Argo: Not So Long Ago, In A Galaxy Not So Far Away

            Cast members of the movie Argo have won many Oscars for their performances as the American hostages. The hostages are the escaping underdogs in a bloodthirsty nation. In the time frame of this movie, Iranian students were holding around fifty Americans hostage, which made all Iranians public enemy number one. In the beginning of the movie, director Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, emphasizes the ignorance that government officials show towards Middle Eastern countries. He humanizes the enemy, by finding common ground. What is one thing that all humans understand? According to Affleck, it’s Hollywood: movie making. However, as the film progresses and the concept of a movie, taking place in Iran becomes reality, the East becomes noticeably juxtaposed with the West.

            In the beginning of the film, when the CIA is just deciding on how to save these six hostages, they start discussing their best ideas. Their best idea is to send the hostages bicycles to travel to the Turkish border after the weather clears up. A ridiculous feat considering that there is snow on the ground, and the journey is 300 miles—300 miles with no cover of security. The men in this room all agree on this idea except Tony Mendez, who knows that the Iranians will realize that six people are missing before there is any chance of weather clearing up. He distinctly points out the ignorance of the members of the CIA, and what their perception of Iran is. All these men seem to know about the Iranians is that they are looking to kill Americans; they are the face of terrorism at this point. They have a certain depiction of what the Middle East is like, but they’re just making assumptions. It’s a classic case of Said’s Orientalism. Mendez has thought of a different approach however, because “they understand media. They’re not monkeys. The same men you see holding guns have cousins selling eight tracks on the street.” Instead of making assumptions about Iranian culture, Mendez convinces the men to focus on something that is universal: media.

            At this time, all American news stations were giving updates on the hostage situation in Iran. In Argo, many of the scene’s transitions were done by a showing of clips from news stations, reporting on the hostage crisis as it was happening. Said alluded to this same happening in the article “Islam As News;” the media in America created the image of the terrorist[1]. They showed angry men with beards and guns, much like the opening scene of Argo shows the angry men chanting “Death to America!” However, the idea of media also helped to get the plan to work. Perhaps the hostages were held so long because it kept America’s attention for so long. While watching a broadcast of a hostage update John Chambers says, “Do you ever think this is all for the screen?” They know how much the West covets their media, and suddenly the East has taken over that.

            Filming a movie for an exotic land in the Middle East is not a new concept, so it was the perfect disguise. The ideas for movies were a constant flow when Mendez asked John Chambers for his help. Once Chambers had agreed there began the process of choosing a script that would be popular enough to be convincing. They are looking for a movie that would make sense to shoot in the Middle East, which is stereotyping the Orient already. Lester Siegel, the producer for the fake film shoots down a suggestion of The Horses of Achilles, because nobody shoots Westerns anymore. The West is old news; it’s all about the exotic places. It doesn’t matter what the movie is about, the fact that it has horses in it mean people associate it with a Western film. It is a simple statement that shows exactly how susceptible Americans are to stereotyping. We have this depiction of what a terrorist looks like because he’s from a different country and plants a bomb in a big city, but a white man who kills over 30 kindergarteners is labeled as insane. However, when Mendez reads the first words of the script for Argo: “fade in on a starship landing. An exotic middle eastern vibe,” it seems as though the perfect fit. Where better to shoot a movie about a fantasy than a country that is so mysterious to Americans. When Hollywood’s Middle East comes to mind, people think of the Orient stereotypes: men with beards, tan skin, magic carpets, something along the lines of Aladdin’s home. Somehow this country makes for the perfect location to shoot a movie about aliens and women offering goods—or possibly themselves—up to the gods. At this point in the movie, Affleck’s character is no longer trying to humanize the people of Iran, but instead use America’s perception of this otherness that we know nothing about, to trick us all into believing there will be a movie.

            Argo is a story about saving Americans, but also a story about tricking the Iranian nation.  It turns into a story about America, the great superpower, pulling one over on Iran. The image of the stereotypical terrorist is ever present throughout the film, and that of the classic Eastern Orient. Although it’s an exciting story, it’s an inaccurate depiction of all Iranian citizens.

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[1] Said, Edward W.. "Islam As News." Covering Islam. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. 169-194. Print.

Persepolis: Becoming A Hero--Film to Book Comparison

           There are many scenes in both the movie and the novel Persepolis that show acts of heroism. Heroism is laced throughout the entire story, because terrorism is a constant theme in the life of the author, Marjane Satrapi. Although some scenes from the movie differ from the book, heroism and terrorism are never mutated. A scene of terror that was almost as identical in the movie as it was in the book was directly after Marji’s family attended the party where the electricity went out. The family is being pulled over by the police. In this scene in the novel, Marji learns from her grandma how to be a hero in the face of terror.

            On the way home from a forbidden party, Marji’s family comes face to face with the police. In the novel, the only objects in sight in this scene are the car, and the characters. There is nothing in the background to distract my attention, as a reader, from the conversation and the faces of the characters. At first the only things that can be seen are silhouettes of the policemen running at the car at night. In this panel, Marji is clearly snooping by looking over her father’s shoulder with wide eyes, full of terror. The policemen are dressed in all white: stark contrast to the dark night. The brightness of their uniform interrupts the dark. Darkness allows you to cover your secrets, but the luminescent white of the officers uniform shows that nothing is private anymore. Once the policeman has ordered Marji’s father out of the car, Marji’s eyes are suddenly visible: peering over the backseat—observing with a look similar to that of a deer’s in headlight. The policemen are angry. In every panel of the scene the policeman is frowning, with his eyebrows arched. His features are over exaggerated, so that we know in what tone to read his lines. The face is not friendly, nor does he look negotiable, and Marji is terrified as she watches this man interrogate her family.

            On the contrary, Marji’s family is frowning in all panels, and look as if they’ve been caught red-handed. Their eyebrows are high; their eyes are wide, like scared little kittens. It’s not until the car pulls up to Marji’s home that her expression is visible, and she is completely terrified. Her eyes are huge: her mouth is quivering. Her grandmother is guiding her into the house. She has put all of her faith in her grandmother’s experience. She knows that these men could decide her entire future, and she has anxiety over doing something illegal.

The irony of the entire situation is that earlier in the novel, Marji so badly wanted to defy the government to become a hero. Now that she is faced with the opportunity, she looks sick to her stomach. When the policeman asks Marji and her grandmother where they are going, the grandmother says—with what appears to be a shaky voice, to match her shaky mouth—that she has diabetes and needs some syrup. Immediately the man’s face softens as he mentions that his mother also has diabetes. Marji’s grandmother has successfully humanized herself in the eyes of these brutal men. Suddenly Marji no longer has a look of fear, but of appreciation. This change in Marji is apparent as she walks ahead of her grandmother to their apartment, with a look of determination in her eyes. She knows that taking care of the alcohol is her duty in the family, and that she will be regarded as a hero for saving her parents. However, the end of the scene is very anti-climactic, for the people at the door are not the policemen she had anticipated, only her distressed father who had learned how easy it is to pay off a noble member of the government force.

            There are only minor differences in this scene in the movie. The facial expressions are not as big because you can now hear the tone of their voice. Here the only face visible in the car when her father gets out is Marji’s. She’s just observing, as her eyes did in the book. Her father gets mad at the officer, after he is accused of drinking. His tone with the officer is unclear in the book, because his mouth is hidden under his moustache; he looks more afraid than angry. On their way home, the grandmother smiles and tells them that she has dealt with this kind of behavior before; she knows how to handle it. In the scene where the officer questions Marji and Grandma on where they are going, Marji’s eyes go wide, giving away her terror, while Grandma keeps her steady gaze and smile. She calmly explains that she has diabetes—not with a quivering voice, like the book—but with confidence. Notice that throughout this entire scene the grandmother has a smirk on her face. She has been here before; she has lived through revolutions. She was a rebel. For this reason, Marji is always looking up to her grandma.

            According to the linear novel, this is the first scene in which Marji is confronted with the terror of an oppressive government. Her entire life she had believed that heroes are people who stand up and fight the government. It is apparent in the beginning of the scene that she is apprehensive, and completely terrified. In both the movie and the novel, there is a definitive change in her feelings towards the policemen, after she watches her grandmother stand up to them. Her entire life Marji has been looking up to her Uncle as the hero in the family, without even realizing that it is her grandmother she takes after.