WingColors

I think this falls into the same ARE YOU SERIOUS category with the dipshit who reviewed 300 as if it were a documentary and slammed it for its historical inaccuracies.

As you said... it's a movie, based on a graphic novel that was LOOSELY based on reality.

Come on people... the movie rocks, get over it.

Yeah, I think it's rather seriously.

And when watching the movie, I wasn't thinking about the Iranians at all. I mean, I guess they must be Persians if they are taking offence, but seriously? Do they have a problem with their own history?

Yeah... I'm sure ancient Persia had gigantic monster-men with blades for hands to decapitate people with. VERY offensive.

So far, every single person I've talked to regarding this issue has taken the exact same stance we've seen here. I've been checking out blog posts and forum postings from people who are angry about it and I have yet to see one simple, reasoned argument from that side of the debate.

I think western existence is offensive to most in the middle east.

Ozone: If Middle-Eastern soldiers had come to your country and turned it into rubble, Middle-Eastern existence would be offensive to you, too.

Ozone42: I'll write out the same response I gave on my blog.

There are definitely extremist elements within Middle Eastern culture that are looking for excuses to decry the U.S. and its policies. However, I think painting the entire region (and culture) is unfair. Like many in Western cultures, there are plenty of people in the Middle East who really couldn’t give a flying crap about our way of life and values — they just want to get on with living their lives.

JulianBH,

That may be true, but these hatreds from west to east have existed decades, if not CENTURIES. That's not to say there's not plenty of intolerance the other way around as well, it just strikes me as a bit strange that they take such a silly stance on a mostly fictionaly, stylized movie.

The funniest thing I read was a some Iranian official in some state run Iranian paper saying the movie was a lie, that Leonidas never fought the Persian army and he gave up without a fight.

Offensive? Really? They think a story where 300 soldiers fight a battle against one million, and somehow make it past day 1 is offensive?

Wait until I tell them about the time I had sex with 9 girls in 2 hours. It'll blow their freaking minds.

If anyone has an interest, there's a really great debate going on in the comments section of my post. I encourage anyone with an opinion on this issue to join in!

Even though I'm Persian, I'm not going to lie, it was entertaining. But I couldn't help but cringe when I saw Dennis Rodman look-a-likes portrayed as Persians! I understand it's just a movie but it was kind of embarassing watching it with all my friends. By the way, Iranians are not angry because they hate the west or "freedom." It's just the fact that Persians were pretty much portrayed as sex-crazed psychotic cowards. Is that not offensive??

nm1188,

Seriously?

Do you identify with people from 2500 years ago? Even if the movie had claimed to be historically accurate, what would it matter? Few if any of us can claim that in the past 2500 years all their ancestors were noble, refined, and civilized. Few of us can claim that even in the last 500 years.

I'm sure some of them were sex-crazed, some of them were psychotic, and some of them were cowards. I'm sure some of my ancestors were too.

I can understand taking pride in ancestry to a degree. I can see national pride, etc. But the level you're talking about is frankly ridiculous to me. It doesn't make any sense. I don't mean that as an insult in any way whatsoever, I just completely don't understand, could you maybe enlighten us a bit more?

I can see nm1188's point. There's a lot of anti-arab stuff making the rounds in the western world. If you're Persian, you're probably going to find yourself feeling a little sensitive when you're sitting in an audience and the only people who look like you on the screen are the sex crazed psychotic cowards. I feel that way when I got to the movies and the women are all idiots who can't save themselves without the intervention of men.

So, I don't think this (nm1188's note) is about national pride or ancestral pride. It's about stereotypes.

Now, there are things to be said on both sides about this, including valid points about a movie that's aiming for historical accuracy, but I'm mainly just trying to say that nm1188's mild comment didn't strike me in the least as "frankly ridiculous" but as an understandable reaction. (It's a little like what I said on the note about Kathy Sierra -- you can't really know how it feels until you walk a mile in the person's shoes, which is why it's good to hear from people who actually walk in those shoes as you figure out what you think about something.)

If you've seen the movie you'll understand that the main body of the movie is told from the perspective of a Spartan rallying his troops for battle.

You too would exagerate to pump up your troops.

Why else would Xerxes be a 10 foot tall beast of a metrosexual?

...sex-crazed psychotic cowards. Is that not offensive??

No, no, and yes. In that order.

Frankly, I think this whole thing is overblown, sort of like when people still gripe about West Side Story being offensive to Puerto Ricans.

/It was. Very.
//I'm over it.

Why else would Xerxes be a 10 foot tall beast of a metrosexual?

Best description I've yet heard of the guy.

/Still laughing.

I will here admit to not having seen the movie! I'm so over Xerxes. He had a terrible temper, wasn't very good at fixing things, and spent too much time grooming his chest.

I almost bust out laughing when we were first 'exposed' to Xerxes...

He moved like a supermodel and curled his lips like a woman of the night... he gave me the creeps.

I'm with RightOn. I don't think it was intended to be offensive to anyone. They didn't originate the story, they just told it. Sure, they made Xerxes into a tranny, but maybe he was? If anything, they showed the Iranian people to be GLBT friendly.

If anyone should be offended, it should be those of us without a totally ripped bod. Having to watch 300 beefcakes parade around in their leather bikinis...that's a little depressing. :P

I understand how people could be offended by 300, but then again I can understand why how Germans could be offended by schindler's list, I can understand these things because im offended by things everyday. However look at what was going on in the film. First lets get into the idea of the Persian army being cowardice, first off the film was historically accurate to a degree when it cames to what we know when it came to Xerxes army (with the exception of the sword armed fat guy and the uper immortal(thats actually his title in the credits lol) aka the big dude that actually almost killed Leonidas ). The majority of the army was made up of slaves who's country Xerxes had conquered during his campaign. They were not warriors, they were malnutritioned(sp?), poorly equipped and untrained fighters, now imagine that happened to you, and now you have a choice to be killed for disobeying you're new "god" or you can go and take a chance and try to defeat some warriors. You would look around and take relief in the idea of the MASSIVE army (some scholars actually believe that the army was larger in real life then the one in the film). So you would have courage. The first waves of the Persian army was fierce, they were not shown at all as cowards. The first time anybody from Xerxes army showed a sign of real fear was the cliff scene, however before that the Spartans had massacred many Persians. I don't consider myself a coward but to be on the wrong side of the Spartans after seeing them massacre many people just like me and to have my back to a cliff, hell I would be crapping my pants. Then the immortals came in, they were well trained, fierce, well fed, AND most importantly they were warriors (and what they said about the immortals never losing a battle before is historically accurate.). Now during this part of the film it becomes much less of a "OMG OMG OMG THE SPARTANS ARE GONNA BRING ON THE PAIN!!!!!GE ZOMG" attitude, it becomes darker, and Spartans start dieing (not a whole lot of them but still they die.) This is a way of showing a total lack of hope for the Spartans. After the immortals battle is over you see the movie changes back into the Spartans kicking a whole lot of ass non-stop, this is because the Spartans have now demoralized Xerxes army. Which is a VERY effective war tactic, it was used against both the U.S. army and the people of the U.S. in Vietnam, and we all know how that ended... So if you look at the surface you could easily see that the Persian army were cowards in it, but if you look at the context of what the situation was for them, you would see just about anybody would be.

Now for the "sex-crazed psychotic" bit, you need to look at the scene again in which the betrayer talks to Xerxes, do you see outside of Xerxes tent? Do you see some massive orgy going on outside that all the soldiers and slaves are taking part of? The answer is a resounding NO, you see the world in which a man who really believes that he is a god and has everybody else convinced he is a god lives in. What he wants to be surrounded with women half naked (or entirely naked). Now you are propably gonna ask me "alright Mr Know It All Whom Thinks He Is So Smart then, why were they all the women deformed in some way? Im gonna take you on a ride now into Xerxes mind. Im going to explain why the women would look like that. First off, Xerxes thought of himself as a god, but he didnt feel like a god, he was human after all, so he craves power because of that even though he is a king, he doesnt feel he has the power that he should with him being a "god". So although he is a king in a twisted sort of way he probably feels helpless in many ways, this would surface sexually, those that feel like they have authority in life tend to like to be submissive in sex, and those that feel weak tend to like control in sex, its something you see all the time (Hence why millionaires tend to be into bondage and have the women or in some cases the other man in control and not them selfs. They feel control all the time so it is not nearly as stimulating as it once was.) So most likely Xerxes would be VERY control drivin sexually, and probably ultra masochistic, since that is one of the most extreme forms of control, the control of pain and even death of others. The most likely reason why the women in Xerxes tent would be so horribly disfigured is because Xerxes (for a lack of a better term) would most likely get off from doing that to women.

People are taking the wrong ideas from Xerxes and his army this is not as "Spartans VS Persians" conflict it was a Leonidas VS Xerxes conflict. Xerxes is the coward of the film, he is the sex crazed ego driving lunatic in the movie. It is a testament to how the Persians and many slaves from other countries suffered because of Xerxes, Not because they wanted to, but because it was the only way to survive. I actually came out of the film 300 with an attitude of Xerxes was such a monster for doing this to his people rather then, anything negative of the Persian population. (Well that and I was so pumped up I just sorta wanted to go and play some starcraft and kick some protoss/terrain ass.)

It only takes 1 of 2 things to offend people...

1: To do something offensive.

2: For people to take something as offensive (I could take offense to seeing a black guy and a white girl dating if I was racist, it doesn't mean what I am finding offensive is actually bad, but I can take offense to this because its me.) People don't understand something. You give things more power then you realize, Look at a lot of gay people and the word "queer" they turned it around. and now that word has lost a lot of its power.

I mean my co worker is black and he is EXTREMELY racist against whites (Im white btw) and nothing annoys him more then the fact that what he says has no power over me, because I don't let it have any power. Non-violent resistance also works when it comes to words ;D...

but im off topic what were talking about? oh yeah Xerxes is a tranny *giggle*

wanna tell me if you agree with me, or if you wanna tell me off about what I said? email me at gamoroth@hotmail.com :)

BTW if anybody should be angry its the gay population, if you know anything about the real life Spartans you know what im talking about. *wink*

Actually the Persian army did horrible when it came to that battle, (kicking ass would indicate that it would only take a few waves of attacks, when in reality the Spartans did hold off the Persian army for 3 days. Considering the figures of the opposing side, the Persian army really did not "kick their ass". That however is something I have noticed that people seem to be throwing that term around quite a bit these days. Just because you win does not mean you kicked ass. That term indicates that you simply rolled over the enemy without virtually any resistance or slowing of momentum. People need to stop turning this topic into a pissing contest.

the persian empire consisted of a majority of nations that befell under Xerxes, Darius and the rest of em. but starting out, Persia's main country is what we know now as Iran. in fact it was around the late 1800's/early 1900's that the name was changed from persia to iran....they chose the name Iran because of the Aryan people that make up their population. personally i think Persia sounds better and about the issue at hand: THE MOVIE WAS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES NOT AN ACCURATE DEPICTION OF THE REAL EVENT. BARELY A FRACTION OF THE U.S. KNOWS IRANIANS ARE PERSIANS SO take it easy and get over it, its a movie.

I personally thought the persians were a wicked cool collection of warriors. The Spartans by contract were near naked muscle boys with spears and swords. Persians > Spartans in that context.

This was a work of fiction. It wasn't an A&E documentary. I mean it was a remake of a graphic novel for cry eye.

Haven't Italians gotten mad at Scorsese for his portrayal of Italians as gangsters? I think it's a silly reaction, but let's not pretend that westerners haven't been outraged at silly things.

And anybody that thinks either the west or the east deserves to get 'wiped out' is out of grips with reality, in my opinion.

That said, the movie shouldn't change. Obviously. And dare I chance a guess that most Iranians/Persians would agree?

Look at what has become of the mighty human race...

We bitch about things that conflict our comfort zones, and do nothing about it because we are all weak. Look to yourself as a conquered Soul and bear witness to what you COULD have been. The mere fact that most people overlook the strength of the human spirit just adds juice to the fire of insecurity. You would rather divide humainty into childish negative clusters hanging on to out dated myths and ideas.

The sad truth is we are conquered. This planet has fallen and YOU will personally pay the price in THIS lifetime. Who would YOU stand against? What do YOU fight for? I have seen too much talking on this world, and not enough action. Democracy has failed us all, bear witness every hour by listening to the "NEWS" of your worlds inability to take action. We are al being played...

The Spartans (In the Movie) had no place for the weak, only the strong survive. In the movie, it is a weak deformed Spartan that resulted the demise of the 300. With sheer will and the strength of the human spirit, those men faced an aggression that would make any of us run and cower. This movie is not about "Us and Them", but rather what WE are all capable of doing as HUMAN BEINGS.

It is still going to take a few years for us to finally realise that we all make up one thing with our "Differences" - and that is Gaia. This planet is OUR home, and only by dividing us are we conquered. We are so blind to the fact that there is something FAR more "Real" happening to us as a combined species now.

What better way for a conquering army to destroy the enemy? Let them destroy themselves. We are being played whether YOU like it or not.

The poor Iranians taking insult from the movie should rather look to their history books and feel proud that they were once part of the Ottaman Empire. Unfortunatly, the only way the Ottaman empire fell was due to a rott corrupting from the inside. Today, not many people even know who or what the Ottaman Empire were, even after all the things they did to help their people.

We are weak and conquered, and YOU and I seem to be the blame, not someone making a movie celebrating the strength of our species.

Get over it - You are MAN - ROAR FFS and take a stand in acting against stupidity. GOYA! (Get Off Your ARSE!!!)

i thought the south park episode was pretty good? anyone else see it?

Honestly...
I'm Persian.
I'm a chick.
Both characteristics portrayed as not the best in the movie...
but srsly. The movie was friggin' awesome. I mean, it got me pumped!

What planet are you from? To find the material in '300' offensive.The answer is F.U.B.A.R. This planet is full of idiotic aliens that take things to far out of context. And If you ask me, I'm offended by people who find this movie offensive.Fiction as I see it, is not a four letter word. Even when being entertained by a media, their are facts involved. People today piss and moan way to much, so why this? Because it is there and that seems to be enough. Racial serenity is a good idea on paper, but that's an old fire that has yet to be extinguished. A sword and shield story with lots of bloody gore and guts flying around is a 10 in my book.With 99% of the crap that Hollywood puts out, I really look forward to that 1% that's worth my 10 bucks!

Ok, I really feel that one should not take the movie all too seriously. At this point we've established that it's fiction, doesn't claim to be historically correct, and pretty damn entertaining.

And though I don't understand why someone would be offended by it, I could see it happening from my own experience. I pretty much boycotted the movie "Pathfinder" because of the historically incorrect way the vikings were portrayed in it. Why? Because my roots stem from Denmark.

Now does this make any sense? Nope. Is there some kind of objective justification to being insulted by a movie that was obviously poorly researched (in the case of Pathfinder) and solely aimed at entertaining? Nope. But that's exactly the point! Taking offense from a movie is an entirely subjective concept - there's no reasoning behind it.

So to sum up what I'm saying, though it's nonesense that modern-day Iranians or Afghanis should be offended by the portrayal of the Persians in the movie, I'm not surprised to see it happen nonetheless.

If you watch '300' again, look more closely and you will notice that it is actually an assault upon Islamic ideological dogma and not Persia. I wrote an article about this months ago.

Beyond that it is an obviously unapologetic uplifting of Western idealism and the birth-pangs of what most of us take for granted each and every day. It also pissed many people off because it was full of masculine braggadocio. Frankly, that right there is one of the biggest reasons why I love the movie.

We do way, way too much apologizing for who we are in the West, and mixed among us are too many of our own that want to spit on freedom because they've lived free their whole lives and feel guilty for it. Perhaps that guilt stems from never having had to fight to defend it.

I think offensive is a stretch. First, these are events that occured a long time ago. Second, it's so sensationalized it's hard to make a connection to today's events.

I'm not Iranian. So I can't judge that well. But I certainly don't think differently of Iran, or Persia, because of it.

Jar Jar was more offensive than Xerxes.

Well, the movie was biased for the sake of entertainment but while Iranian officialdom may have over-reacted (don't they always do against the US anyway), I think persons of Iranian background probably do have a right to feel a little offended (whether they are open-minded enough is another matter).

After all, many of the ancient Greek philosophers are said to have been paedophiles. However, very few Western films portray ancient Greeks as such based on stereotypes. Greek philosophy had a great influence on the evolution of Western culture. I'm sure there would be an uproar in the West if there was a film that portrays ancient Greeks as paedophiles, and in turn associate the modern-day West with paedophilia.

There are Iranians who are open-minded enough to accept a graphic novel and a movie as entertainment. But those who think otherwise and find it offensive have reason to feel so, and should not simply be dismissed, derided and told to "chill". Racial and religious stereotypes are a sensitive issue.

ppl hav e been offended by every movie ever made
Italians are offended by mafia movies, etc heres a secret, ppl are stupid,

there are two reasons people actually care about whether or not 300 is offending.

1) we are at war with the ppl it may (isnt) offending

2) it is reaay popular (it made 72 million dollars first week it was out.

300 was an official cult film when it came out. none of my friends or i thought it would be offensive. we were all thinking "holy shit that was one of the best gory films ive seen in a while". most of the cinema had that same reaction. i didnt hear one complaint about the film at all. xerxes was a bit strange though

Did you member incident with caricatures? I've heard, that several people drive in arabic countries and show some pictures to arabic people. And it was not the same caricatures. But in muslim countries people believe much more to muslims, but not other people... And you can see the result.

I think, 300 has the same "problems", some of agressive muslims do not want to live, he love war and in country with low level of communications to world these guys have success to get agreeesive ideas to other.

People act as though they don't see what's in front of them. If it's not readily apparent why Iranians would be offended by the portrayal of ancient Iranians (Persians) in this film, then you're either ignorant or you're not paying any attention.

First, Iran is portrayed as a multicultural (and distinctly non-White) den of every kind of perversion (sexual and otherwise [see the executioner with the surgically altered arms a la Hellraiser]) while Sparta is portrayed as a racially homogenous (and White, interestingly enough) society rooted in honour and "toughness" (more like steeped in violence though they are never portrayed in that way).

Through this construction alone several negative racial stereotypes are perpetuated throughout the film. But forsaking American issues of negative racial stereotyping and issues of race, Iranian offense can understandably be drawn from

I mean, this post could be in .pdf format and carry on for pages. One of the first things about this movie that struck me as thoroughly idiotic (WITHOUT discussing the acting! "This is Sparta!")was the offensive nature of the film. But not just where Iranians are concerned (I'm not iranian). You don't need to be Iranian to be offended by the classlessness inherent in this production.

The movie sucked.

Man you are the life of every party I bet. You can pick anything apart and find conspiracies everywhere you look if you want to.

This movie had no effect on Iran that's greater than what their 3 foot tall (why are all dictators tiny little men?) Hellraiser himself.

In short, no country on Earth needs a movie to make them look bad.

What do you guys think? Is 300 offensive?

I have not been offended by it yet, (I haven't seen the film) and I would have to wait and see it to decide. But as you ask the question "Is 300 offensive", I think the answer is yes, if you are offended by it and no if you are not.

We can't dictate to others what will offend them, that is their decision. As it is your decision to be offended by whatever offends you.

This is my first post on this website and what a topic! lol.

For god sake, i mean honestly, IT'S A FILM! a supposedly fiction film based on Frank Millers novel. I bet these people would find a problem with the Simpson Movie or Cinderella for that matter!

It's an awesome film though :)

Laters

You see what I see but not through my eyes. What I see is colored by the burdens of my past, the passions of my present and my hopes and fears for the future.
Mark

Huh? What?

It's more offending that I will never have abs like the Spartans. I doubt even the make-up artists that worked with them could help me!

haha

Chris

If Iranians feel that its offensive, they are just expressing their opinion and defensiveness based on their identity and culture which they uncomfortably thought were wrongly portrayed. They felt as if they were being branded as sex crazed cowards even in today's world. And with all the propaganda of the West against Islam Im not surprised if they would feel that they way they were portrayed biased-ly(even if it was loosely based innuendos can still be implied).
Its their right to feel offended. Its not like their being offended is gonna slump 300 sales or ruin its cinema trcak record...Let them vent their feelings! They're humans too and everyone should be allowed to express their feelings!

I guess if they have to be mad at someone - it's the movie creators and their gay vision of Xerxes. You know he doesn't look like a real history figure. So why be offended?

Any enchanting movie on the fine Holocaust?