When is a story a story and when is a story a Psy-Op?

When you’re looking in from the outside, everything seems different.

I’ve always been impressed at how people believe they are keenly astute when observing other ethnic groups, yet in their home turf, they’re subject to similar failings of a different flavor. For example, a lot of times, when Whitey is lecturing on civility in society, he’ll adopt a tone of surprise at the anger and rage his African-American neighbors feel. Whitey just doesn’t get what it’s like to live up against racism.

People are sharp when perceiving the flaws of an ethnic group different than their own. So, with that in mind, I caught myself as I concluded that this story was ridiculous:

Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic. AFP, Tue Mar 13, 2007. 8:09 AM ET

To summarize, it seems some Iranians are not happy with the way the Persian empire is portrayed in the movie 300. In case you don’t know, the movie is a very stylized telling of the Battle of Thermopylae that took place around 480 BCE. That battle involved an extremely small force of Greek warriors (the Spartans) holding off a much larger force of Persians by blocking their advance through a small mountain pass. The constrained quarters reduced the advantage of the much larger army. The delaying action gave Greece time to mobilize a more appropriate military response.

The movie, I felt, was pretty cool. It didn’t exactly scream realism. There are all sorts of deformed and over-sized creatures hurled at the Greeks. It makes for an exciting film. Each attack wave is a new challenge: how do the Spartans defeat elephants? Rhinos? Archers? Giants? Etc.

From my own personal view, the only time my racism-meter was activated during the movie was when some Persians were portrayed as dark-skinned Africans. This set up an eerie feeling of black horde vs. white elites. Race-riot, anyone? To be fair, within the context of the story, that can be explained away by the fact that the Persian army was a patchwork of peoples from many conquered nations around the world.

Getting back to today and the Iranians: according to that news story mentioned above, many were upset because they believe this was just some Psy-Op by America to make everyone believe that Iran was always a source of evil, and that modern Iranians were descended from vicious, violent savages. This would then clear the way for Iraq War Part 3: Iran.

“That’s ridiculous,” I thought as I read the criticism. Then again, as an insider, maybe I don’t realize exactly how much of our nation follows the cues of the movie industry. As outsiders looking in, maybe Iranians see just how much American society mimics Hollywood, and they’re getting a little bit nervous.

Besides, I’m not entirely innocent. I’ve been suspicious of the entertainment world for my own reasons:

All my ancestors came from Italy to the USA, so I’ve often raised a rich, dark, thick Italian eyebrow at the fact that in the TV show Happy Days all the thug-like characters have Italian names: Arthur Fonzarelli, Chachi Arcola, Leather Tuscadero, Pinky Tuscadero, etc. What’s that all about, paisan?

Lately, I’ve even been a little suspicious of Christina Aguilera’s image make-over. She looks like a World War II pin-up, singing old-style tunes in the vein of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Does this have something to do with supporting the war effort?

You never know with those damn Psy-Ops.

All I can say is I hope that people aren’t swayed to support a war by the way a pop star looks. I hope Americans don’t formulate their opinions of modern day Iranians based on a movie which was based on a comic book about a battle that happened almost 3,000 years ago. Lastly, I really hope that the USA does not declare war on Iran. War is wrong and I believe most Iranians don’t wish most Americans any harm. In fact, I think we’re in a similar boat: our leaders are lunatics that are making our entire nation look stupid.

We’ve got some common ground, Iranians! I wish you no harm unless you wish it on me. Peace to you!

P. S.

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read further if you don’t want to know what happens at the end of the movie!

One more thing about the movie to make the Iranians feel better: I was wondering, if the Greeks were such brilliant strategists, why, in the climactic ending, didn’t they ALL throw their spears at Xerxes? Why did only Leonidas take the shot? One guy and one spear is bound to miss, but a few hundred spears thrown at one target, and we’ve got to edit some history books! So there you have it, Iran: Greeks aren’t always smart. Oops. No offense to Greeks there. Look, I love everyone unless they give me reason not to, ok? Sheesh.

SPOILERS END HERE. (Controversies guaranteed to continue.)

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Also, for a limited time, Where Did This Come From? is available as an eBook for only ONE DOLLAR. Visit Larry Nocella's website at www.LarryNocella.com.