Perlman; 139w
Paper Assignment #3
Media texts are created from past events that have occurred and often times Hollywood would try and manipulate the event so it represents the past and the reception it gets through different communities. The film Argo (2012) is no exception trying to show a “Hollywoodize” event of the Iranian Hostage Crisis which received mixed receptions and is controversial on how the event is portrayed. The film is often criticized for the authenticity and accuracy of how the event is portrayed; the film directed by Ben Affleck chose to add “drama” and manipulate the actual event in order to obtain a wider audience. With the film involving a variety of government during the hostage crisis, the film focuses only specific on U.S. government and Canadian government. The film focuses on showcasing how powerful C.I.A. and American government is. While the Canadian government portrayed played a minor role in the film and other governments was not even mention. The film was criticized by United States, Canada, and British and New Zealand’s critics for the role each country had in the film as it shows the film is deceptive in telling the truth and accuracy of the event. United States had its role glorified that it seemed to have done most of the work; while Canada had its role minimized, and that the film was made out to have a small role that Canada had with United States, but some countries like New Zealand was not even mentioned. Therefore, with the mixed reception the film received it makes the understanding of Iranian Hostage Crisis on how that event better understands the role of government in cinema is shown between countries: U.S., British and New Zealand, and Canada.
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Johnson, Brian D. "Ben Affleck Rewrites History ‘Argo’ Shifts the Spotlight from Ken Taylor, Our Man in Tehran, to CIA Spy Tony Mendez." Maclean's. N.p., 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
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McDevitt, Caitlin. "Jimmy Carter: 'Argo' Great but Inaccurate." Politico (2013): n. pag. Politico. 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Perry, Nick. "Passing Reference in 'Argo' Rankles New Zealand." Passing Reference in 'Argo' Rankles New Zealand. USA Today, 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Peters, Winston. Debate. "Motion-Iranian Hostage Crisis-Fictional Representation of Role of New Zealand Diplomats." (12 March 2013). Hansard (debates). 13 Dec. 2013.
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Taken Hostage by David Farber is book about the Iranian hostage crisis that occurred 1979-1981. Farber looks into the causes of the hostage crisis, both at home and abroad, relations between Iran and the United States, and what attempts were made in order to rescue the hostages. Farber wrote the book in order to give insight into an issue that is considered to be a huge blemish and embarrassment on America’s history. He looked at it from all perspectives and gave an objective overview of the conflict.
Turan, Kenneth “MOVIE REVIEW Good Night, and Good Luck” Los Angles Times. October 7th 2005.
The movie Thirteen Days is 2000 docudrama and is directed by Roger Donaldson who is Australian and tries to portray the film in a serious manor. The movie is based on the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and shows the perspective of the US political leadership, specifically Special Assistant to the president Kenny O’Donnell, President John F. Kennedy and the Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. This film is not based on the book of the same name written by Robert F. Kennedy like the first docudrama film about the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Missiles of October; this film was meticulously researched and was based on The Kennedy Tapes: inside the white house during the Cuban Missile Crisis which was written by Ernest May and Phillip Zelikow. This is a positive for the film because Thirteen Days had the possibility to become an almost accurate film due to the declassification of important documents, but this was not the case due to the ‘Hollywood effect’ which is a key reason why this film is not history but entertainment. This film exposes how close America actually came to a Nuclear Holocaust. In this essay I shall cover all the positives and negatives to show whether or not the film is a good source of history but or actually was made for entertainment purposes. There are two main historical issues with this film that make it more entertainment than History; the first being Kevin Costner’s portrayal of Special Assistant Kenny O’Donnell, although the film is seen through his eyes and shows him to be in John F. Kennedy inner circle; in reality he may not have played an important role as the film portrays, since he was only Kennedy’s appointment secretary not the Personal advisor he is portrayed as in this film. Another historical w...
When the movie in question is a documentary, as in the case of newcomer Andrew Jarecki’s Capturing the Friedmans, the result is indeed more noteworthy. In fact, in a summer in which the Hulk, Terminator, and Neo were supposed to get the top billing, the most interesting on-screen character demonstrated to be the ‘Other Arnold,’ a little rural Jewish middle-aged teacher and sentenced pedophile. As significant subject of Jarecki’s gut-wrenching, breakout hit – grossing more than $2 million to date in restricted discharge (anything over a million is considered great for a doc)—Arnold Friedman and his family generated more public heat around nonfiction film than anything since, well, final year’s Bowling for Columbine. On the surface, Jarecki’s insinuate case ponder of dysfunctional family has little in common with Michael Moore’s lofty, politically uncertain ego-fest. However, the way in which both movies ‘captured’ the open creative ability, and what their to some degree distinctive takes on documentary talk cruel for the future of the sort, raise issues of full-blooded criticalness.
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
Watson, Stephanie. "Iranian Hostage Crisis." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 158-60. U.S. History in Context. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Tucker, Spencer C. “Checkpoint Charlie: Cold War.” World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
...y, William H. Chafe 2. ibid 3. Cold War: An Illustrated History, by Philip French 4. ibid 5. ibid 6. ibid 7. Bond 5: You Only Live Twice (Film) Dir. Lewis Gilbert, 1967 8. Ice Station Zebra (Film) Dir. John Sturges, 1968 9. Apocalypse Now (Film) Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979. Bibliography Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford. Paramount, 1979. Bond 5: You Only Live Twice. Dir. Lewis Gilbert. Perf. Sean Connery, Donald Pleasance. MGM/United Artists, 1967 COLD WAR: An Illustrated History, by Philip French, published by Little, Brown and Company). Ice Station Zebra. Dir. John Sturges. Perf. Rock Hudson, Jim Brown, Patrick McGoohan. MGM/United Artists, 1968 The Unfinished Journey- America since World War II by, William H. Chafe. Oxford University Press. Second Edition
Naples, Nancy A., and Karen Bojar. "Connecting The Academic World And Real World." Ebscohost 28.1 (March 2004): 100-01. Film Criticism. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
When choosing an author for my paper, I chose international suspense because I am very interested in foreign relations and the technology of modern day war. I have read stories by Edgar Allen Poe, with suspense and vivid imagery, which reminded me of Clancy's work. I decided to choose Tom Clancy because of his talent to weave such realistic tales of international suspense. Clancy creates the scenes in his books with such detail, it makes the reader feel like he/she is there. My first choice for this paper was Dr. Suess, but because he has passed away, I had to keep looking. I knew very little information about my author before writing this paper. I had read two of his books, but had no real knowledge of his personal life or past history. Tom Clancy, a successful American author of international suspense, has captured his love of military and technology and profitably employed it in the books he writes.
Argo. A 2012 historical and drama film. Stars Ben Affleck who couples up as the director. It is an adaptation of an article The Great Escape and a book Masserird Disguise. It features the story of American government operatives who used a fake film enterprise to rescuer fellowAmericans from Tehran. The main character Tony Mendez plays a lead agent role in the fake documentary film. Argo. That sets out to begin the rescue mission. Caught in the midst of political chaos. American hostages and the rescue crew must fight for safety and avoid death. Mendez as a lead character is well-rounded, a utility character. Dynamic and advances as the film deepens.
...ous and being there can raise concern. These political concerns relate closely with issues addressed in the film particularly with the war in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism. The senior Taliban leader Ahamd Shah depicts an accurate image of what members of the Taliban are like, which means killing any American who comes into their country.
In order to be lucrative, the producers of films such as Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, and American Sniper have to attract the masses by promoting American nationalism. In fact, in Argo there are many events and ideas that are not based on facts and are just twisting the truth to make the storyline more interesting and increase ticket sales. For example, in the movie, the British turned away the fugitive American diplomats when they were trying to escape the U.S. embassy. In actuality, the British embassy sheltered the fugitives, but eventually the fugitives moved to the Canadian embassy when the British embassy became exposed to attack. Therefore, in the real Iranian Hostage Crisis the British attempted to help the United States, but in order to make Argo a more interesting story, the film deliberately alters the truth and portrays Britain ultimately not helping the United States. Argo, like many other films, appeals to inner fears and prejudices. “That is why Ben Affleck had a mild dig at the British in Argo... It is why American movies imply America won the war, and British ones that Britain did. It is why Hollywood has stopped killing orientals and started killing Arabs. Films must now sell in China” (Jenkins, How Many 'true Story' Films Should Be Classified L for Lie?). Also, Hollywood endorses America’s foreign policy in the Middle East. In fact, at the Golden Globe movie awards, a
The Green Zone directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon focuses primarily on the United States' involvement in Iraq, 2003 on the eve of George Bush's 'War on Terror'. Though the movie focuses more on behind the scenes activities of Senior U.S Officials and media agencies at the time of war, snippets throughout the film portray the Middle East and its inhabitants in a time of political turmoil and backlash, as Iraqi people are often seen angry and unsettled in large groups due to the danger of events that transpire around them, with the U.S now pulling the strings in the war torn region determining the future of all its citizens. This essay will focus mainly on the theme of politics expressed throughout the movie by focusing on certain dialogues amongst characters, analysing important scenes and settings, and will make reference to Edward Said's 'Orientalism' in arguing that Arabs are often misplaced and mistreated at the hands of Americans throughout the movie.
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..