300–a less than 300 word review

the hall was nearly full at the local multiplex in kolkata, and some actually clapped at the punchline dialogues– what made 300 an exciting movie was that it was just like a Hindi action movie, with every retort loud and clear and every action sequence over-the-top. As a pure adrenalin rush macho action movie, it was a winner, but when it comes to the subtler story aspects, it leaves much to be desired for. For one, turning a historical subject into a grand fantasy doesnt work very well, when you consider that in today’s political climate, the Persians can easily be read as Islamic and the Greeks as Christians, even though the historical period is much much before Christ. The Persians actually followed Zorastrianism as the state religion. The strange orientalising costumes of the Persians, though very chic, was a bit too out of the way, I thought. The war-mongering rhetoric in the name of freedom, justice and reason sounds suspiciously like a man named George W.Bush, currently King of the American Empire. In fact, historically, the Persians were the first in the world to give some thought to human rights, and it was the Spartans who were a military society.

Cyrus the Great created the Cyrus Cylinder, considered to be the first declaration of human rights. He was the first king whose name has the suffix “Great” and the first Shah of Iran to be known by that title. Cyrus also banned slavery in all of the conquered areas that became the Persian Empire. Cyrus’ seminal ideas greatly influenced later human civilizations; Cyrus’ principles of ruling – advocating “love” rather than “fear” – influenced the original U.S. Constitution.^[7]

Thats irony for you.