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{"id":715,"date":"2013-02-24T08:50:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-24T15:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?p=715"},"modified":"2013-02-24T08:50:32","modified_gmt":"2013-02-24T15:50:32","slug":"argo-a-hollywood-feel-good-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2013\/02\/argo-a-hollywood-feel-good-fantasy\/","title":{"rendered":"Argo: A Hollywood Feel-Good Fantasy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Argo<\/em>, directed by Ben Affleck<\/p>\n

by Paul D. Miller<\/p>\n

No wonder Hollywood loves Argo<\/em>. \u00a0It is a movie about how movies save the day.<\/p>\n

Argo<\/em> has already won Best Picture at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild, the BAFTAs, and the Critic\u2019s Choice\u2013and probably the Oscars, by the time you read this. \u00a0All for good reason: \u00a0it is an excellent film\u2013funny, suspenseful, intelligent, and thrilling in fine balance. \u00a0But is it really better than Lincoln<\/em> and Zero Dark Thirty<\/em>?<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

Hollywood seems to think so, by the accolades and awards heaped upon it. \u00a0But that should be no surprise. \u00a0Hollywood famously loves movies about movies\u2013from All About Eve<\/em> (Best Picture, 1950) to The Artist<\/em> (Best Picture, 2011), Hollywood has had a decades-long love affair with itself.<\/p>\n

Argo<\/em> tells a dramatized version of the true story of how the U.S. engineered the rescue of six Americans trapped in Tehran in 1979. \u00a0An angry mob stormed the U.S. Embassy there and held dozens of American officials hostage for more than a year, an event that was in large part responsible for bringing down Jimmy Carter\u2019s presidency. \u00a0But six Americans slipped out and hid for months in Tehran.<\/p>\n

How is this a movie about movies? \u00a0You can\u2019t make this stuff up: \u00a0the six were eventually rescued by pretending to be a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a futuristic science fiction movie. \u00a0The movie shows Hollywood big-wigs setting up a real production office, buying options to a real script, and holding a publicized reading to create a plausible cover story. \u00a0An American official sneaks into Tehran, gives the hideaways their roles, the script, and fake identities. \u00a0They brazenly play their parts and literally walk into the Tehran airport and fly out on a commercial flight\u2013 hiding in plain sight.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an amazing movie because it is based on a true story. If it weren\u2019t, the movie would be contrived and implausible. \u00a0Much of the fun of watching Argo<\/em> is in thinking the whole time \u201cThere\u2019s no way they got away with this!\u201d \u00a0(But take a moment to browse wikipedia\u2019s list<\/a> of historical inaccuracies). \u00a0The movie is also very funny, in a bleak way. \u00a0At one point one officials asks incredulously \u201cYou don\u2019t have any better bad ideas than this?\u201d \u00a0Another replies, \u201cThis is the best bad idea we have. \u00a0By far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Near the end the movie explicitly draws some moral lessons from the experience. \u00a0There is an epilogue followed by a voice-over by Jimmy Carter during the credits, both of which sing the praises of international cooperation (Canada provided crucial assistance throughout the mission) and herald the fact that the rescue was accomplished peacefully. \u00a0These are fine and salutary lessons. \u00a0The movie also suggests, naively, that movies are a globally unifying cultural force that bring people together and help us overcome conflict.<\/p>\n

That, I think, explains why the movie has been so much more warmly received by Hollywood than Zero Dark Thirty<\/em>. \u00a0As I discussed in my earlier review<\/a>, Zero Dark Thirty<\/em>\u00a0is a morally ambiguous film, one that shows the heartache, difficulty, frustration, and failure that typically accompany great endeavors. \u00a0Some critics have accused it (unfairly, I think) of being \u201cpro-torture,\u201d and, like lots of war movies, it makes the U.S. military look cool. \u00a0It does not sing the praises of international cooperation and peace. \u00a0Argo<\/em> is the\u00a0opposite. \u00a0It is a classic fairy-tale complete with moral simplicity and a Hollywood ending (a fairy-tale with tons of profanity).<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean to detract from Argo<\/em>. \u00a0It is a fun, well-executed, entertaining movie. \u00a0But I do think Zero Dark Thirty<\/em> is probably destined to be shunned and underappreciated this year. \u00a0It was awarded Best Picture by the film critics of Austin, Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco last December, before the torture controversy started\u2013after which it has won almost nothing from anyone. \u00a0A recent poll<\/a> of more than 100 film critics found that they overwhelmingly believe Argo<\/em> will win Best Picture at the Oscars\u2013but more than three times as many believed Zero Dark Thirty<\/em>\u00a0was more deserving.<\/p>\n

They are both based on true stories, and thus both have lessons about international affairs. \u00a0They needn\u2019t be in competition with each other\u2013except when they are both nominated in the category in the same year. \u00a0Argo<\/em> will probably win the Oscar, but I suspect Zero Dark Thirty<\/em>, as the more adult movie, will grow in stature in future years, while Argo<\/em> will diminish.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"