300 - the response

I blogged before about the difficulties that the movie 300 presents to Iranians. 300 is ostensibly a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, fought between the Persian and Spartan armies. In fact, it's a metaphor about the contemporary Islamist threat and the Western response to it.

If you're an expatriot, and patriotic Iranian, you're likely to be fiercely proud of your culture and history, and angry about the Islamic destruction of Persian culture. So you hate the Islamists, but can't exactly warm to a film that represents Persians as turbanned fanatics.

How do you respond? With great elegance, it turns out. The Spirit of Man has been tracking two projects, and remarks in passing:

Which shame is greater? Being mocked by movies like 300 or being actually a terrorist nation?

Visit 300 the movie for some stunning artwork depicting the ancient Persian empire, and check out Cyrus the Movie to see a work in progress that is being funded by donations.