300 (film)

]

Victor Davis Hanson, formerly professor of Classical history at California State University, Fresno, who wrote the foreword to a 2007 re-issue of the graphic novel, states that the film demonstrates a specific affinity with the original material of Herodotus in that it captures the martial ethos of ancient Sparta and represents Thermopylae as a "clash of civilizations". He remarks that Simonides, Aeschylus and Herodotus viewed Thermopylae as a battle against "Eastern centralism and collective serfdom", which opposed "the idea of the free citizen of an autonomous polis". [cite web |url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/rev2007-03-07vdh.html |title=With Your Shield or On It |accessdate=2007-03-18 |author=Victor Davis Hanson |date=2007-03-07 |publisher=City Journal] He further states that the film portrays the battle in a "surreal" manner, and that the intent was to "entertain and shock first, and instruct second." [cite web |url=http://www.townhall.com/columnists/VictorDavisHanson/2007/03/22/300_fact_or_fiction |title='300' Fact or Fiction? |accessdate=2007-03-23 |author=Victor Davis Hanson |date=2007-03-22 |publisher=Townhall.com]

Touraj Daryaee, associate professor of Ancient History at California State University, Fullerton, criticizes the movie's use of classical sources, writing:

Some passages from the Classical authors Aeschylus, Diodorus, Herodotus and Plutarch are spilt over the movie to give it an authentic flavor. Aeschylus becomes a major source when the battle with the “monstrous human herd” of the Persians is narrated in the film. Diodorus’ statement about Greek valor to preserve their liberty is inserted in the film, but his mention of Persian valor is omitted. Herodotus’ fanciful numbers are used to populate the Persian army, and Plutarch’s discussion of Greek women, specifically Spartan women, is inserted wrongly in the dialogue between the “misogynist” Persian ambassador and the Spartan king. Classical sources are certainly used, but exactly in all the wrong places, or quite naively. [cite web |url=http://www.iranian.com/Daryaee/2007/March/300/index.html |title=Go tell the Spartans |accessdate=2007-03-23 |author=Touraj Daryaee |date=2007-03-14|publisher=iranian.com]

Controversy

Before the release of "300", Warner Brothers expressed concerns about the political aspects of the film's theme. Snyder relates that "There was a huge sensitivity about East versus West with the studio." [cite news |author=Sheigh Crabtree |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-3004mar04,1,6828604.story |title=Giving '300' movie a comic-book grandeur |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=2007-03-04 |accessdate=2007-03-08 ] Media speculation about a possible parallel between the Greco-Persian conflict and current events began in an interview with Snyder that was conducted before the Berlin Film Festival.cite news |author=Michael Cieply |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/movies/05spartans.html |title=That Film's Real Message? It Could Be 'Buy A Ticket' |publisher=The New York Times |date=2007-03-05 |accessdate=2007-03-06] The interviewer remarked that "everyone is sure to be translating this [film] into contemporary politics." Snyder replied that, while he was aware that people would read the film through the lens of contemporary events, no parallels between the film and the contemporary world were intended. [cite news |author=Jason Silverman |url=http://www.wired.com/news/culture/1,72775-0.html |title=300 Brings History to Bloody Life |publisher=Wired News |date=2007-02-22 |accessdate=2007-03-17 ]

Outside the current political parallels, some critics have raised more general questions about the film's ideological orientation. The "New York Post"'s Kyle Smith writes that the film would have pleased "Adolf's boys", [cite news |author=Kyle Smith |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03092007/entertainment/movies/persian_shrug_movies_kyle_smith.htm |title=Persian Shrug |publisher=New York Post |date=2007-03-09 |accessdate=2007-03-16] and "Slate"'s Dana Stevens compares the film to "The Eternal Jew", "as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war".cite news |author=Dana Stevens |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2161450/ |title=A Movie Only a Spartan Could Love |publisher=Slate |date=2007-03-08 |accessdate=2007-03-16] Roger Moore, a critic for the "Orlando Sentinel", relates "300" to Susan Sontag's definition of "fascist art". [cite news |author=Roger Moore |url=http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2007/03/300_as_fascist_.html |title=300 as Fascist Art |publisher=Orlando Sentinel |date=2007-03-07 |accessdate=2007-03-16 ]

However, "Newsday" critic Gene Seymour stated that such reactions are misguided, writing that "the movie's just too darned silly to withstand any ideological theorizing." [cite news |author=Gene Seymour |url=http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/ny-etlede5121896mar09,0,2850452.story?coll=ny- |title=On the field of this battle, war is swell |publisher=Newsday |date=2007-03-09 |accessdate=2007-03-16] Snyder himself dismissed ideological readings, suggesting that reviewers who critique a "graphic novel movie about a bunch of guys...stomping the snot out of each other" using words like " 'neocon,' 'homophobic,' 'homoerotic' or 'racist' " are "missing the point." [cite news|author=Jonah Weiland|title="300" Post-game: One-on-one with Zack Snyder |publisher=Comic Book Resources|date=2007-03-14|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9982|accessdate=2007-03-16]

Since its opening, "300" also attracted controversy over its portrayal of Persians. Various critics, historians, journalists, and officials of the Iranian government including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [cite news |author=Ali Jaafar |title=Iran president irked by '300' |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117961560.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |publisher=Variety |date=2007-03-21 |accessdate=2007-03-24] denounced the film. [cite news |url=http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070313-083328-5668r| title=Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic“300”
publisher=Middle East Times |date=2007-03-13 |accessdate=2007-03-13] [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6446183.stm| title=Iran condemns Hollywood war epic |publisher=BBC |date=2007-03-13 |accessdate=2007-03-13] [cite news |title=Iran's U.N. Mission Outraged at '300' |url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-UN-Iran-Movie.html?ex=1175313600&en=a161577676688e8f&ei=5070 |publisher=The New York Times |date=2007-03-23 |accessdate=2007-03-24] As in the graphic novel, the Persians were depicted as a monstrous, barbaric and demonic horde, and King Xerxes was portrayed as androgynous.cite web |url=http://www.afterelton.com/movies/2007/3/300-2.html |title=Frank Miller and 300's Assault on the Gay Past |author=François Peneaud and Joe Palmer |publisher=AfterElton.com — Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media |accessdate=2007-03-18] cite news |url= http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=8392 |title= 300 Movie Review, Sweating it out at the Hot Gates |author= Wesley Morris |publisher=The Boston Globe |accessdate= 2007-03-19 |date= 2007-03-09] Critics suggested that this was meant to stand in stark contrast to the masculinity of the Spartan army. [cite news |author=Stephen Hunter |title='300': A Losing Battle in More Ways Than 1|url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030802188.html?nav=hcmodule |publisher= The Washington Post |date=2007-03-09 |accessdate=2007-03-09] Steven Rea argued that the film's Persians were a vehicle for an anachronistic cross-section of Western stereotypes of Asian and African cultures. [cite news|author=Steven Rea |title=Just 300, but CG on their side |publisher=Philadelphia Daily News| url=http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/philly/movie.html?id=819009&reviewId=22328|date=2007-03-09 |accessdate=2007-03-13]

The film's portrayal of ancient Persians caused a particularly strong reaction in Iran.cite news |author=Gary Leupp|title=A Racist and Insulting Film - 300 vs. Iran (and Herodotus| url=http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp03312007.html|publisher=COUNTERPUNCH|date=2007-03-31 |accessdate=2007-04-16] Azadeh Moaveni of "Time" reported that Tehran was "outraged" following the film's release. Moaveni identified two factors which may have contributed to the intense reaction: its release on the eve of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and the common Iranian view of the Achaemenid Empire as "a particularly noble page in their history."cite news|last= Moaveni|first=Azadeh|publisher= Time (magazine)|title= "300" Sparks an Outcry in Iran|date= 2007-03-13|accessdate= 2007-03-14|url= http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1598886,00.html?cnn=yes ] [cite news |url=http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070313-083328-5668r|title=Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic“300”
publisher=Middle East Times |date=2007-03-13 |accessdate=2007-03-13] [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6446183.stm|title=Iran condemns Hollywood war epic |publisher=BBC |date=2007-03-13 |accessdate=2007-03-13] Various Iranian officials condemned the film. [cite news |url=http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=2277&sectionid=351020101|title=Iran official condemns Hollywood movie
publisher=Press TV |date=2007-03-10 |accessdate=2007-03-11] [cite news |author= Robert Tait|title= Spartans film is psychological war, says Iran|publisher= The Guardian|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2034326,00.html|date=2007-03-15| accessdate=2007-03-16] [cite news | url=http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8512220430|title=Movie "300" an Insult to Iranians|publisher=Fars News Agency |date=2007-03-13 |accessdate=2007-03-13] cite news|last= Tait|first= Robert|publisher= The Guardian|date= 2007-03-14|accessdate= 2007-03-14|title= Iran accuses Hollywood of 'psychological warfare'|url= http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2033630,00.html] The Iranian Academy of the Arts submitted a formal complaint against the movie to UNESCO, labelling it an attack on the historical identity of Iran.cite news|publisher=Payvand News|title = Iranian Academy of Arts to submit UNESCO declaration against '300'|date = 2007-03-16|accessdate= 2007-03-18|url = http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1224.html] cite news|publisher=BBC|title = Iran complains to UNESCO|date = 2007-03-18|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/story/2007/03/070317_an-unesco-300.shtml|accessdate=2007-03-20] The Iranian mission to the U.N. protested the film in a press release, [cite web |url=http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-22/0703228683135650.htm |title=Iran's UN mission: Movie 300 is full of deliberate distortions |date=2007-03-22| accessdate=2007-03-23 |publisher=Islamic Republic News Agency] and Iranian embassies protested its screening in France, [cite web |url=http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8601020055 |title=Embassy of Iran Protests at Screening of '300' Film in France | date=2007-03-22 |accessdate=2007-03-23 |publisher=Fars News Agency] Thailand, [cite web |url=http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=234151&n=16 |title=IRI slams '300' show in Thailand |date=2007-03-30 |accessdate=2007-03-31 |publisher=IRIB News] Turkey, [cite news | title=İran’ın ’300’e tepkisi sürüyor |language=Turkish |publisher=NTV |date=2007-03-27 |url=http://www.ntv.com.tr/news/403241.asp | accessdate=2007-03-28] and Uzbekistan. [cite web |url=http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0704018548200207.htm|title=Embassy protests to screening of anti-Iranian movie in Uzbekistan |date=2007-04-01| accessdate=2007-04-01 |publisher=Islamic Republic News Agency]

Slovenian philosopher and author Slavoj Žižek defended the movie from those who attacked it as an example of "the worst kind of patriotic militarism with clear allusions to recent tensions with Iran and Iraq." He wrote that the story represents a "poor, small country (Greece) invaded by the army of a much larger state (Persia)," suggesting that the identification of the Spartans with a modern superpower is flawed. Instead of seeing a "fundamentalist" aspect in the Spartan identity, he stated that "all modern egalitarian radicals, from Rousseau to the Jacobins…imagined the republican France as a new Sparta".cite web|url=http://www.lacan.com/zizhollywood.htm|last = Žižek|first = Slavoj| author-link = Slavoj Žižek| title = The True Hollywood Left| publisher = www.lacan.com]

In response to the criticisms, a Warner Bros. spokesman stated that the film "300" "is a work of fiction inspired by the Frank Miller graphic novel and loosely based on a 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."

Popular culture

"300" has been spoofed in various media, spawning the "This is Sparta!" internet meme, [cite web | author= Steve Spalding | url= http://howtosplitanatom.com/news/how-to-explore-internet-memes/ | title=How To Explore Internet Memes | publisher= [http://howtosplitanatom.com/ How to Split an Atom] | date=2007-09-30 | accessdate=2007-10-31] with parodies also appearing in film and television. These include the short "United 300", which won the Movie Spoof Award at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Skits based upon the film have appeared on "Saturday Night Live" [ [http://backwardfive.com/2007/03/24/saturday-night-live-march-24-2007/ "Saturday Night Live", March 24, 2007] ] and "Robot Chicken", the latter of which mimicked the visual style of "300" in a parody set during the American Revolutionary War, titled "1776". [ [http://www.weshow.com/us/p/20903/1776_robot_chicken_300_spoof "Moesha Poppins"] , Robot Chicken episode #50] [ [http://www.tv.com/robot-chicken/moesha-poppins/episode/1129271/summary.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=episodessh&tag=episodes;title;1 "Moesha Poppins" episode summary] ]

20th Century Fox released "Meet the Spartans", a spoof of "300". Universal Studios is planning a similar parody, titled "National Lampoon's 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus Wallace Leonidas". [cite web | author=Jeff Giles | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/national_lampoons_christmas_vacation_2_cousin_eddies_big_island_adventure/news/1676825/ | title=National Lampoon + Kevin Dillon = A 300 Spoof | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | date=2007-10-03 | accessdate=2007-10-31]

"300" was also parodied in an episode of "South Park" named "D-Yikes!". [cite news | author=Travis Fuckett | url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/780/780079p1.html | title=South Park: "D-Yikes" Review | publisher=IGN | date=2007-04-12 | accessdate=2007-12-29 ]

equel/prequel

In June 2008, producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann revealed that work had begun on a sequel/prequel to "300". [cite web | author=Frosty | url=http://www.collider.com/entertainment/interviews/article.asp/aid/8326/tcid/1 | title=Producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann Exclusive Video Interview | publisher=Collider.com | date=2008-06-25 | accessdate=2008-06-26] Legendary Pictures has announced that Frank Miller is writing the follow-up graphic novel, and Zack Snyder has declared his interest in directing the adaptation. Snyder is waiting until he sees the graphic novel before officially signing on to the project. [cite journal | url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988284.html | title=New '300' rallies troops | author=Diane Garrett | journal=Variety | publisher=Reed Business Information | date=2008-06-29 | accessdate=2008-06-30 ]

References

External links

* [http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/ Official site]
* [http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3730/notes.pdf "300" Production notes]
*imdb title|id=0416449|title=300
*shh|id=300|title=300
*rotten-tomatoes|id=300|title=300
*metacritic film|id=300|title=300
*mojo title|id=300|title=300
* [http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/inside-300.htm "Inside 300"] by HowStuffWorks
* [http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2007/10/10-things-the-m.html 10 things the makers of '300' got right] , by Mary Beard.
* [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/57/300.html 300 Lies? Give poetics a chance] , by David C. Ryan.

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Wild Hogs
date = March 11
date2 = March 18
year = 2007
after = TMNT