4.4.1. Argo (2012) Argo is a 2012 Academy Award-winning biographical drama which deals with real-life events during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The story follows CIA agent Mendez (Ben Affleck) who is trying to rescue American diplomats from Iran by pretending to be a film producer. At the beginning of the film, there is a preface, a short video with narration that offers some context to the audience. This opening actually questions American foreign policy as it is explained that this whole crisis was provoked by Americans themselves. This is a very clever strategy used by filmmakers in order to give the impression to the audience that the representations in the film are complex. As already mentioned, Evelyn Alsultany calls it simplified complex representation (Arabs 21). Arabs, in this case Iranians, are still depicted as uncivilised and dangerous people in the rest of the film, and their portrayal is actually one-dimensional. As Evelyn Alsultany says, Argo is an example of the film that tries to defuse stereotyping but fails miserably (Argo Tries 1). …show more content…
The American embassy is attacked, Americans fear for their safety because Iranians are crazy and violent. This scene is scary and immediately decreases the importance of the preface. Throughout the whole film, Iranians are seen terrorizing American hostages and killing innocent civilians. Dead bodies are lying on the streets; people are being hanged on a daily basis. These scenes imply that violence is a part of the everyday life in Iran because Iranians are aggressive and crazy, and that is how they live. These depictions are, of course, exaggerated and not true. We can conclude that the preface is just a strategy used by Hollywood filmmakers to give the audience the impression that this film is offering them complexity and a true representation of
Farber successfully argues that the iranian hostage crisis was infact the first encounter with radical islam. Farber paints the picture of two oppossing rivals. The Shah represents corruption and the Khomeini represents relegion. The Shah is allowed to enter the United states to recieve treatment for cancer. The fall of the Shah of iran leads to Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers to take over.
Farber states, “It’s all the more important, therefore, to take another look at America’s first major confrontation with Islamic fundamentalism.” Farber's detailed storyline looks past the day by day situations of the crisis, using the events leading up to the suffering as a means for understanding it. Farber shows in the book a portrayal of the United States in the 1970’s as a time of unsuccessful potentials in a nation overwhelmed by uncertainty and anxiety. It reveals the American government sick and ready for the fall of the Shah of Iran which many are unable to reckon with Ayatollah Khomeini and his militant Islamic followers. Farber
Before the crisis, the Shah, Iran’s leader fled Iran. Iranians did not like the Shah, and dislikes the way of his ruling. Iran declined military treaties with the United States. Iran did not side with anyone during this 3 year period. Jimmy Carter tried to make relations better with Iran, but Iran did not acknowledge it.
Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America’s First Encounter with Radical Islam OVERALL COMMENTS I. INTRO On November 4, 1979 Iranian students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held for 444 days, sixty-six American hostages. This event would go down in history as the Iran Hostage Crisis and as America 's first encounter with militants of Radical Islam.
He dates all the way back to tension of the oil crisis in the 50 's between Iran and U.S. Farber then explains what he feels was the immediate result of this crisis when Shah Reza Pahlavi was granted protection in the U.S by Carter, for cancer treatment. This lead to student revolutionaries to declare a break with the past history of Iran and to take America out of their system and to ulimately gain more power by allowing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to take over. A strong influence was the CIA 's role in instigating a coup which allowed Pahlavi to power. This allowed the SAVAC security forces to torture and murder those that were trying to oppose. From this the Iranians had hate that was built up, and they are assumed to feel that America was acting superior over them and that they were in mockery of their lifestlye and religion.
This led to a disastrous 8 year war that ended in no gains for either side and over 1000000 total dead. This failure to respond quickly to iraqi attacks during the early stages of the war is directly the result of revolutionary leaders being incompetent and ill prepared to truly seize control of the country. The sanctions not only reduced the state of the country's military but ensured that for the next several decades iran would no longer be able to play a pivotal role in the region. In response to the instability in Iran western powers began to supply and arm Iran’s geopolitical rivals. This combined with the inability of iran to export oil meant that for years the country would have to become increasingly
After reading the chapter “The Sheep” I feel that I have a much better understanding of the politics behind how the government is able to get away with treating prisoners as inhumanly as was described in the chapter “The Heros”. My own understanding of revolutionary Iran is limited outside of the book and up until the chapter “The Sheep” I was confused about several points. Mainly how Islam, usually a very peaceful religion, was used at this time to cause destruction and permit torture. However, Anoosh’s explanation that due to the illiteracy in Iran religion was one of the easiest unifiers made it clear why it was used to unite the nation. In addition, showing that the boy Satrapi likes, Kaveh, is moving to the united states and her mother
They sent in Tony Mendez and his accomplice to help prepare the Canadian’s to re-enact their given roles as a film crew and helped them escape, without any interrogations, back to Canada. However, Affleck’s movie had exaggerated the role of the C.I.As involvement that Tony Mendez alone came up with the plan to help the diplomats escape as well as the idea of a fake movie, making Taylor appear as an innkeeper who didn’t create the plan. However, perhaps Affleck had every reason to exaggerate the movie because Taylor’s involvement in the Caper was also exaggerated to the extent that he alone came up with the escape plan. This essay will show, along with evidence from the sources, how Affleck’s movie exaggerated the plot and involvement of the C.I.A as opposed to real events, but also on how he had every
Many countries, like Iran, have had something terrible and drastic happen to their country. Iran had the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The Islamic Revolution was a huge deal considering that men and women were treated poorly, they had lost their freedom, culture, and anything else they had left. Throughout the years, there has been a conflict between Iraq and Iran, leading to the cause of the end of the Islamic Revolution, but how it really ended was that since a new president was elected, he opposed censorship. Women still had to have their face covered but not as much.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir that reveals the life of a woman growing up in pre-revolution and post-revolution Iran, as well as her experiences in Western countries. In this book, Marjane recalls and highlights historical events that affect her life during her upbringing in Iran. These include the oppression of the Shah, along with the rise and effects of the regime. These events are integrated into Persepolis in order to showcase their effects on Marjane and the other citizens of her country. These events’ inclusion are important due to the context and understanding that they grant readers unfamiliar with the text.
The movie American Sniper follows the life and military career of one of the United States’ best snipers in history, Chris Kyle. Kyle grew up in Texas and joined the military as a young man, enlisting in the Navy SEALs. After the 9/11 attacks, Kyle served four tours in Iraq and amassed the most kills in U.S. military sniper history. After his tours, Kyle returned home to his wife and ran a program helping disabled veterans. In 2013, however, Kyle was shot by one of the veterans he was trying to help who was suffering from PTSD.
I still remember the day when the movie came out. I went to the cinema with my American friend and watched the film. When the movie ended, he told me that he did not know people in Iran could carry guns around! As an Iranian, I was totally speechless; I was so shocked that the movie made him believe that Iranians really carry guns around and burn the American flag. The movie made Muslims look ignorant, ugly, zealous, and to some degree
The first panel is an illustration of thousands of children being bombed. They are all in the air with their keys around their neck. The bomb is drawn with sharp and dark angles stabbing into the children’s bodies. This is extremely important in the book because it shows one of the consequences of the Iranian Revolution: thousands of innocent people died from the war and no one was able to help.
After the Iranian Revolution, it became compulsory for women to wear the veil as the Islamic dress code and all women were removed from government positions, leading to increasing oppression and inequality in Iran. The use of black and white on the first page of the book creates a very clear image that a lot of people are unhappy with the new rules that are introduced by the government. The use of images shows us the oppression of freedom in a way that it would be hard to imagine with words. The first panel shows Marjane in a somber mood, crossing her arms to show her defensive thinking against the veil and the world. In the following panel, the girl’s expressions range from neutral to dislike or discomfort, which shows the general thoughts from people on how they think of the veil.
The Foundation of stereotypes When you pick a documentary, what’s the first thing you notice: color, the image and the bold letters on the cover? They are usually no more than three words just burning on the cover. But we never consider from where the author or authors came up with them, or what purpose do they hold. In the documentary Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, the title holds a significant meaning. It represents the movement of how Hollywood has portrayed Arabs through the decades.