4.4.1. Argo (2012)
Argo is a 2012 Academy Award-winning biographical drama which deals with real-life events during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The story follows CIA agent Mendez (Ben Affleck) who is trying to rescue American diplomats from Iran by pretending to be a film producer.
At the beginning of the film, there is a preface, a short video with narration that offers some context to the audience. This opening actually questions American foreign policy as it is explained that this whole crisis was provoked by Americans themselves. This is a very clever strategy used by filmmakers in order to give the impression to the audience that the representations in the film are complex. As already mentioned, Evelyn Alsultany calls it simplified complex representation (Arabs 21). Arabs, in this case Iranians, are still depicted as uncivilised and dangerous people in the rest of the film, and their portrayal is actually one-dimensional. As Evelyn Alsultany says, Argo is an example of the film that tries to defuse stereotyping but fails miserably (Argo Tries 1).
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The American embassy is attacked, Americans fear for their safety because Iranians are crazy and violent. This scene is scary and immediately decreases the importance of the preface. Throughout the whole film, Iranians are seen terrorizing American hostages and killing innocent civilians. Dead bodies are lying on the streets; people are being hanged on a daily basis. These scenes imply that violence is a part of the everyday life in Iran because Iranians are aggressive and crazy, and that is how they live. These depictions are, of course, exaggerated and not true. We can conclude that the preface is just a strategy used by Hollywood filmmakers to give the audience the impression that this film is offering them complexity and a true representation of