Iranian Officials Angry Over 'Hostile Portrayal' in Hollywood Hit Movie '300'

This is a famous historical battle, but the Holocaust denier is now the Battle of The Battle of Thermopylae denier...

From FNC:

Iran, which turned a deaf ear last year to protests over its attempt to rewrite history through a Holocaust conference, now is crying foul over what it calls a "fabrication of culture and insult" to Iranians in the Hollywood hit movie "300."

"Cultural intrusion is among the tactics always used by the aliens," a government spokesman charged in a statement made to the state FARS News Agency. "Such a fabrication of culture and insult to people is not acceptable by any nation or government and we consider this attitude as hostile."

The Iranian press has seized on the outrage, with one newspaper, Ayandeh-No, proclaiming: "Hollywood declares war on Iranians."

Javad Shangari, a cultural adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, attacked the film as being "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological warfare aimed at Iranian culture," Daily Variety reported Wednesday.

"Everyone is starting to react. The DVD is already very available, and people are quite angry," one Tehran-based producer told Daily Variety. He doubted the film will ever be distributed in the region, though boot-leg copies already had made their way into many Middle East capitals.

An online petition calls the movie's distributor, Warner Brothers, "irresponsible, unethical and unscientific actions ... while announcing our disgust at such a heresy, we demand an immediate historical review and quick apology from the responsible people."

The film depicts the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae between 300 Spartan soldiers and an invading Persian army. Iranians are descendents of Persians, who are portrayed as evil. Of particular scorn for Iranians is the depiction of Persian Emperor Xerxes, who was descended from Cyrus, and is revered in Iran for having written the first human rights declaration.

Well, let us see what Wikipedia has to say on the topic...

Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques-Louis David (1814)

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian Empire army at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the invader in one of history's most famous last stands.

The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war.^[1] The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian Empire navy destroyed and Xerxes I was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it Persian Empire expansion into Europe.^[2]

It seems to me this is accepted history and I can see why it pisses abbadabbadoodoo off! I love it...

The whole story of the battle is worth reading, so go check it out.

The 300 Spartans is a 1962 film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese. The picture was noted for its Cold War overtones, and starred Richard Egan as the Spartan king Leonidas, Ralph Richardson as Themistocles of Athens and David Farrar as Persian king Xerxes, with Diane Baker as Ellas and Barry Coe as Phylon providing the requisite romantic element in the film.

Frank Miller saw this movie as a boy and said it "changed the course of my creative life."^[1] His graphic novel 300 is about the Battle of Thermopylae, as is its 2007 film adaptation.

How cool is this story? It is a bonus that it is ticking off Iran. hehe