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Argo Trailer (Click for Official Website)
Public Criticism on ArgoAlthough Argo was a box office success, many critics argue that it portrays racism towards Iranians and operates as US propaganda and Orientalism. Much of the dissatisfaction lies in the way in which the film tells the story and portrays the situation at hand. It does little to represent the Iranians as a multidimensional character and clearly paints them as the villain. As Juan Cole says, “it therefore has no emotional weight and does little to contextualize the Iranian characters (none of whose names I think we even learn).”
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"The Oriental is irrational, depraved, childlike, 'different,' thus the European is rational, virtuous, mature, 'normal'."
- Edward Said, speaking about Cromer and Balfour
- Edward Said, speaking about Cromer and Balfour
Argo: Dehumanizing Muslims
"Argo highlights the negative attitudes that the two countries have held toward each other for decades. Its brief introduction attempts to provide historical context behind the embassy takeover, but the film does not convey the prevailing Iranian sense of grievance - real or imagined - that led to the 1979 attack, and the emotional response in the streets of Tehran." - John Limbert, Former Iranian hostage |
Instead of explaining the motives behind the Iranian’s actions, the film plays up the “war on terror” narrative that turns the Americans into innocent victims and Iranians into foreign and violent terrorists. In reality, the Iranians were acting out against an oppressive government that was the result of U.S. Cold War foreign policies, but none of this is effectively explained in the film. In actuality, the Iranian people are only shown as irrational mobs as seen in the opening sequence.
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Conclusion
All in all, Argo dehumanizes the Iranians in the movie and perpetuates the common stereotypes that many Americans harbor. It doesn't bother to give any of the Iranians in the film names or to provide translations for any of their dialogue. Therefore, the audience is not given the opportunity to understand the Iranians in Argo beyond just the fact that they are the irrational foreign enemy.