Iran against 300

TEHRAN -- War epic 300, a smash hit in the United States for its gory portrayal of the Greco-Persian wars, has drawn the wrath of Iranians for showing their ancestors as bloodthirsty "savages."

I guess fascists will send all there friends to see this film ! David

March 13, 2007 found at metimes.com

WAR EPIC: Cast member Lena Headey attends the premiere of the film ‘300’ held at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood March 5. (photo REUTERS)

The 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.

"Hollywood declares war on Iranians," said the headline in the reformist daily Ayandeh-No of the film that tells the story of the 300 Spartan soldiers fighting off ancient Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.

"It seeks to tell people that Iran, which is in the Axis of Evil now, has for long been the source of evil and modern Iranians' ancestors are the ugly murderous dumb savages you see in 300," fumed the paper on its front page.

A cultural advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the film as "American psychological warfare against Iran."

"American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization," Javad Shamaghdari told semi-official Fars news agency.

Three MPs in the Iranian parliament have also written to the foreign ministry to protest against the production and screening of this "anti-Iranian Hollywood film."

The film has already proved a major box office hit in the United States and, unsurprisingly, Greece.

It is highly improbable that 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 than they are internationally released.

Cyber savvy Iranians have already started online petitions and set off "Google bombs" against 300.

The furor over 300 is by no means the first time that Iran has been left fuming over Western portrayals of its ancient history.

Iranians were also enraged by the 2004 epic Alexander about the conquest of the Persian Empire and a notorious 2005 British newspaper review of an exhibition of antiquities that branded ancient Persia the "Evil Empire."

See the film comment and the official filmclip at 300

Iran's up in arms over WB's '300'

Shangari calls film 'psychological warfare'

Warner Bros.' "300" is being greeted in Iran with about as much warmth as a U.N. weapons inspector.

While U.S. auds see the film as a comicbook come to life -- replete with hyperstylized action and broadly drawn heroes and villains -- it has a deeper resonance in the Mideast, where it's seen as a distorted view of very real events.

"Hollywood declares war on Iranians," exclaimed a headline in Iranian daily Ayandeh-No.

Javad Shangari, a cultural adviser to Iranian prexy Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, attacked the film as being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological warfare aimed at Iranian culture."

While the pic is unlikely to be released theatrically in Iran, pirated DVDs already are circulating on the black market.

"Everyone is starting to react. The DVD is already very available, and people are quite angry," one Tehran-based producer said.

An online petition addressed to Warner has tallied 35,000 signatures. The petition, set up by Canada-based archaeologist Hamed Vahdati Nasab, protests Warner's "irresponsible, unethical and unscientific actions ... while announcing our disgust at such a heresy, we demand an immediate historical review and quick apology from the responsible people."

Director Zack Snyder and the film's producers have emphasized that the film is based on the Frank Miller graphic novel and was never intended to be an accurate historical representation.

But that's done little to assuage concerns by those who see the film's archetypes as Western stereotypes.

Nasab told Daily Variety, "What would people say if they made a film about Martin Luther King (Jr.), showed him as a monster, and tried to defend it as a fiction? You can't do that. It's unethical. This is a national matter for all Iranians."

Iranians are descendants of Persians. The film, which depicts the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae between 300 Spartan soldiers and an invading Persian army, shows them as the villains. The Persian emperor at the time, Xerxes, was descended from Cyrus, who is revered in Iran for having written the first declaration of human rights.

Pic arrives at a time of heightened political tension over the West's desire to rein in Iran's nuclear energy program. While the hard-line government in Tehran has insisted its program will be used solely for peaceful purposes, many outside the country suspect the end goal is to obtain nuclear weapons.

Otherwise, the film, with its stylized depictions of violence, seems unlikely to cause any problems in the Mideast. Execs at Shooting Stars, the UAE-based distrib repping "300" across the Arab world, confirmed that the pic would likely clear censors across the region.

"People are seeing it as an entertainment here," Shooting Star's Roy Chacra said.

A Warner Bros. spokesman said: "The film '300' is a work of fiction inspired by the Frank Miller graphic novel and loosely based on an historical event. The studio developed this film purely as a fictional work with the sole purpose of entertaining audiences; it is not meant to disparage an ethnicity or culture or make any sort of political statement.

Iran against 300

Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic

WAR EPIC: Cast member Lena Headey attends the premiere of the film ‘300’ held at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood March 5. (photo REUTERS)

See the film comment and the official filmclip at 300

Iran's up in arms over WB's '300'

Shangari calls film 'psychological warfare'