And I wont lie, that stuff was gleeful for me too. It's time to move on. 2023 Iran Times - An Independent newspaper. The ability to arrange the move in Thai gave us some confidence that our plans were private. "He's a good director. I think a lot of Middle Eastern roles are often associated with the publics narrow view of Middle Easterners. Teachers can introduce the film and place the escape of the six American diplomats in context by providing direct instruction covering the following topics. Diplomacy has slowed down Irans nuclear program, but has yet to be successful in stopping it, and both U.S. presidential candidates have made it clear that they will resort to military action if Iran begins to build a nuclear weapon. Quote from the interviews and cite action or dialogue in the film to support your opinions. As for finding more studio film and television roles, Vand said she didnt want to guess whatArgomight bring. And in fact, its often our own actions that determine who takes up arms and who doesnt. Did they go out thinking, Man, America should stop doing stupid things so it doesnt have to create crazy mad movie plots to rescue people? 2. But the film itself, I felt, didnt blindly encourage that rah-rah feeling. This story starts, and ends, with a photograph. We have no idea what happens to her, and we leave the film knowing that those six, lucky Americans will never know who their real hero is. The addition of an LGBTQ core character to an ensemble comedy in 1985 - right in the midst of the AIDS epidemic - would have been . Gretel. 5. Who acted more heroically, the Taylors or Antonio Mendez? Evaluate how accurately the actors in the film portrayed the characters who were actually involved in the events themselves. During the next week we changed locations five times. However, the core . Each day we stayed in Iran added to the risk of capture. Ex-CIA agent Tony Mendez, who inspired the Oscar-winning film Argo, has died at the age of 78. The trip to the airport, through immigration, and onto the plane went without a hitch, except that the plane had needed a minor repair and departure was delayed for an hour. She was angry enough now, he said, that she might turn us in to the local revolutionary committee, or komiteh. silently to avoid the deaths of those involved. The Iranians had no idea that the diplomats were trying to escape. For all the good it does her. We have no idea what . February 23, 2013 / 5:16 PM He was 81. But Ken Taylor who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six U.S. Embassy staff members caught in the crisis is not expecting it. The story itself, even if it is only loosely based on history (as Affleck took pains to point out), is fantastic and timely. The Staffords recall an embassy meeting to talk about local repercussions from the decision to let the shah come to the U.S. for medical care. Bridges to Reading Disgraced South Carolina legal scion Alex Murdaugh plotted with another lawyer to steal $4 million from the children of his longtime housekeeper, who mysteriously died at the attorney's home in. A tip from a housekeeper led police to uncover a large arsenal of weapons at a hotel in downtown Denver about a block from Coors Field, where Major League Baseball 's All-Star Game is set to be . what type of danger zone is needed for this exercise. Now, as six escapees find themselves trapped in the home of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, the ex-filtration expert, Tony Mendez, comes up with an impossible plan, proposing that they all pose as members of a Canadian film crew scouting for shooting locations for "Argo", their latest science-fiction movie. She only appears during Season 1 and her absence is not mentioned or explained until Season 9, when, due to the return of members of The Church of Apollo, Mrs McCarthy mentions that she ran off with a Buddhist after her ordeal with them. Have students prepare and deliver, individually or in groups, five-minute class presentations on relevant topics. For example, the film states that Irans prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was replaced by the shah in a coup dtat orchestrated by the U.S. and Britain in 1953. Still, when I left Argo, I found myself worried about the incomplete, and at times inaccurate, impression that many viewers would walk away with. "We took the six in without being asked so it starts there," Taylor said. One of three scenarios: 1. Copy. What is housekeeping? I think Jimmy Carter has it about right, it was 90 percent Canada, 10 percent the CIA.". I loved every bit of the Hollywood scenes, of the make-believe, of the sheer audacity of the plan. No one would argue that modern day Iran poses a mortal threat to the U.S. What elements in the film create the suspense that keeps viewers on edge even though they know the outcome of the story? He also agreed to go along with the CIA's film production cover story to get the Americans out of Iran. Like, isnt it weird that the CIA first trained Osama bin Laden and so its maybe not so heroic when, later, they take him out, since they sort of helped make him in the first place? Meeting with President Carter. Among the new additions are memories of the Oct. 4 opening screening of "Argo" at the Sam Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. Published on March 3, 2017 09:49 PM. They were angry and upset even though this was the guy who somehow against all odds managed to get everyone home safely (Iran-Contra was done under Reagans watch, not Carters). Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. The dialogue was punchy and witty, and again, the sheer craziness of this plan was so crazy that I could almost buy that it worked (I know, I know! They picked us up on Nov. 10. We would have failed. Would I have kept my cool if Iranian paramilitaries questioned my identity? What happened to the maid at the Canadian embassy in Argo? "I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. At the end of the viewing I went to, the audience burst into a loud round of applause. Available from Amazon.com. They know that six American are missing. / CBS/AP. If youve read and enjoyed my work for free whether thats the musings here on the blog, guest posts elsewhere, or through various free fiction sites, its now easier than ever to donate to support this work, either with a one-time contribution via PayPal, or via a monthly Patreon contribution: Kameron Hurley is the award-winning author ofThe Light Brigade,The Stars are Legionand the essay collectionThe Geek Feminist Revolution. [Students who want to go further can read the book written by Tony Mendez, the CIA spymaster who planned and carried out the operation, Argo How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History.]. the strategic importance of Iran to the West during WWII and after; the history of U.S. intervention in Iran during the 1950s leading to the installation of the Shaw as the ruler of the country; the role of the Cold War in shaping U.S. policy toward Iran; the rule of the Shaw of Iran, its benefits and costs to the people of Iran; the structure of the government of Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979; the 1979-1981 U.S./Iranian hostage crisis; how the U.S. and Iran came to cooperate in limited ways after the hostage crisis, including the Iran-Contra scandal; and. The Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, hid them in his home until they were smuggled out of the country 79 days after the takeover of the embassy by Iranian militants. In the alternative, students can introduce the film themselves. By Rich Schapiro. Gee, I wonder. CIA creates SF movie ruse to smuggle people out of Iran? But this film knew what it was about, and had a good handle on the complexity of the situation. Iranians had every right to be pissed off we helped out a democratically elected representative and put a fucking tyrant in his place. I know a few folks whose parents lived in Iran before the revolution, and mapping their experiences onto the ones presented in the film was interesting. The primary historical error in the story is the focus on the CIA and the minimization of the role played by the Canadian government in the rescue. Gloria Satterfield was a longtime housekeeper of the Murdaughs. How long have these six Canadians been here? they ask her. But holy crap, crazy). See answer (1) Best Answer. In 2010, Vand helped createSneaky Nietzche, an interactive steampunk-themed musical performance featuring a 40-person ensemble and a full band. 3. That would make sense, right? The Daily Beast obtained a letter written to SLED, in which Hampton County . Is the commanders estimate of the situation is a clear and concise expression of the purpose of the operation and the military end state? There are also other examples of U.S. sponsored regime change that did not lead to lasting hostility, e.g., Chile in 1973. Nothing illustrated this better than Sahar, the housekeeper for the Canadian ambassador, who was the only Iranian we got to know at all. There's nothing more a Canadian can say after the president says it. Carter also called "Argo" a complete distortion of what happened when he accepted an honorary degree from Queen's University in Canada in November. The Iranians are busy reassembling shredded paper, and they are hunting for the missing American personnel who are now pretending to be part of a film crew. For Vand, who had never traveled to the Middle East, shootingArgoturned out to be a sort of homecoming. The prime minister, Joe Clark, had personally approved the offer of sanctuary, Taylor told us, and he said it was to the finish. With careful scaffolding, the film can also be a platform from which students can explore lessons about the risks of causing regime change in other countries and U.S./Iranian relations since WWII. Argo How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History, by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio, Viking, 2012, page 298. Your gov at work, kids. This might pose a problem for the Iranians, who presumably would have wanted to claim that they had interrogated all of the hostages before letting them go. Antonio Mendez, the CIA officer who planned the operation and escorted the houseguests to freedom wrote: The first rule in any deception operation is to understand who your audience is. So both governments agreed we should move. On Nov. 4, 1979, when the American Embassy was overtaken, we did not stroll directly to the Canadian ambassadors residence. Nothing. In the moment leading up to the diplomats escape from the country, Revolutionary Guards come to the house to question the maid. What is ninety-nine per cent of two hundred? He had done his best for us. I still expected this to be a bit of a propaganda film, full of crazy evil terrorists and noble Americas. Its only going to get scarier.. And though I lamented this loose thread, I realized it was a purposeful one. I feel a little silly being another actor trying to write, she said. Jack Kirby: Eric Scott Cooper . Taylor called it a good movie and said he's not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate. He felt the role that he and other Canadians played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimized in the film. Moral-Ethical Emphasis, Assignments and Projects Sheardown died on Dec. 30, and his wife, Zena, called the movie disappointing. Likely, they did not. And a few days later, Sam got into a screaming fight with the housekeeper, who was also Thai. The Staffords went to the Taylor residence. Another gut check. When I found out itd only been declassified in the 90s, I felt a little better about my ignorance, but only just. If it were suddenly occupied, the komiteh would definitely notice. And though Iranians are presented as real people with real grievances, things fall apart there toward the end and we get these crazy foolish terrorist stand-ins waving guns and chasing planes (in actual fact, the embassy workers simply walked onto the plane, without all the Hollywood shenanigans at the end. When her mother and father flew out to visit her on set in Istanbul, they told her stories about the history of their relationship that theyd never shared with her before. The "Canadian Caper" was the joint covert rescue by the Canadian government and the CIA of six American diplomats who had evaded capture during the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran, Iran, on November 4, 1979, after the Iranian Revolution, when Islamist students took most of the American embassy personnel hostage, demanding the return of the US-backed Shah for trial. And they were right to be: While the movie presents myriad dramatic complications and last-minute twists and turns, the plan actually went off without a hitch. When Tony Mendez arrived on Jan. 26, 1980, we were ready to leave. But SF film to smuggle out hostages! There are several others that students may describe. I enjoyed how it handled the ineptitude of the CIA. Whatever, Hollywood. Gain access to and watch the Special Features information that has been released with the film. Originally, Vand had planned to visit Iran with her parents after the shoot, but the Iranian on-set coordinator told her to get the idea out of her head. 3. Who was the primary audience for the Argo cover used in this exfiltration? A Twisted Psychological Thriller. You likely won't be supervised 24/7, so you'll have to go out and do your best even when no one's watching.