A post by Maynard
The movie “300” (based upon Frank Miller’s graphic novel) tells the tale of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. For a time, 300 Spartans, led by Sparta’s King Leonidas, stood against the vast armies of Persia (Iran). Xerxes, the Persian king, was ultimately thwarted in his quest to conquer the West.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad describes the movie as “part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture.” This is enough in itself (along with Tammy’s earlier note) to make me buy a ticket. But is the movie any good? Is it true to history?
Here are a couple of interesting articles on the historicity of “300”. Click here for some background and Q&A. And here is an article by historian Victor Davis Hanson.
Bottom line is that the movie is fundamentally true, but a lot of liberties were taken for the sake of putting on a good show. Keep in mind that the screenplay is based on a comic book and not a history book.
So- Xerxes wasn’t a 9 foot tall transvestite?
How about Victor Davis Hanson for Secretary of State? He’s a conservative Democrat critical of his party for becoming isolationist, blindingly multi-culturalist, out-of-touch utopians. He believes the war in Iraq is a worthwhile undertaking and the West can win the war on terror.
Give Patreus a Chance
Sounds like a ripoff from the Biblical account where Gideon and Israel defeated the Midians with 300 men. See account in Judges Chapter 7. The account is also mentioned in Isaiah Ch. 9. In this account God selects 300 men to attack and and defeat the Midians.
The battle of Thermopylae wasn’t much like Gideon’s battle. For one thing, the Spartans lost at Thermopylae (albeit through treachery). It’s significance is that they bought time for the Athenians to reinforce Athens and defeat the Persians in a later naval battle. Also, it had a strong psychological effect on the Greeks sort of like the Alamo (which was also a defeat for the Texans).
I don’t really buy the “fundamentally true” line. It sounds a bit too much like “fake but accurate” for my taste. Seeing a movie because it pisses off the enemy is fine up to a point but eventually it makes you more predictable, which is not the way to win a war, cultural or otherwise.