Racism In The Movie 300

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The paper explains how the movie 300 used sociological concepts to show how the Spartans lived and conquered as warriors. It used Racism, Identity, Sexism, Dehumanization, Discrimination, and Age Stratification to show why it was okay for a culture to abandon children with disfigurements and why they did so. It also tells why people were so upset about how racist it was. The movie is a good example of how sexism is used in their culture mainly against their woman. And identity because if you are a Spartan then you should have been a very strong willed person and strive to be the best warrior that you could be for Sparta and the King. Keywords: Movie Critique, Sociology, 300, Racism, Identity, Sexism, Dehumanization, Discrimination, Age …show more content…

Racism is a major factor in the movie 300. In the movie Zach Snyder made King Xerxes god like and clothed him in riches and he was made to seem like a giant since he was 9 feet tall and bald. Rodrigo Santoro was the actor of Xerxes and was only around 6’2”. (Snyder, 2006) Xerxes thought himself to be God of his people and anyone he could concurred. They also had to alter his voice because his stature didn’t match his voice. Zach Synder talks about this in an interview that Rodrigo’s voice needed to be more commanding. (Synder,2006) Iranians were very upset with the movie 300 because of the racism that it showed toward their culture. On Sunday March 11th, 2007 after the release of 300 in the U.S., Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian Government was very upset about how the movie depicted their culture. Javad Shamqadri, and art advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the movie was “Part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian Culture.” (Shamaqadri, 2007) Shamaqadri was quoted saying “Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and culture authorities in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture.” (Shamaqadri, 2007) The media is a potent force in communicating, constructing, altering and elaborating …show more content…

The movie 300 is filled with sexism. 300 actually does display the Spartan woman accurately. In the beginning of the movie when the messenger insults Queen Gorgo, and says she shouldn’t be in the discussion because she was a woman. In the movie the Spartan woman are strong willed woman, and the Queen is the strongest willed of them all because she advises her husband on military and political matters. The woman were free unlike most cultures where the woman were seen as sex slaves and just someone to bare children and cook. The Spartan woman helped to further set the Spartans apart from all other cultures. But with freedom comes the price of having to give the kids up at a certain age and being the reason there is Spartan men. Because just like the Queen said in the movie “Only Spartan woman give birth to Spartan men”. Queen Gorgo had a very strong role in the political arena. When she was only a child she advised her father to not trust people who came from other kingdoms. She tells her husband to come back any way he can, either he be carried or he walked back himself. She asks him what she should do if he doesn’t make it back and he tells her to “marry a good man and bear good children”. In preparation for marriage, Spartan women had their heads shaved, they kept their hair short after they wed. Married couples typically lived apart, as men under 30 were

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