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  • Essay / An Analysis of the Historical Inaccuracies of Zack Snyder's Movie 300

    300 is a film directed by Zack Snyder and based on true events that took place during the BC era. It mainly focuses on the Battle of Thermopylae, a very important battle of the Greco-Persian War which took place during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Essentially, the film is obsessed with the ambitious King Xerxes of Persia invading Greece with his enormous army to expand his vast slave empire. In 480 BC, he was put in a position to fight King Leonidas of the Spartans, whose army consisted of only 300 men, Leonidas being completely outnumbered by Xerxes' army of 150,000 men. The title itself represents the number of men who fought for the Spartans, most likely used to emphasize the greatness of power the Spartans had with such a small army. This film would certainly appeal to historians due to the many historical inaccuracies present throughout the film. Essentially, I will analyze the film as a whole and compare it to the actual events that occurred during this time period. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay There are many instances where historical inaccuracies are present throughout the film. Snyder seems to direct many negative traits towards the characters in the film, causing the audience to view these characters negatively as well. For example, Xerxes, grandson of Cyrus the Great and beloved husband of Esther, is depicted as an oversized drag queen, which is far from what he actually was. Other times, it is clear that racism exists within the film's cast, since the Persians were depicted as Africans and the Spartans as white. In reality, these roles have been reversed and could easily anger the audience as they would inevitably express their hatred towards the African actors. Additionally, Gorgo, the wife of King Leonidas, was also not accurately depicted. She was shown to be a woman very involved in politics, having sexual relations with men on the war council and stabbing members of the council, as many actions as she had. not committed in reality. According to reality, Gorgo was respected as the wife of Leonidas. Obviously, it is obvious that Snyder tried to implement these negative character traits simply for the sake of the film in order to engage the audience. If Gorgo had been portrayed exactly as the woman she actually was, then the film might have taken a different direction. The film also caused some controversy, as the Persians were depicted as barbarians. Many Iranians believed the film had racist intentions, which was falsified by definitions of Greek roots. The Greeks used the word barbaros to refer to any foreigner, from which the word barbarian derives. It is therefore clear that the use of the word barbarian does not constitute a specific degradation or insult to the modern Iranian people. Finally, a major inaccuracy of the film concerns the depiction of the Persian army as "monsters". In the film, most enemy soldiers are deliberately monstrous and non-human. Essentially, many other differences are present as battle scenes are fabricated, the reasoning behind sending a small force is distorted, the size of the Persian army is misrepresented, the timeline is incorrect and that the equipment is shown differently. The film was released on March 9, 2007. in North America and is based on a graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller.According to Zack Snyder, the only story related to the film concerns the real events that took place during the Battle of Thermopylae. No events occurred during production that resulted in the film being made, with the only inspiration having to do with bringing the graphic novel to the big screen. Overall, all the hype around this movie had to do with the graphic novel being turned into a film adaptation. As the graphic novel enjoyed great success, moviegoers have been consistently raving about this film. Zack Snyder was known for including many visual effects in the film to enhance the audience's experience as well as other qualities to emphasize the emotion of the film. For example, the entire film was shot indoors on a blue screen instead of being filmed in other locations. Additionally, the film's lighting was reversed to allow for faster and more efficient filming designed by cinematographer Larry Fong. As the film's backgrounds were added later, neither the actors nor the camera had to move for this aspect of the film. The film was shot on a soundstage with a total of 1,300 effects used throughout the film. Some scenes involving horses were quite complicated because some of the riders depicted in the film were forced to ride the horses to the edge of the blue screen and ski to a stop. Coming to the music, the music in the film consisted of haunting music. song, with a chorus that seems to be sung either in Latin or Hebrew. The film is narrated by a Spartan soldier named Dilios, voiced by David Wenham. The use of narration in this film expands on the importance of the battle and the events leading up to it, also focusing on emotion. Essentially, the film received an R rating with showers of blood, multiple decapitations and stylized scenes. violence. There are several historical books based on Thermopylae that could be compared to the film. The aftermath of the battle is described in a book called The Histories, by Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, which could easily be the most widely read due to the time period in which it was published. One of the best modern books about battle is Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, which is a fiction book that is mostly accurate but takes some poetic license. A book called The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece is a good, quick history of the decisive naval battle and Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power is another book by Victor Davis Hanson that discusses of the culture and historical importance of Salamis and the overall defeat of Xerxes. All of these books, whether fiction or nonfiction, are closely related to the film because of their connections to the Battle of Thermopylae. There are a few questions left unanswered throughout the film that I thought about shortly after watching the film. For example, the film wasn't entirely sure whether the Persians were ultimately capable of defeating the larger Greek army. I also wondered why the Persian Immortals were disguised as ninjas. This was something that seemed a little out of place in context since the movie didn't talk about it at all. However, I was able to find the answers to these questions through research, as it cleared up most of my confusion as a viewer. These questions should have been answered in the film since some audiences may or may not have any background information about the battle. Compared to a written source, the film definitely portrays the characters very differently, which is very common throughout the film. the movie. For example, the Persian army was not actually.