300

watch original V-Blog in Persian

Since the movie came out, the number '300' evokes some strong, angry feelings amongst Iranians of all religious or political backgrounds all over the world. We Persians might kill each other by day, call each other names and destroy each other's lives, but we're pretty unified about one thing: Iran's history is something we can all be proud of. And if you attack us, then we'll stand united against the onslaught. In that way, our psyche thrives on pride more than the Greeks'! Serious!

For a while I used to brush off the violent reactions of Persians who complained to me about the movie. Some of my Moslem Persian friends said, "I bet you the filmmaker was Jewish!" Ironically, Xerxes and his grandfather, Cyrus the Great, were defendants of the Jews and Jewish people all over the world honor them as righteous kings. Meanwhile my Jewish Persian friends accused the Greeks of being the real culprits behind this tasteless movie. All the while my rationale was that it's just a movie. And who cares? The Persians looked pretty tough anyway. I even went so far as to think: maybe we Persians need a kick in our behinds just to realize how rotten the rest of the world perceives us to be. Because rather than a historically accurate film (which it in no wise was), it was a reflection of the barbarism we've come to represent.

I held that view for a while. Until last night. I was having seafood dinner with some of my Persian friends and they explained to me the pain they were feeling over the movie. My friend, Shiva, told me how evolved the Persian civilization had been at the time. Cyrus the Great was the first figure in recorded human history to have articulated a human rights declaration. A declaration that is set in stone at the entrance of the United Nations office in New York and reminds us all of how world leaders should be treating their people. His buildings and cities and those of his grandson, Xerxes, were the only ones ever to be built not by slaves, but by a paid work force. In those days; unheard of! He had a policy of paying women equally to men. In fact women and men were treated equally. Not like they are today in Iran. You would think we've regressed. He made sure that the people had health insurance, that their children were educated and that they received shares in the work that they performed. In short ; his civilization was highly evolved and, well, 'civilized'. So for Xerxe's empire to appear barbaric, animalesque and backward is a serious blow in the stomach. And it was to me too, last night, hearing the explanation of my friend. It doesn't matter who you are, if something beautiful is misrepresented it hurts you. If someone misrepresents your religion (the way we see the Baha'i faith being portrayed in Iran), your family or anything else that is dear to you – it simply hurts. And it hurt me last night on a personal and also philosophical level.

I know more than anyone that Persians don't look very good right now. '300' reflected that. Or maybe it was just a "harmless" fun movie with no deep meaning or attempt to portray something accurate. But I know how Persians feel. They feel like they're in a straight jacket with masking tape around their mouths. They can't explain to you why they're so messed up and lunatic-looking right now, but they wish they could scream and shout to you about how great they were before. - - - If only they could sit at one table and figure out how they can become great once again.