THIS - is AMERICA!
Posted on 03/01/2009 9:51:40 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
An adviser to Iran's president on Sunday demanded an apology from a team of visiting Hollywood actors and movie industry officials, including Annette Bening, saying films such as "300" and "The Wrestler" were "insulting" to Iranians.
Without an apology, members of Iran's film industry should refuse to meet with representatives from the nine-member team, said Javad Shamaqdari, the art and cinema adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"In my viewpoint, it is a failure to have an official meeting with one who is insulting," Shamaqdari told The Associated Press.
The film "300," portrays the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army at a mountain pass in Greece for three days. It angered many Iranians for the way Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil in contrast to the noble Greeks.
Iranians also criticized "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke as a rundown professional wrestler who is preparing for a rematch with his old nemesis, "The Ayatollah." During a fight scene, "The Ayatollah" tries to choke Rourke with an Iranian flag before Rourke pulls the flagpole away, breaks it and throws it into the cheering crowd.
Neither movie was shown in Iran.
While American actors such as Sean Penn have traveled to Iran, it is rare for such a large group to visit. In February, Iran denied visas to a U.S. women's badminton team that had been invited to compete in a tournament in Iran.
The group includes the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis; actors Bening, and Alfre Woodard; producer William Horberg; AMPAS Special Events Programmer and Exhibitions Curator Ellen Harrington; and Tom Pollock, the former Universal Pictures chairman.
When the events of “300” took place Mohammad was still, what? 300 years in the future? This is pure Persian nationalism. It is exactly what makes the Arabs fear the Iranians more then anyone else.
Sorry, more like 500 years in the future.
“Decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil”? Sounds about right to me! Their sexuality is perverted, but drives their culture to a very large degree.
THIS - is AMERICA!
Hollywood will rush there to apologize. Idiots.
I guess they are still mad at how the Greeks kicked their arse with their 300 brave Spartans.
The islamic regime poses as defender of pre-islamic Iran? Good heavens! These are the people that wanted (and partially did) erase and destroy relicts of ancient Iran because it's unislamic.
Beside their utter failure to grasp free speech and asking for an apology for a FREAKING fantasy movie with giants, trolls and goat fluters and a FREAKING wrestler (!!!) movie, the situation the Hollywood goofs have placed themselves in, by going to Iran, fully knowing they will serve political purposes.
Now we have goofy islamics asking goofy Hollyweirds to apologize for goofy movies in order to open talks for the goofy Obama administration.
It's all so embarassing.
Please someone give me a time-machine back to the time when there was a serious President, a serious Iran and serious movies.
PERSIAN - Here's your apology!
Even against a regime I so dislike, It’s difficult to defend a culture I’ve come to despise. Hollywood often seems to me a greater enemy than those lunatic mullahs.
Oh, come on... It didn't portray Iranians (Persians, actually) as "sexually flamboyant." It portrayed them as sexually perverse. Some really disgusting stuff going on there... And if they want an apology from the guys who did "300," I wonder how they feel about that South Park episode which did a masterful parody of that movie. And Iranians.
I haven't seen "The Wrestler" yet, so I don't know what's got their panties in a bunch, but I was planning on seeing it eventually. And if the people behind "300" don't cave, I just might buy it on DVD!
Mark
Decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil.
In the 1980’s, when the then-named WWF toured the Middle East back then, the Iron Sheik was portrayed as a good guy, not the heel he normally portrayed. And the normal good guys were booed, showing nationalism in rooting for wrestlers has no boundaries!
The real life Sheik was actually an Iranian who left home after the Ayatollah came to power.
A date with Petunia Pig?
A moderate Muslim is one who just ran out of ammunition.
When I heard about “Kingdom of Heaven” at first I was ready to go and see some Crusaders kick a**. After I found out it was politically correct you could not have dragged me into the theater. I bet if a movie were made, that told the real story, with the emphasis on victory over Islam, it would be a blockbuster.
Maybe, but this Iranian regime is just plain fruity. If Reagan was president, he would be looking for every possible means to hasten this regime’s collapse instead of having a “dialogue” with them.
MOLON LAVE!
Yes the Iron Sheikh, Hossein Vasiri was actually a Shah guy, but with the changing politics of the 1980s and 1990s his role changed repeatedly. During Desert Storm he even played an Arab Iraqi.
When will Iran apologize for marching 9 year olds across mine fields?
Actually it is just short of 1000 years.
Well, there was the Iran-Contra matter... Though I don't know what Reagan's actual (non)role was in it. Not saying that it was terribly wrong to give Iran arms, since it helped keeping in check Saddam Hussein and helped fighting the commies in Middle America.
I like it. Actually, I was paraphrasing a comedy routine from the 80s, although I can't remember who it was.
I also do consulting work for some Iranian Jews in L.A.. You will never hear the word IRAN, but use the word PERSIAN all the time.
Of course I’m not pc...rest assured, I have never used the word Persian but Iranian which of course, pisses them off somewhat. One of the staff even mentioned “umm, Persia died years ago, today its called Iran. Why do you guys keep calling yourselves Persian.?” LOL
The Xerxes character looked like he was plucked right out of a Gay Pride parade. Float and all.
A moderate Muslim is one who just ran out of ammunition....
...or has a dull knife.
The always gracious religion of Islam. And what do you think Miss Benning’s reaction will be? My guess is appeasement. Hollywood elites have honed sucking up to an art form.
Dear Iran ... byte me
LOL!!
No, Saddam kept Iran in check. But then it went to his head. Reagan did what he had to do to keep communism out of our own hemisphere because it was the #1 threat. I don’t think that it is a major threat anymore, but it still is a threat.
So let me try to understand this. Iranian sponsored terrorists willy nilly cut off innocent people’s heads and Iranians get insulted over a movie.
I’m sure in their world that makes perfect sense.
If I were Annette Benning I would hold a press conference and give Iran the finger.
*************************
The true Republicans that voted against the $787 billion stimulus packaged must know what the “300” felt like since it feels like just them against the entire Obama army.
Even more ironic is that they were betrayed by hideous, cowardly, and foolish castouts (Collins, Snowe, and Sphincter)
It would be difficult to tell such a story, since Islam won the Crusades.
The First Crusade was successful. All the others were draws or defeats of varying severity.
Spartan: "We still got all our arms. Looks like one of your guys is missing one though."
If Iran held these Follyweird GORONS hostage would it be called a Hostage crisis? Or Hostage celebration.....
If it showed the ‘real’ history of the crusades, it wouldn’t be very flattering. I don’t know how you could put a positive spin on the way the crusaders took Jeruselum and slaughtered every Jew, Muslim and Orthodox Christian they could find, or how Constantinople was sacked at the behest of the Venetians during the Fourth Crusade...
Its not something that should be reflected back on with much pride. The Crusaders were pretty much the Christian equivilent of Al’Quaeda and Hezbollah.
Anyway, what was it about Kingdom of Heaven you found so offensively inaccurate? Saladin was widely admired even by his Christian enemies for his chivalry, which was deserved. Unlike Richard the Lionheart, who despite his reputation for being fair and noble shamelessly plundered and extorted England to fund his Crusade and left her virtually bankrupt (not that I’m complaining too much, because if it wasn’t for that, The Barons may not have forced his brother King John to sign Magna Carta a couple of decades later....)
Try a thousand years plus in the future...
Actually closer to 1100.
The battle was 480 BC. Mo died in 630 AD or thereabouts.
As Kissinger put it we wanted both sides to lose.
The money of the sales went to Contra-rebels who fought the commies in Middle America.
The left made a huge fuss about Reagan's alleged role in it, but regardless of his actual involvement in these deals, I think it was a simple case of Realpolitik. We wanted Iran and Iraq to weaken each other, while fighting the Commies.
HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!... They want HOLLYWOOD to APOLIGIZE???
HA! HA!! HA!! HA!!! They need to ask ANY US conservative how THAT will fly!
Dilios: So my king died, and my brothers died, barely a year ago. Long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory. But time has proven him wise, for from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his 300, so far from home, laid down their lives... not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, Persian hordes face obliteration! Just there, the barbarians gather, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers, knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of 300. Yet they stare now across the plain at 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 free Greeks! Ho! The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one! Good odds for any Greek.
This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny, and usher in a future brighter than anything we could imagine. Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! To victory!
Dilios: He did not wish tribute, nor song, or monuments or poems of war and valor. His wish was simple. "Remember us" he said to me.
That was his hope, should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be. "May all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law, we lie." And so my king died, and my brothers died; barely a year ago.
Long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory, but time has proven him wise, for from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his 300, so far from home, laid down their lives... not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
Now here on this ragged patch of earth called Plateaea, let his hordes face obliteration! Spartan Army: HA-OOH!
Dilios: Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers... knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of 300, yet they stare now across the plane at 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 free Greeks... HA-OOH! Spartan Army: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!
Dilios: The enemy outnumber us a paltry 3 to 1, a good match for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a world brighter than anything we can imagine, Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! TO VICTORY!
There's just no pleasing some people....
On your knees, Annette.
Oh, you are already.
Never mind.
“When will Iran apologize for marching 9 year olds across mine fields?”
Or for killing our troops, God DAMN them.
“...shamelessly plundered and extorted England to fund his Crusade “
Richard was a true warrior king. Unlike many Christians today, he took his faith seriously. In a manner not uncommon for those times. One could equally say he demanded much more of his own wealth as he sacreficed a great deal of his families own estates in the effort to regain the Holy Lands from the “heathens”. As radical as we view this the same could and has been said about George Bush and the US..
Shoving Ahmanutjob into a bottomless pit? Works for me.
Is that the mayor of San Francisco?
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