In the atmosphere of confrontation between the West and Iran over Iran’s suspected nuclear program, Warner Brothers released the special-effect-laden film 300 (2006). The film recounts the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, in which a small Greek force led by King Leonidas and three hundred Spartan soldiers held off the much larger Persian forces, led by King Xerxes, at a mountain pass. Many commentators noted the allegories of the story to current political tensions: The West (Greeks) versus Iran (Persians). The timing of the release of the film drew criticism by the Iranian government (modern Persia) that Hollywood was making ant-Iranian films and insulting Iranian history. The intent of the film thus backfired, serving not so much as a call to the West against Iran as a call to Iran against the West.
~ World Politics on Screen: Understanding International Relations through Popular Culture, by Mark Sachleben. University Press of Kentucky, 2018.
