“American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran’s historic past and insulting its civilisation. 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.” - Javad Shamaqdari, cultural advisor to
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
“. . . the current state of political divisions in
America being what they are, it is hard to
imagine a film more calculated to induce the
vapors among sensitive liberals, or to
provoke wild whoops of delight from among
the ranks of the gung-ho.”
– Tom Holland, ‘Mirage in the Movie House,’ 2007
“Over the protests of the highest
government (the Ephors or the U.N.), a
commander-in-chief goes to war with an
undersize army against a formidable
Middle-Eastern power.”
– Richard Corliss, Time, 14th March 2007
Political Structure Head of State
Senators Elected Body
SPARTA & U.S. CULTURE Ideology
Strong/Free Women No Slavery
Fight For Freedom Image Strong Military Athletic Culture
“The weak had been weeded out. The strong had stepped up. Then came weeks, months, years of constant training. The Hoo-ahs couldn’t wait to go to war. They were an all-star football team that had endured bruising, exhausting, dangerous practice sessions twelve hours a day, seven days a week – for years – without ever getting to play the game” (pp.24).
“I was getting bombarded with political questions…When someone in a movie says, ‘We’re going to fight for freedom,’ that’s now a dirty word . . . Europeans totally feel that way. If you mention democracy or freedom, you’re an imperialist or a fascist. That’s crazy to me.” - Zack Snyder, qtd. in Daly, ‘07
“The film 300 uses technological innovation and spectacular special effects not so much to engage with contemporary moral questions and problems of war and politics but rather to communicate a stylized portrayal of the Spartan warriors as the unquestioning defenders of the universally desirable paradigm of ‘freedom’” - Monica Silveria Cyrino, 2011, pp.34.
I. Representing History On Screen
II. Problems Of Portraying Greece
III. Adaptation Of Comic
IV. Source Of Narration
Philosophical / Intellectual
Complex Political
Organisation
Geographic Complexities
Lacks Visual
Identifiers
No Blood Sports
(Homo- ) Sexuality
Interior as Exterior Appearance
Faithfulness of Adaptation
Symbolism of Comparison
Freedom versus Slavery
CONCLUSIONS
Chris Davies – [email protected]
300 does feature a number of similarities between Spartan and American culture.
These are largely the product of simplification of history, adaptation of Ancient Greek culture to the screen for Western audiences, and adherence to the graphic novel source.
The depiction of Persian culture is the result of a unreliable narrator and comic book visuals interpreting history.
The film is NOT an allegory for the Iraq War.
It touched a nerve with audiences because of its elements of wish fulfilment fantasy.
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