Iran Condemns Blockbuster Movie 300 as American Psychological Warfare

Some Hail Hollywood Film as Most Important Piece of Propaganda Made Since 9-11

From The People's Daily Online--An Iranian official on Sunday lashed out at the Hollywood movie 300 for insulting the Persian civilization, local Fars News Agency reported. Javad Shamqadri, an art advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, accused the new movie of being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture", said the report.

Shamqadri was quoted as saying "following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture," adding "certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies." He also claimed that the movie's effort would be fruitless, because "values in Iranian culture and the Islamic Revolution are too strongly seated to be damaged by such plans", said the Iranin official. Shamqadri, who is also a filmmaker, said that production of more domestic and artistic films which portray Iranian achievements is a proper response to movies like 300.

The blockbuster Hollywood film, which took an estimated $70 million in its debut over the weekend, is about the famous Battle of Thermopylae. 300 Spartan warriors led by their king Leonidas fought and died in an epic battle to delay a massive Persian army's invasion, so that the Greeks could reorganize a counterattack.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not the only one who has bad things to say about 300.

Ephraim Lytle, assistant professor of hellenistic history at the University of Toronto in his article in the Toronto Star writes that "300's Persians are ahistorical monsters and freaks." He cites 300s "most noteworthy abuse of history" as the Persians being "turned into monsters, but the non-Spartan Greeks are simply all too human."

In today's Jawa Report post, the blogger seems to agree with Ahmadinejad in one respect by stating that the film 300 is indeed American propaganda. But this is where their opinions diverge as he writes, "300 is the kind of propaganda that "reminds us that we are the good guys and that our ideals are better than the ideals of our enemies." He explains further--