Spartan superhunks and Persian monsters: Responding to truth and identity as determined by Hollywood

Abstract

This article examines the prevalence of Hollywood blockbuster films, specifically 300, as popular ethnographies that contribute greatly to North American society's perspectives on “truth.” Within this article it is argued that films like 300 have become significant forms of pedagogical persuasion in North America and have contributed greatly to the discrimination and miseducation regarding people of the Middle-East. The overt dehumanization and vilification of ancient Persia in 300 and the movie's not so subtle comparisons to current political contexts are considered in regard to not only the West's view of the Other, but the sense of Self of those of Middle-Eastern origin. This paper speaks of the failings of qualitative methodologies and studies in responding to and promoting multicultural and “just society” concepts in North America and notes that in comparison to the mediums we use in our classrooms to counter its production of the “true” master narrative everything else has fallen short.

Citation

Darius Stonebanks, C. (2008), "Spartan superhunks and Persian monsters: Responding to truth and identity as determined by Hollywood", Denzin, N.K., Salvo, J. and Washington, M. (Ed.) Studies in Symbolic Interaction (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 31), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 207-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-2396(08)31012-6