THE REPRESENTATION OF PERSIANS AS VILLAINS IN A MOVIE SCRIPT ‘300’.

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A Research Paper

Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education as Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree

By:

IMAM MA’RUF KHAERULLOH

0807518

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

BANDUNG

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PAGE OF APPROVAL

The Representation of Persians as Villains in a Movie Script ‘300’:

An Analysis with an Orientalism Perspective by Edward Said

By:

Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh

0807518

Approved by:

First Supervisor Second Supervisor

Bachrudin Musthafa, M.A., Ph.D. Ernie D.A. Imperiani, M.Ed

NIP. 195703101987031001 NIP. 197809222010122001

Head of English Education Department

Faculty of Language and Arts Education

Indonesia University of Education

Prof. Dr. H. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed.

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Oleh

Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh

Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

April 2014

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism Perspective by Edward Said)

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions... 62

5.2 Suggestions... 63

REFERENCES... 65

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism

Perspective by Edward Said)

ABSTRACT

Written by: Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh (0807518) First Supervisor: Bachrudin Musthafa, M.A., Ph.D.

Second Supervisor: Ernie D.A. Imperiani, M.Ed

This paper investigates the ways the Persians characters as villains are represented in the

movie ‘300’. Furthermore, the study also analyzes the relation of ‘300’ movie with the

current socio-political issue between the United States and Iran. This study uses Edward

Said’s (1978) Orientalism as theoretical framework and supported by other theory from Davis, Mules and Thwaites’ (1994) character and characterization. In addition, there is also

Brian’s (2005) Film and Politics in America to analyze the ‘300’ and its relation to the socio -political issue between the U.S. and Iran. The study finds that Persians are characterized as inferior, evil, savage, bestial, and corrupt to strengthen their positions as villains in the movie. Based on an Orientalist perspective, those negative characteristics are considered as

pejorative stereotypes. Meanwhile, with regard to the relation of ‘300’ movie with the current socio-political issue between the U.S. and Iran, it seems apparent that the movie is used as the U.S. propaganda based on some evidences, namely the negative representation of Persians as villains, the movie producer, and the movie release. All the findings above indicate that a film can be used as a tool for propaganda.

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism

Perspective by Edward Said)

Representasi Persian Sebagai Penjahat Dalam Film ‘300’:

Sebuah Analisis dengan Menggunakan Perspektif Orientalisme dari Edward Said

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini membahas bagaimana karakter orang Persia direpresentasikan dalam film

‘300’. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga menganalisa hubungan antara film ‘300’ dengan isu sosial-politik antara Amerika Serikat dan Iran. Penelitian ini menggunakan perspektif Orientalisme dari Edward Said (1978) sebagai kerangka teori dan didukung oleh teori lain seperti teori karakter dan karakterisasi dari Davis, Mules dan Thwaites (1994). Selain itu,

teori Brian (2005) tentang film dan politik di Amerika dipakai untuk menganalisa film ‘300’

serta hubungannya dengan isu sosial-politik antara Amerika Serikat dan Iran. Dari penelitian ini ditemukan bahwa karakter-karakter orang Persia dikarakterisasi sebagai karakter yang lemah, jahat, liar, seperti binatang, dan korup untuk memperkuat posisi mereka sebagai penjahat di film. Berdasarkan perspektif Orientalis, ciri-ciri negatif tersebut dianggap sebagai stereotipe-stereotipe yang merendahkan. Sedangkan, terkait hubungan antara film ‘300’ dengan isu sosial-politik antara Amerika dan Iran, tampak jelas bahwa film ini digunakan sebagai propaganda AS berdasarkan pada bukti-bukti seperti, representasi negatif orang Persia sebagai penjahat, produsen film, dan waktu perilisan film. Dari hasil temuan dalam penelitian ini, dapat diindikasikan bahwa sebuah film dapat digunakan sebagai alat untuk membuat propaganda.

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The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism Perspective by Edward Said)

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses general description of the study. It elaborates the

background of the study, the research questions, the aims of the study, the scope

of the study, the significance of the study, the research methods, the clarification

of related terms, and organization of the paper.

1.1 Background

In the nineteenth century, Europeans described non-Europeans as

indolent, thoughtless, sexually immoral, unreliable and demented (Bressler,

2007). This stereotyping is called by Said (2003, p.202) as Orientalism, which refers to “Occident‟s imperatives, perspectives and ideological biases that misleadingly describe and explain the Orient in the form of regularized writing, visions and studies”.The terms “the Occident” is used by Said (1994) in reference to western or former colonizers which includes most of Europe and U.S.A. The

Orient, in contrast, refers to eastern or former colonized people from Africa, Asia

and South America (Said, 1994). Therefore, Orientalism can be described as the Occident‟s perception or opinion toward the Orient which somehow leads to misrepresentation.

One of the forms of writing that can be used as a medium in presenting the Occident‟s perception toward the Orient is a movie script. Balraj (2011) asserts that the misrepresentation of certain group, specifically the Orient in some

narrative stories, medias or movie scripts has led most of the Occident think that

the group are bad or dangerous. Further, Aguayo (2009) states that the static

depiction of Muslim as terrorist in movie scripts that set in Middle-East has led

most of the Occident to think and to have the assumption that the Muslim people

in Middle-East are really terrorist. Therefore, the narrative story writen in movie

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

mislead the audiences in viewing the Orient and in deciding about what should

and should not be in reality (Akita, 2006; Aguayo, 2009).

“300” movie script, an adaptation of Frank Miller‟s graphic novel is a literary work that has Orientalism issue. Written by Zack Snyder in 2006, the

movie script tells about the battle of Thermopylae where 300 spartans army could

stand against the invasion of thousands Persians army for seven days in three

stages of the war. The story of „300‟ in the movie script had been criticized

because it inacurately presents the history of the battle of Thermopylae and

racially insult Iranians who are the descendant of Persian (Tait, 2007).

Furthermore, Tait (2007) reports that Iran officials government and

Iranian bloggers describe the story in the movie script as an American‟s attempt to demonise Iran at a time U.S. Government intensify their pressure over the Iran‟s nuclear programme. Furthermore, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‟s cultural advisor, Shamaqdari (Joneidi, 2007) states that the negative portrayal of

King Xerxes and his Persians army can be assumed as an American‟s attempt for „psychological warfare‟ against Iran.

Based on the issue, this presents study attempts to analyze the representation of Persian as villains in “300” and its relation with the current socio-political issue between the U.S. and Iran. The study employs character and

characterization from Davis, Mules and Thwaites (1994) in categorizing the data

and Orientalism as proposed by Edward Said (1978) to analyze the categorized

data.

1.2. Research Questions

In order to shape this study, these following questions are provided to find

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

1. How are the Persians as the villains represented in a movie entitled „300‟?

2. How does the representation of Persians as villains in „300‟ relate to the

socio-political issue between the U.S. government and Iran?

1.3. Aims of the Study

Based on the research questions mentioned above, the aims of the study

are:

1. To investigate the representation of Persians as villains in a movie entitled „300‟.

2. To analyze the relation of the representation of Persians as villains in „300‟

with the socio-political issue between the U.S. government and Iran.

1.4. Scope of the Study

This study is limited to examine the representation of Persians as the villains

from an Orientalist perspective and its relation toward socio-political issue

between U.S. and Iran as reflected in the movie script of “300”.

1.5. Significance of the Study

This study is expected to uncover how the Persian characters are represented

as the villains based on an Orientalist perspective and its relation toward

socio-political issue between U.S. and Iran as reflected in the movie script of “300”.

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

This research used a qualitative descriptive research because it aimed to

understand the processes, events, and relationships in the contexts of the social

and political situation depicted in a movie script „300‟. As suggested by Ospina

(2004) that in a qualitative approach, the researcher aims for a holistic picture

from a historical unique situations. Furthemore, she asserts that by using the

qualitative approach, the researcher is allowed to analyze a phenomenon deeply

through the situations that given by texts.

The data were collected from a movie script of “300” which was writen by

Zack Snyder. The data taken from the movie script are in the form of words,

phrases, sentences, dialogue, and narration.

After all data were collected, they were analyzed by using a textual analysis

approach which employed Davis, Mules, and Thwaites‟ (1994) character and

characterization in categorizing the data and Orientalism as proposed by Said

(1978) to analyze the data. In addition, there is also Brian‟s (2004) Film and Politics in America to analyze the „300‟ and its relation to socio-political issue between the U.S. and Iran. Interpretation was then made and ended by

conclusions and suggestions for further research.

1.7. Clarification of Related Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding and misconception, there are some

significant terms which need to be clarified as follows:

(1) Orientalism: Said (1994) states that the emergence of Orientalism is to challange cultural studies. Orientalism refers to Occident‟s imperatives, perspectives and ideological biases that misleadingly describe and explain

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism Perspective by Edward Said)

east and the Occident or the west. Orientalism is also used as a comparison

between the Orient and Occident.

(2) The Orient: Non-Westerner which mostly include African, Asian and people in other former colonized countries (Edward Said‟s Orientalism, 2003). In this study, the Orient refers to Persian.

(3) The Occident: Westeners or European who stands a belief that they are more civilized and educated than the Orient (Edward Said‟s Orientalism, 2003). In this study the Occident refers to Spartan and acardian army.

(4) 300: a movie produced by Warner Brothers in 2007 that tells about the

battle of Thermopylae between Spartan and Persian.

1.8 Organization of the paper

This research consists of five chapters:

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents brief descriptions of the research contents which

includes the background of the study, research questions, aims of the study,

scope of the study, significance of the study, research methods, clarification of

related terms and organization of the paper.

Chapter II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION

This chapter presents theoretical framework related to the issue and

provides several related previous studies to support the analysis of the movie

script.

Chapter III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides the explanation of research methodology of the study,

which includes research design, data collection, data analysis and data

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Chapter IV FINDINGS and DISCUSSIONS

This chapter presents the findings and discussions from data analysis using

Orientalism framework proposed by Said (1978).

Chapter V CONCLUSION and SUGGESTION

This chapter contains the conclusion of the research and the suggestion for

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III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter elaborates the methodology of the study which attempted to

investigate the representation of Persians in a movie script entitled „300‟ and its

relation toward socio-political situation between the USA and Iran. It covers

research design, data collection, which include data collection procedure, data

analysis and data presentation.

3.1 Research Design

This present study employed a descriptive qualitative method because it

attempted to describe, understand, and interpret the representation of Persians as

villains from the Orientalist perspectives which focused the analysis on the data in

the form of texts which included words, sentences, dialogues and narratives. This

is in line with Flick (2009) who asserts that in a qualitative research, texts are not

just the essential data of the findings, but also the basis of the interpretations and

the central medium for presenting and analysing the findings.

Further, he goes on by saying that qualitative research takes into account

viewpoints and practices of people in real world which are different because of

different perspectives and social backgrounds related to them.

3.2 Research Subject and Context

A‟300‟ movie script writen by Zack Snyder was the main subject of this

study. “300” movie script is an adaptation of Frank Miller‟s graphic novel of the

same title. The reason of why the movie script was chosen over the graphic novel

is because the movie script was writen at a time when U.S. government intensify

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since the movie script is believed to be related to the curent socio-political issue

between U.S. and Iran.

3.3 Data Collection

The data were in the form of words, phrases, sentences, dialogues, and

narration. The data were supported by other sources such as journals, articles and

other relevant studies related to the issue. In collecting the data, reading the movie

script closely was required in order to understand the text thoroughly. The

collected data related to the representation of Persians as villains in the movie

script were then noted as textual evidences. Further, the evidences were analyzed

using Said‟s (1978) Orientalism alongside with Davis, Mules, and Thwaites‟

(1994) character and characterization.

3.3.1 Data Collection Procedures

As a guidance in collecting the data, these following steps were taken in this

research:

1. Identifying the data from the selected words, phrases, sentences, dialogues

and narrations that show any characteristics which can represent the

Persians as villains.

2. Categorizing all the data which represent the Persians based on Davis,

Mules, and Thwaites‟ (1994) character and characterization into characters‟

attitudes and physical appearances.

3. Analyzing and interpreting the data by using Orientalism theory proposed

by Said (1978).

4. Making conclusion of the research and giving suggestions related to the

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3.4 Data Analysis

After the data were categorized, the analysis was conducted using

Orientalism framework proposed by Said (1978) alongside with Brian‟s (2005)

Film and Politics in America. After, research questions are answered, conclusion

of the study and suggestion for further research are then made.

3.5 Data Presentation

The collected data from the movie script were categorized and put into

several tables in order to answer research questions. The tables are the

representation of Persians as villains and the representation of Spartans as heroes.

Tables of representation of Persians as villains and Spartans as heroes both

have five main columns and two subcolumns. The first main column is number.

The second is character column which provides names of characters that are

characterized. Further, the third is characterization which focus on the ways the

characters in the movie are characterized based on characters‟ attitudes and

characters‟ appearances. These characters‟ attitudes and characters‟ appearances

are the sub column of characterization column.

While, in the fourth column, there is textual evidence that provides speech,

dialogue or description related to the depiction of characterizations of certain

character. Last, the fifth column is the comment or the analysis regarding the

speech, dialogue or description provided in the textual evidence column. The

example of representation tables are presented as follows:

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Example of Representation of Persians as Villains

No Character(s) Characterization Textual

Evidence

Comment/

Analysis Attitudes Appearance

1 Persian

emissary 1

Arrogance:

Consider

women are

lower than

men

- Persian

Emissary 1

Earth and

Water

King

Leonidas

You rode all

the way from

Persia for

earth and

water?

Queen

Gorgo

Do not be

coy or stupid,

Persian. You

can afford

neither in

Sparta.

Persian

Emissary 1

What makes

Persian emissary

complained to

King Leonidas

because her wife,

queen Gorgos

cut into their

conversation.

The messenger‟s

talking indicates

that women are

not supposed to

have a right to

speak among

men. This

representation

shows that Zack

Snyder, as the

scripwriter think

that Persian men

considered

women are lower

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this woman

think she

can speak

among men?

2 The

Immortals

Ghost or

evil: army

from the

darkness,

invincible.

Daxos

We are

doomed.

Captain

Quiet

youself.

Daxos

The child

speaks of the

Persian

ghosts,

known from

the ancient

times. They

are the

hunter of

men’s souls. They cannot

be killed or

defeated.

Not this

darkness.

Not this

Immortals.

Daxos describes

the Immortals

(Persian army) as

people who

cannot be killed

or defeated. It

can be

considered as

Snyder‟s attempt

to powered the

Persian army

character, as well

as to challange

the Spartans to

defeat those

Immortals. By

defeating the

invincible

Immortals, it will

shows the

incredible power

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

[image:20.595.110.516.173.723.2]

Table 3.2

Example of Representation of Spartans as Heroes

No Character(s) Characterization Textual

Evidence

Comment/

Analysis Attitude Appearance

1 Astinos - Young and

brave

King

Leonidas

He is your

son. He is too

young to have

felt a woman's

warmth.

Captain

I have others

to replace

him. Astinos

is as brave

and ready as

any. No

younger than

we were the

first time you

stood next to

me in battle.

Captain describes

his son, Astinos

as a brave young

man and ready to

go war.

2 Greeks and

Spartan

women

Rational,

Superior

- King Xerxes

You Greeks

take pride in

your logic. I

King Xerxes

considered the

Greeks as people

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suggest you

employ it.

Consider the

beautiful land

you so

vigorously

defend.

Picture it

reduced to ash

at my whim.

Consider the

fate of your

women.

King

Leonidas

Clearly you

don't know

our women. I

might as well

have

marched

them up

here, judging

by what I've

seen. You

have many

slaves, Xerxes

but few

warriors. It

won't be long

their logical

thinking. It shows

that the Greeks

are known as

rational people.

Moreover, King

Leonidas think

that the Spartan

women are more

superior than

Xerxes army

judging from the

battle he won

against Persian

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before they

fear my spears

more than

your whips.

3.6. Synopsis of 300 Movie Script

300 movie script tells about battle of Thermopylae where Spartans army led

by King Leonidas marched to the Hot Gates of Thermopylae to fight Persian

King, Xerxes and his thousands of Persian army. The problem began when

Persian messengers came to Sparta to deliver message from King Xerxes. The

Persian messenger asked Leonidas to give away „earth and water‟ as submission

to Persia. Feeling insulted by the messengers attitudes, Leonidas turned down the

offer and kicked away all Persian messengers into a big well.

Leonidas who realized that the war was coming to Sparta had decided to go

to war. Then, he arranged a meeting to ask permission to Ephors, the priests of

Sparta‟s old gods because there is no Spartan King go to war without the Ephors‟

blessing. He explained his plan to repel the great numbers of Persian army in the

terrain of Hot Gates of Thermopylae by funneling them into the narrow pass

between the rock and sea. He believed that thousands of Persian army would

count for nothing because their movement would be limited in that narrow pass.

However, the Ephors and the councilmen of Sparta did not give Leonidas

permission to go to war because Carneia, a sacred and ancient festival was about

to be held and there is no war allowed during the festival. Leonidas left the Ephors

in anger, while the Spartan traitor, Theron who is a councilman of Sparta gave

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At night, Leonidas could not sleep and thought that all people and things he

loved would be in danger if he did not do anything. His wife encouraged him to

think out of the box and do anything he think right as a King. He then ordered his

captain to gather 300 best soldiers in the morning to be his „bodyguard‟ to

accompany him on a leisurely walk to the Hot Gates. His wife said goodbye and

asked him to be back alive. Alongside with his wife, Theron came to the location

where Leonidas and his soldiers are gathered to prevent them go to war. Leonidas

explained that there was no march and the 300 soldiers are only his personal

bodyguards on a leisurely walk. It was not his intention to go to war in the Hot

Gates.

On the road, Leonidas and his soldiers met their allies who seems shocked

because Spartan only sent such small force. Leonidas asked the professions of the

allied army and found that the answer showed that he brought more soldiers than

them. They then agreed to go to the Hot Gates together.

A horribly disfigured man, Ephialtes came to Leonidas to warn him of the

goat path at the rear of his position. He said that his parents once fleed from

Sparta to save his live at the day he was born and he want to help Leonidas as

soldier to redeem what his parent did. Leonidas ordered him to lift the shield high,

because his soldiers always formed a phalanx as a defence that they must be able

to lift their shield high enough to protect each other from enemies‟ attack.

Ephialtes could not lift his shield as Leonidas required him to. Leonidas gently

told him that he could not join in the force. Instead, he asked him to take care of

the fallen soldiers. Ephialtes could not accept what Leonidas said and felt angry to

him.

A battle is happened when Persian emissary found out that the Spartan army

were building Pochian wall to block the Persian advance by using Persian dead

body from the previous scouting party. The Persian emissary warned the Spartans

that their arrows will blot out the sun and kill all Spartans. With fearless, the

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King Xerxes sent a large group of army to ask the Spartans to surrender. The

Spartans was once again refused to give up. The battle could not be avoided. The

Persians could not defeat the solid phalanx formation of Spartans. They were

funelled to the narrow terrain and fall from the end of the cliff.

Feeling impressed to the Spartans fighting skill, Xerxes asked and persuade

Leonidas personally to surrender. He promised Leonidas wealth and power if

Leonidas give up and be loyal commander for him. Leonidas turned down the

Xerxes‟ offer and promised to shed blood from Xerxes body instead.

Full with anger, Xerxes ordered „The Imortal‟, the army that were believed

could not be hurt nor dead. He also ordered to release all the soldiers and animals

from various places like Barbarian Mongolian, Eastern Chemist, African

Rhinoceroses and Indian war elephants. Some Spartans died in the battle, but the

victory still on the Spartans‟.

Ephialtes who was still angry to Leonidas‟ refusal came to Xerxes and

agreed to show the goat path in exchange of uniform, women and wealth.

Meanwhile in Sparta, Queen Gorgo was struggling to convince the

councilmen to help her husband by sending him more army. A friendly

councilman gave her advice that she would need Therons‟ help to convince other

councilmen. Theron agreed to help her, but she must sleep with him. She agreed

with his requirement. Then, Queen Gorgo made her appeal at the council. Theron

did not support her as he had promised. Instead, he betray her by accusing her of

adultery. She mad at him and stab a sword to his body. Surprisingly, a bag of

Xerxes‟ gold fall from his clothes. All of the councilmen in the council room finally realized Therons‟ treachery and agree to unite Sparta against Persia.

Back to the Hot Gates, Leonidas knew that he had been betrayed. Their fight

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refused. Leonidas ordered one of the Spartans, Dilios to go back to Sparta and tell

about the battle of Thermopylae to people in Sparta.

As Dilios back to Sparta, the other Spartans prevented the Persian invasion.

Xerxes once again persuaded Leonidas by offering him that he could be a Warlord

of all Greece, but he only answerable to Xerxes. Ephialtes also tried to convice

Leonidas to surrender and follow him by joining Xerxes army. Leonidas replied,

“May you live forever”, an insult to Ephialtes that only true hero could valuing

death rather than live long enough to be a traitor.

Droping his shield and helmet, Leonidas slowly seems bowing in

submission, but suddenly Stelios ran from his back, using his body to jump and

kill Xerxes‟ general. Leonidas quickly took a spear, then threw it away to Xerxes.

It ripped Xerxes cheek open. The furious Xerxes ordered all his archer to attack.

Rain of arrows came down from the sky aiming at Leonidas and his army. At the

final moment of his life, Leonidas loudly said that he loves his wife.

Back to Sparta, Dilios delivered a message and necklace from Leonidas to

Queen Gorgo. He told her that Leonidas fought bravely. He told the story of

Leonidas and his army sacrifice to protect Sparta. The story triggered the spirit of

10.000 Spartans who led 30.000 Greek army to fight against 120.000 Persians in

the next battle which called as a battle of Plataea.

(Source: Synopsis of 300, 2013 on

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This is the last chapter of the present study. It consists of two parts. The first

part presents the conclusion based on the findings and discussions in the previous

chapter. The second part puts forward the suggestions for further studies.

5.1 Conclusions

This study aims to investigates two research problems, i.e. how the Persians

characters are represented as villains in the movie script and the relation of ‘300’movie script with the socio-political issue between United States and Iran. Based on the findings, it is found that the Persians characters as villains are

represented by using negative characteristics. The movie script treats the Persians

as the other, describing them as inferiors, savages, evils, bestials, and corrupt

people to strengthen their position as villains in the movie script, contrasting to

Spartans heroes who hold positive characteristics of the self like, superior,

civilized, good, human and honest people.

The study finds that there is an attempt to empowered Persians by

describing them as massive and high-skilled army so that Spartans victory over

Persians can be assumed as the best victory since it is gained from superior army.

Thus, whatever how strong Persians army were described in the movie script, but

they still always be inferior to Spartans. This proves Orientalism perspectives

where the west or the Occidents consider themselves as a site of power, while the

Orient is treated only as the subordination of west society.

Moreover, as villains in the movie script, Persians are also characterized as

savages and evils army. From the findings, it is found that the Persians through

the characterization of the Immortals are described as ghost who hunt the men

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Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

slaughter people who stand against King Xerxes’ will. These characterization

strengthen the position of Persians characters as savages and evils villains in the

movie script.

Meanwhile, with regard to the relation of ‘300’ movie script with the current

socio-political issue between the U.S. and Iran, the study finds that the movie

script can be considered as U.S. propaganda to turn their people against Iran by

demonizing Iran through Persian characters in the movie script. The study finds

three evidences that the movie can be categorized as propaganda movie, namely

the misrepresentation of Persians as villains in the movie script, the inaccuracy of

historical reality, and the time of movie script was written. First, the portrayal of

Persians as villains using pejorative stereotypes can be assumed as the U.S.

attempt in demonizing Iranian who is the descendant of Persian.

Second, the story of ‘300’ movie script which was based on the history of

the battle of Thermopylae is not accurately presented. The story of ‘300’ in the

movie script had been criticized because it inacurately presents the history of the

battle of Thermopylae and racially insult Iranians who are the descendant of

Persian (Tait, 2007).

Third, the movie script was written at a time when the U.S. government

intensify their protest toward the development of Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Tait (2007) reports that Iran officials government and Iranian bloggers describe

the movie as an American’s attempt to demonize Iran at a time U.S. Government

intensify their pressure over the Iran’s nuclear program. All the findings above

indicate that a film can be used as a tool for propaganda.

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Finally, this research can achieve its purpose to answer the research

questions and lead to its conclusions. However, this study is realized to be far

from perfection. There may still many weaknesess related to the content and the

arrangement. Thus, it is recomended for further research to focus on the content

and the arrangement of the research paper in order to provide more elaborate and

informative research.

Furthermore, it is suggested for further research with the same topic to

involve the analysis of visual representation of the film since it is believed that it

can give more alternatives or choices regarding the representation of certain

characters in a movie. Last, it is hoped that the English Department of UPI could

provide more literature references related to film studies, so it can help the

students in conducting their research about a film better.

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THE REPRESENTATION OF PERSIANS AS VILLAINS IN A MOVIE SCRIPT ‘300’.

IMAM MA’RUF KHAERULLOH

The Representation of Persians as Villains in a Movie Script ‘300’:

NIP. 195703101987031001 NIP. 197809222010122001

Head of English Education Department

Imam Ma’ruf Khaerulloh, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES... ix

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

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ABSTRAK

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CHAPTER I

1.1 Background

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1.2. Research Questions

1.3. Aims of the Study

1.4. Scope of the Study

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1.7. Clarification of Related Terms

The representation of Persians as Villains in an Movie Script “300”: (An Analysis with an Orientalism Perspective by Edward Said)

1.8 Organization of the paper

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

3.2 Research Subject and Context

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3.3 Data Collection

3.3.1 Data Collection Procedures

3.4 Data Analysis

3.5 Data Presentation

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Emissary 1

this woman

times. They

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Leonidas

You Greeks

Clearly you

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CHAPTER 5

5.1 Conclusions

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REFERENCES

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