Zach Snyder is known universally for his role is creating big ticket action movies with an emphasis on the extreme. The 2006 spartan hack-n-slash film 300 is no exception which tells the bloody embellished tale of the 300 spartan warriors who held the mountain pass against the entirety of Xerxes’ army during the Persian wars. This tale of bravery and sacrifice is, at its core, rooted in truth however nearly every other aspect of this film is wildly historically inaccurate. A majority of his cinematography and world building is rooted in a theme of orientalism refers to the narrow and prejudiced view the west has had over many aspects of Eastern culture. My second blog post will focus on a few different scenes from the film which encapsulate this racist theme and show how it catered to such a wide audience.
The movie 300 takes place in ancient Sparta, introducing us to our main character and leader of the warrior state, Leonidas. Sparta was known to raise the best warriors in all of Greek, however, one can see the roots of orientalism shown in the kingdom of Sparta just from the introduction, before being ever introduced to the Persian army.
King Leonidas’ ideals in this scene are somewhat grounded in truth. The kingdom of Sparta had to consider its own interests when learning of the growing Persian invaders. His family was, without a doubt, one of the justifications for choosing to hold his ground. However, this idyllic version of Sparta that was conveniently shown in accordance with our Western democratic ideals, it is a farcry from the reality that was the kingdom of ancient Sparta. The spartans practiced slavery to an extreme degree while this is not shown at all in a majority of the film. This is just one historical inaccuracy of many which serves to highlight the difference in culture between the western people of Greece versus the so called “savages” of eastern Persia.
This theme of cultural supremacy is only further illustrated in the actual army of the Persian “god king” Xerxes. In an effort to differentiate the two opposing forces, the Persian army was given the most embellishment and dramatization based on their Eastern culture than any of their spear throwing counter-parts. At the time, the Persian army was supposed to be one of the greatest forces in the world, with the king Xerxes who possessed a desire to conquer and enslave. After ravaging the entirety of Egypt, Xerxes turned his attention to the Hellenes, with a passion to see Athens burn. His army, as depicted in the movie, is made up entirely of slaves with Xerxes himself being adorned with gold jewelry and barbarous attire, only adding to the theme of savagery Snyder imposed on the East.
This is where the main difference in the two opposing armies are shown and it even furthers the movies attempt at dividing their respective cultures. Here the audience is show the valiant muscular hoplites ready to face off the horde of foreign savages leading the entire battle to be painted in a way that feels as if the Persians deserve to die. There is no sympathy for these foreign invaders and through Snyder’s cinematography they are simply cannon fodder for the white Eastern heroes. This is the root of orientalism which paints the east as primitive and deemed lesser by what is usually a white population. However, this institutionalized way of thinking was also present in the writing of this history, namely by greek philosopher and historian Herodotus who describes how “… the king, who was watching, leapt from his throne three times in fear for his army. Thus ended the contest that day, and on the next, the barbarians did no better” (480). Through his describing of the opposing army as “barbarians” the typical western way of thinking was present when this history was originally recorded, making it perfectly logical that such a mindset would still exist even in such a historically inaccurate adaptation of these events. This is shown even further in the unveiling of the “immortals” described by Herodotus to be “an elite corps of Persian troops in Xerxes army” (480). However, in Snyders adaptation, these soldiers are seen as inhuman when unmasked, almost comical in his depiction of what a Persian soldier might actually look like.
As Edward Said describes, “one ought never to assume that the structure of orientalism is nothing more than a structure of lies and myths which, were the truth about them to be told, would simply blow away. I myself believe that Orientialism is more particularly valuable as a sign of European-Atlantic power over the orient than it is as a veridic discourse about the orient…” (Said 238). Essentially, these examples of orientalism in film are meant as almost a show of power over the orient and east itself and how the idea of cultural superiority has been ingrained in western ideals and storytelling since ancient times. To consider this a new revelation is a fallacy and only caters to the racist dominating way of thinking that is so common in the west.
300 is a film that feels more like a video game in the sense that it caters more to the audiences appeal for violence with less of an emphasis on historical accuracy or cultural sensitivity. This allows the film to be enjoyed by a broad post 9/11 audience who see the valiant defenders against the foreign invaders as a perfect parallel into our own western society. The theme of orientalism is very much alive in modern day media and in western culture as a whole.
Bibliography
[1] Zach Snyder. 300 (2007)
[2] Edward Said. The Discourse of the Orient
[3] Herodotus. Histories, Book XII
[4] Holland, Tom. Mirage in the Movie House. Arion (2007) p177
UR Ancient World In Cinema 
Really like this post. I think there is great points made here and great usage of images and a scene that really shows the points that you make in the introduction. I like how you gave your own words in the conclusion as well, it tells us how you felt about the movie. I remember Prof. Damer told us that this movie was hated by Eastern cultures because it portrayed Persians this way. This post really tells us why they felt this way.
I completely agree with ideology of intense orientalism instilled in the film and I also talked about it in my 2nd blog post. Farshad Farahan is among the many critiques who analyzed the films’ political implications and historical inaccuracies all which are explored under the orientalist view in his Guest Essay. Culture is intensified by the power of story telling and Zack Snyder clearly told the wrong story of culture although it can be argued that his film was an adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic book which was leaning towards entrainment rather than true history.
Love it! I agree all that you said! I would like to also point out that when this film was made was in the 2000s, we had issues with the east at this time. So, the culture during that time was a bit of a mess the wars in the middle-east. I was just wondering, could the reason why Zack Snyder portrayed them was because of the tension with the middle-east or was it his interpretation of Herodotus?
Great post Gavin. The point you mentioned about the movie not showing the Spartans own use of slaves is significant. The Spartans’ enslaved many people and reduced non-citizens of Sparta to serf-like positions known as helots. The Spartans also had to put down revolts in their territory by groups they had supressed earlier. The decision to portray the Spartans as some ideal group is historically inaccurate. I also liked how you included Edward Said’s statement that orientalism is about establishing a dominance over the east by the west as opposed to a description of the east.