cinematic treatment, as the populace here perceives it, with the Persians in rags and its Great King practically naked. The Achaemenid kings, who built their majestic capital at Persepolis, were exceptionally munificent for their time. They wrote the world's earliest recorded human rights declaration, and were opposed to slavery. Cuneiform plates show that Persepolis was built by paid staff rather than slaves And any Iranian child who has visited Persepolis can tell you that its preserved reliefs depict court dress of velvet robes, and that if anyone was wearing rags around 500 B.C., it wasn't the Persians.

It is going to take an act of foolhardy courage to distribute that film in Iran. It will truly be 70 million against 300.

http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...0.html?cnn=yes

[kyleo]

Eh, I doubt the average American relates "Persians" to "Iranians."

[StrangeCheez]

Originally Posted by kyleo

Eh, I doubt the average American relates "Persians" to "Iranians."

Yeah, I laughed when I read this. I think that they have self-esteem issues in Iran. They get offended too easily, and everything has to be a conspiracy against them.

[B-Hath]

Geez. All this fuss over a MOVIE based on a COMIC BOOK which was VERY loosely based on a supposed actual event? Too many people have too much time on their hands.

[coyotes_geek]

It's most unfortunate that this movie could damage American-Iranian relations, seeing as how the Iranians liked us so much before this movie came out.

[kyleo]

Originally Posted by StrangeCheez

Yeah, I laughed when I read this. I think that they have self-esteem issues in Iran. They get offended too easily, and everything has to be a conspiracy against them.

The Iranian people are cultured and knowledgable, despite their current leadership. They fear the US's intentions towards them, so it's understandable that his could upset them. I would call it a strange coincidence if I thought the American people knew what or where the Persian Empire was.

[Art Vandalay]

^^exactly 90% of the people who saw the movie probably dont even know the story or what the hell the persian empire was?

[VDeal]

Originally Posted by B-Hath

Geez. All this fuss over a MOVIE based on a COMIC BOOK which was VERY loosely based on a supposed actual event? Too many people have too much time on their hands.

Exactly. It is based on a comic book for God's (Allah's) sake. A caricature. Think the Greeks will be complaining soon that they are portrayed as half naked, blood thirsty, warriors?

[TexasPandaMama]

Originally Posted by kyleo

Eh, I doubt the average American relates "Persians" to "Iranians."

Originally Posted by StrangeCheez

Yeah, I laughed when I read this. I think that they have self-esteem issues in Iran. They get offended too easily, and everything has to be a conspiracy against them.

Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

It's most unfortunate that this movie could damage American-Iranian relations, seeing as how the Iranians liked us so much before this movie came out.

These were my exact same thought when I got into the first paragraph.

[Spurfan15]

The story of few good, brave, strong men vs. countless evil beings is not a new concept in this world. It just so happens that the "bad" side actually existed as the Persian Empire. I really do not think Miller's decision to make the story like that and to put the Persians in such a light is that big of a crime against humanity. He was just trying to stress the valor of the Spartans and make them appear in an even better light. Any person with common sense knows the Persians didn't have an army of warlocks or creatures from the pits of hell. And don't forget, part of the Spartan culture was portrayed as really harsh (ie the evil priests and the tossing of babies off of cliffs). The movie certain stretches things (and in the case of the Persians, quite a bit), but it is also very enjoyable, and above all is just a story.

[StrangeCheez]

Any person with common sense knows the Persians didn't have an army of warlocks or creatures from the pits of hell.

WHAAAAT!!! Man that sucks.

[austin_spurs_fan]

most people on;y the Spartans becasue of College football. I would say most people wouldn't associate sparta with greece if asked before the movie.

[kyleo]

Originally Posted by Spurfan15

Any person with common sense knows the Persians didn't have an army of warlocks or creatures from the pits of hell.

That just doubled my desire to see this movie

[Jason R]

Eh, I can see their point of view, none of us would want a hugely budgeted Hollywood movie about how evil America is based on our dirty wars.

[SimTek]

Every time I see a WWII movie it makes me hate Germans, Italians and Japanese.

[VDeal]

Originally Posted by Spurfan15

Any person with common sense knows the Persians didn't have an army of warlocks or creatures from the pits of hell.

But they did bring along, lots of naked, hot women, on their conquests though, right?

[CRL]

I can see why the Iranians are pissed. According to the History Channel, it wasn't just 300 Spartans defending the pass during the last battle. One other Greek City-State had 1,000 troops that also stayed, so in reality, it was 1,300 Greeks defending the pass against 500,000 Persians. Much worse odds.