300 is FICTION
Just read a brief post over on SCIFI.com titled, “Iranians Decry 300 Portrayal” and I’m in disbelief…
Iranians Decry 300 Portrayal
Zack Snyder’s hit 300, about the Greco-Persian Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., has drawn the wrath of Iranians for showing their ancestors as bloodthirsty “savages,” the Agence France-Presse news service reported. (The Persian Empire evolved into what is now modern-day Iran.)
Iranian press, officials and bloggers have united in denouncing the film as another example of “psychological warfare” against Tehran by its American archenemy at a time of mounting tension over its nuclear program, the AFP reported.
A cultural advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the film as “American psychological warfare against Iran.”
The film, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, has been a huge hit in North America and other countries, notably Greece. The AFP reported that 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.
I nearly choked when I read the quote that 300 was “American psychological warfare against Iran.” The 300 graphic novels came out nearly a decade ago… They are a work of fiction and fantasy (and a wonderful read at that!). Yes, the storyline is based on the Battle of Thermopolyae, but never once has the film or the graphic novels been presented as a complete work of fact. People get too mired in analyzing the details and finding flaws and faults, that they fail to see the big picture: It’s only a movie.
Battle of Thermopolyae - In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the invader in one of history’s most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. Though they knew it meant their own deaths, they held their position and secured the retreat of the other Greek forces. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war.[1] The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian navy destroyed and Xerxes was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it Persian expansion into Europe.[2]
