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Iran scoffs at Oscar-winning 'Argo'
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's state TV dismissed the Oscar-winning film "Argo"
on Monday as an "advertisement for the CIA," and some Iranians called the award
a political statement by America for its unflattering portrayal of the aftermath
of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
And while "Argo" has not appeared in any Iranian cinemas, there has been no
shortage of buzz from those who saw the movie through bootleg DVD networks.
The discussions over "Argo" in Iran have often pried open a generational
divide: Iranians who took part in the 1979 Islamic Revolution picking apart the
portrayals of Tehran during the time, and Iranians too young to recall the
events getting a different view of the upheavals.
"I want to know what the other side is saying," said Shieda, a 21-year-old
University of Tehran student, who gave only her first name to avoid possible
backlash for speaking with foreign media.
Tehran City Council member Masoomeh Ebtekar -- who was one of the students
who occupied the U.S. Embassy and acted as the Iranian students' spokeswoman --
says the film exaggerates the violence among crowds that stormed the compound in
November 1979.
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, but a handful of embassy
staff were sheltered by the Canadian ambassador. Their escape, using a fake
movie as a cover story, is recounted in "Argo."
Ebtekar insists the hostage takers were mostly students, but other accounts
suggest militants and members of the Revolutionary Guard were closely involved
in the crisis.
Actor-director Ben Affleck "goes and shows scenes of a very violent and very
angry mob throughout the film," Ebtekbar said. "It is never mentioned that these
are a group of students."
The semiofficial Mehr news agency called the Oscar "politically motivated"
because first lady Michelle Obama, from the White House, joined Jack Nicholson
via video link in Los Angeles to help present the Best Picture prize.
Iran's state TV called the movie "an advertisement for the CIA."
Iran's culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, said Hollywood has "distorted
history" as part of what Iranian officials call a "soft war" of cultural
influence in Iran.
But retired teacher, Reza Abbasi, who saw the revolution first-hand, said: "I
know Hollywood usually changes reality to make it attractive for movie lovers,
but more or less it was close to the realities then."
Others say "Argo" also shows the need for Iranian filmmakers to deal more
with issues from the revolution.
The moderate Hamshahri newspaper said the movie "targeted the culture and
civilization of Iran," but is worthwhile for Iranians to see a different
perspective of the events that led to the collapse of relations between the U.S.
and Iran.
"Iranian audiences are seeing a new version of the events for the first
time," said a commentary in the newspaper. "This has been a weak point for our
TV and cinema industry, which has not produced anything about the (US Embassy
storming) after more than three decades."
In downtown Tehran, bootleg DVDs of "Argo" sell for about 30,000 rials, or
less than $1.
Iran's state-run film industry boycotted this year's Oscars in the wake of a
U.S.-made Internet video clip that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad and set off
protests across the Muslim world.
In February 2012, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the 2012 Oscar for Best
Foreign Film for "A Separation," the first such prize for Iran. A month
earlier, Iranian authorities ordered the closure of the House of Cinema, an
independent film group that had operated for 20 years, and counted Iran's top
filmmakers, including Farhadi, among its members.
"In my opinion, it's a nice movie from technical aspects, and it was on the
scale of Hollywood movies, but I don't think it was worth a nomination for Oscar
and other awards," said Mohammad Amin Sharifi, a movie fan in Tehran.
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C'mon! Who really cares what Iran thinks? WHY should we care what Iran thinks? When the Iranian government stops treating people worse than animals MAYBE I'll care what they think. Hold your breath waiting for THAT to happen...
Ummm...How would something that was specific to the 1979 Revolution hurt our future efforts? As long as they go in with a Visa, Americans can currently go to Iran. Rick Steves has a travel guide to Iran. We're not constantly rescuing hostages from Iran. It was only those idiots who were wandering near the Iran/Iraq border. Have we used the fake movie crew thing again? Why would we ever?
And this story has been declassified since the Clinton presidency, so acting like this movie somehow is showing America's "dumbing down" by revealing military secrets makes me question how much you actually know about anything.
With regards to the article, I'm surprised that Iran is so angry. While, of course, as Americans our tendency is to sympathize with the American characters and want them to get out safely, I felt like I understood why the people who rose up in 1979 were so angry at the Shah and America. It wasn't like the message was the Shah is great and how dare the Iranians do what they did.
Kudos to Ben Affleck for having the courage for breaking away from Hollywood's customary cowardly political correctness, to portray the reality of actual historical events! This movie should be a shining example to the biased liberal media that the uncompromising repression, and open violence Islamic totalitarian regimes supports against other ideologies and free countries is a cold, and crude reality.
The movie was exciting, and probably not entirely accurate. I think the award was both politically motivated, and also based on Affleck's popularity with voting members. Compared to Lincoln and The Life of Pi, this movie was a B movie. Sometimes the Oscar picks are just laughable.
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