The Curse of Sparta

300 is the new product of Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be screened from Friday, March 9. The movie is about the Battle of Thermopylae that happened at 480 B.C between Persians and Greeks. Although Persians won the battle, they suffered from heavy loss that eventually led to the victory of Greeks in the Battle of Salamis.

An online petition has been launched, calling this an unethical action for picturing Persians as some savage barbarians. I came across a second opinion, The ridiculous truth, by Nema Milaninia. Please share your thoughts if you feel strong either way.


Here comes the Nema's article:

The ridiculous truth
This is one of the most ridiculous petitions I have every seen in my entire life and the fact that a “Dr.” drafted it and that over 2,500 people signed it is even more ridiculous. The petitioned is drafted as an attack against the movie 300 for its “inaccurate” portrayal of the “Persians.” Actually, its more a petition that states “Persians are the best, we conquered the world but of course we would never kill people to do it.”

First of all, who ever said that 300 is intended in any way to be a documentary of historical events. I saw ogres, freaks, rhino’s being ridden, and other supernatural creatures. You would have to be brain-dead to actually think that a genius like Frank Miller intended to reflect real-life events, than simply create a stylish battle movie. Think about it, its like Christians attacking the Mel Brooks movie History of the World for being historically inaccurate because it shows a waiter bugging Jesus during the last supper. These movies are not intended to be a historical account and everyone knows it.

Second, it’s pretty disappointing to see so many Iranians in an outrage against this movie when there’s so many more important and bigger issues out there, such as, lets see, a possible war on Iran which could cause thousands of deaths, the abduction of female activists in Iran, the continual deprivation of human rights in Iran and in the US. I’ve signed petition on these issues, and in general, they don’t usually garner more than 1000 people. Its really shocking to see how double that amount care more about attacking a movie and in essence attacking freedom of speech, then for promoting it in a country which represses it.

And lastly, I can’t help discussing this beautiful line of cultural arrogance in the petition:

“Based on the Zoroastrian doctrine, it was the strong emphasis on honesty and integrity that gave the ancient Persians credibility to rule the world, even in the eyes of the people belonging to the conquered nations (Herodotus, mid 5th century B.C). Truth for the sake of truth, was the universal motto and the very core of the Persian culture that was followed not only by the great kings, but even the ordinary Persians made it a point to adhere to this code of conduct.”

The Persians did not expand through organic growth and love for their culture. They did so through conquest, which by its very nature requires bloodshed. The fact that the Persians continuously tried to subdue the Greeks is evidence of their imperialist desires more than anything else. If the Persians only cared about “truth” and credibility, then why in the world would they seek to conquer a country that was resisting them? The fact is, the Persians were no different than any other empire in the past or present. They conquered through their military, stripped their enemies of freedom, and instituted a systematic tribute to tax each province.

Yes, one could argue that the Persians gave those they conquered many things as well, such as a postal system and some form of human rights But then again, that’s precisely the argument the British have used to justify colonialism in India, South Africa, Kenya and other places. Even were that to be true, it truly takes someone culturally egocentric to believe that there could ever be an empire which expanded through virtue rather than bloodshed. In the end, the movie itself displays no ignorance of history because its clearly intended to be fictional. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the people who created and signed the petition against it.