[ SECRET POST #2253 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2253 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 077 secrets from Secret Submission Post #322.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I have no idea what the controversy over this is??! I assumed the secret was about not wanting to see it for the same reasons I don't: because it looks like propaganda about a bunch of Americans triumphing over the two-dimensional crazy brown people. I'm Canadian and some of my best friends are Iranian. I didn't want to spend money on something that seemed likely to anger me.
If anyone can tell me otherwise I might go see it!

[(Anonymous)]

You do realize that it's about a thing that actually happened, right? And that the fact that you have Iranian friends doesn't mean that Iran, the country, doesn't ever do bad things?

[(Anonymous)]

I know the actual basic plot of the movie is a real story (and that apparently the Canadian embassy did a lot?). And I know the government of Iran does bad things. But obviously a 2 hour movie has to make simplifications and narrative choices, and I'm worried that since it's a mainstream hollywood movie those choices will be about emphasizing the american heroism and de-emphasizing things I would find more interesting.
Is it really so weird that I don't want to watch a movie set in Tehran full of middle eastern stereotypes.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah. Kind of like how 'Munich' was full of middle eastern stereotypes and portrayed Israel as being totally 100% correct and completely justified in its response to the kidnapping.

...oh, wait.

If someone who's seen it wants to pop in and confirm whether or not the film is a propaganda piece filled with middle eastern stereotypes, then I will concede the point. But until that person shows up, you're making baseless assumptions based off of a - drumroll, please - stereotype.

[(Anonymous)]

Never seen Munich, but from context I guess you're saying that both films are likely balanced?
I brought it up because that was the only controversy I'd vaguely seen about the movie. I hadn't looked into it, and I'm really only thinking of seeing it since it won best picture.
Was my original post really so inflammatory that you felt the need to comment despite having not even seen the movie?!?

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT, but the fact that you assumed a movie wasn't worth seeing because it might POSSIBLY have Middle Eastern stereotypes in it, and you feel strongly about it because you know people who are Iranian? Yeah, that came across as pretentious and overly-righteous.

[(Anonymous)]

Look I don't see a lot of movies, I make superficial choices about which movies I see.
If I could redo this thread I would not mention why I am both interested in Iran but wary of movies about it. But making assumptions about what movies I might be interested in seeing based on trailers and what I've seen on tumblr is what people do. There are a lot of stupid movies I don't want to see. I was even acknowledging it was assumption and looking for input.
As the anon who actually replied to my question said, middle eastern stereotypes in hollywood are not a rare thing.
Anyway, this conversation has the potential to get messy so I'm gonna leave it here. Night.

[(Anonymous)]

No such thing as overly righteous.

[(Anonymous)]

self-righteousness is a thing tho

[(Anonymous)]

Munich is a great film, but Argo is a better film. I remember the events, old enough to. I think it presents a pretty good version of them, and has a little potted history which is definitely balanced about the US role in propping up the Shah and his awful regime.

[(Anonymous)]

Anon below (who majored in Middle Eastern Studies, speaks Farsi, and would have studied abroad in Iran if I could) - this movie was pretty accurate. I got the proper feel of desperation from the Iranian public, and the proper amount of fanaticism. It was through the lens of Americans experiencing the crisis, so it wasn't going to show the Revolutionary Guard in a heroic light, but there were definitely clear instances of rationality and even compassion towards the hostages from native Iranians. I thought it did well.

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, as someone who has studied the events of the Iranian Revolution in depth, they condensed and explained it well. They made the revolt make sense, and I don't think anyone would think otherwise.

But the Iranian hostage crisis was, in fact, a really horrible thing that some Iranians did. They held innocent American diplomats hostage for 444 days. Glossing over that fact doesn't help American perception of Iran - that was not an act that Americans should associate with a peaceful and reasonable Iran. The clear villains in the movie were the Revolutionary Guard and the people who stormed the American Embassy, not your average Iranian. The average Iranian was portrayed as angry at the situation and the injustice of America giving asylum to the Shah. There were overreactions, but they made sense in context.

[(Anonymous)]

Original anon

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question (which I hope wasn't as crazy offensive and people seem to think). I will probably try and see it while it's still in theatres!

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT - yay, you should! It's a good movie! And rare in that it DOESN'T show Middle Eastern people as psychotic terrorists for no reason. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

This.

LMAO you guys. The film in no way implies that all or even most Iranians are bad people, but it's about an event that actually occurred. It wasn't a happy time in Iran.

Also, the plot isn't about any Iranians. It's about Americans. Most of the Iranian characters aren't important enough to be more than two-dimensional--and the one who WAS important was rather interesting for a side character.

[(Anonymous)]

Iranians are not brown...

[(Anonymous)]

They're lumped in with "brown people" no matter what their actual skin color is, just like Arabs who can be anywhere from passing-as-white to dark skin.