300 (2006) Movie Critical Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

300 (2006) Movie Critical Review - Essay Example For ten days, Leonidas and his valiant men fight against the Persians. The Greek Ephialtes, however, defects to Xerxes and reveals a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians used to defeat the Greeks. Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) successful persuades the Council to send reinforcement to Leonidas, but it is too late. Leonidas and all his men perished. Nevertheless, the battle continues, since Dilios leads a larger Greek army against the Persian army and launches the Battle of Plataea. The film has not precisely depicted some of the causes of the Battle, beliefs and attitudes, technology, dress, events, characters and speech of the time, as it turned a historical fact into a romantic myth that emphasizes the inaccurate dichotomy between the â€Å"evil† Asians and the â€Å"good† white race. The film did not accurately depict the causes of the Battle at Thermopylae and severely dichotomized historical characters, although the Battle itself is not fictitious. The Battle of Themopylae truly occurred, which Herodotus and other ancient writers described. The film shows that Leonidas fought for freedom and independence of not only Sparta, but the whole of Greece, though this is a simplistic reason for his motivation, according to Eugene N. Borza, professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University. It was still unclear why the Persians charged to Thermopylae, so it is hard to answer why the Greeks prepared to go to war with the former at Thermopylae. The film also no longer explores the â€Å"complex issues faced by the Greek city-states confronting the Persian advance† (Borza). Nevertheless, the Spartans did courageously stand against the Persians and all of them died there, except those who defected to the Persians and deserted the Spartan army. Their last stand, as a result, has been subjected to numerous various interpretations, to which the film â€Å"300† also belongs. Furthermore, the film has depicted a r ather stereotyped dichotomy between Asians and whites. The Asians, specifically Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), are illustrated as the â€Å"embodiment of evil and mindless tyranny, as opposed to the Spartans who represent freedom and justice† (Borza). The black and white division between the Asians and the Greeks perpetuate Orientalism and not the real facts about the Persians as people and their leaders. The film does not capture the actual figures of the historical event, but it did highlight some factual military strategies. Leonidas did not have only 300 soldiers with him, because according to Herodotus, the â€Å"Father of History,† he also brought thousands other Greeks and slaves. Borza stresses that it is â€Å"ludicrous to suggest† that an experienced Spartan general like Leonidas would think that 300 men would suffice against tens or even hundreds of thousands of enemies. That thinking would border both hubris and stupidity. Borza asserts that the Spartan s tand at Thermopylae consisted of â€Å"a force of perhaps six to seven thousand Greeks.† Moreover, the location of Thermopylae was strategic, because â€Å"the Persians would be unable to take advantage of their massive preponderance in numbers; instead, they would have to face the Greeks in close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat† (Frye 39). Also, the casualties to the Asians were high, because the Greeks fought well and hard too (Borza). â€Å"300† specifically capitalizes on close-up and medium shots of the battle with spurting blood and flinging, cut-off body parts that would have happened in a real hand-to-hand battle. Thus, the location enhanced the strategy of the Greeks against the Persians, while Snyder ensures hardcore action battle scenes with graphic shots and

Syria Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Syria Revolution - Essay Example However, unlike the practical main revolution that causes increased violence and destruction from below, the Syrian revolution was started from above courtesy of reform coup and this paved way for the long Baath’s party military reign that made people feel greatly isolated under the leadership of Assad. Assad played a main role in the leadership of the revolution from above that caused land reforms, education expansion and extension industrialization sponsored by state that favored the elite group of the society. Tom achieve increased power in the Arabic world and secure his power from the West, Assad waged war on Israelites and rejected the United States policy. It examines the outbreak and possible causes of the uprising and to identify the main reasons behind the revolution of Syria, the book examines factors like social conflict, weakness of the institutions, radical parties’ emergence, the military politicization and the function of unfavorable external situation. For instance, according to the author, the revolution traces its origin to the various coups and counter-coups that happened in the early 1960s. The Syrian uprising compared to the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions was grounded on the revolt of peasants, a Sunni periphery protest against the regime of Baath that turned its back on the Syrian local population, (Hinnebusch 12). Later on, the uprising took on diverse dimensions with Muslim Brotherhoods – Jihadists – entering into the conflict because of the heretical aspects of the regime and due to its alliance with Iran Shiites and Hezbollah. Resultantly, because of Jihad, various demonstrators from across the Arabic and Islamic world have emerged in Syria, although, the slogan of Jihad did not trigger Syrians to enter into the uprising. A different dimension according to the author is revenge, basing from the extreme violent efforts from the regime to halt the protest waves. He suggests that the brutality of the reign acted to extend the circle of the protestors involved in the uprising. A number of people who later joined the protest were encouraged by the desire to avenge their family member, friends and relatives’ bloodshed, and destruction of their properties, cities and settlements by the forces of the regime during the uprising. The book explains the power concentration under the President Assad and examines how presidential monarchy creation buttressed by inherited kin and people commanding repression instrument was integrated with the establishment of Lenisit political organization consisting of a local constituency. The leadership was an inherited type of leadership, for instance, it was a the forty-year regime of the dynasty of Assad – initially under Hafiz and later Bashar, Assad’s son and predecessor, which has prospered in making the nation a firm and stable nation. It also analyzes the Assad’s response to the uprising and the effects of the revolution to Syria as a nation and the entire world. Hinnebusch Raymond also examines the political economy of the development of economy, indicating how industrialization, liberalization of economy and agrarian reforms lead to an increasingly equitable and different but significantly flawed