Post 5 In Class Essay

        This year, we have used movies like 12 Years a Slave, Glory, and Smoke Signals, to gain a deeper insight into events that have occurred in U.S. History. For this project, I elected to watch the movie Argo. Although it is a completely different historical matter than the movies listed above, Argo shares many similarities with them. Like the rest of these movies, Argo is based on primary sources, and utilizes setting and character to focus on one aspect of a much larger ordeal, as Argo focuses on the "Tehran 6" rather than the entire Iran Hostage Crisis. Out of these four "historical movies" it seems that Argo is the most historically accurate, even though it does have its share of inaccuracies as well.

        A review in the New York Times states that, "The Hollywood angle bring lightness and levity into the movie, serving as comic relief that Mr.Affleck uses contrapuntally with the increasingly tense perilous situation in Tehran." In other words this review, which comes from a well established source, is saying that the Hollywood portrayal of this story is not as heavy and serious as the reality. This can partially be blamed on the short story that the screenplay for the movie was adapted from.  The article, "How the CIA Used a fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans From Tehran", written by Joshuah Bearman for Wired.com,  takes a fictional approach. Bearman did infact use primary sources such as letters from hostages, journals, CIA files, and interviews with operatives and others involved in the mission to create a well rounded account, but went for a more creative angle to make the story more interesting. His article includes phrases such as, "Suddenly the power was out, and the air was filled with panic, gunshots, and smoke" and, "This seemed worse [than Vietnam]. At least then the US had another guy to talk to". This type of commentary and description was very apparent in the movie itself. 

        In addition the movie having a lighter tone, another noteworthy inaccuracy (which is actually more of an omission), is in regards to the film not having a well rounded view of the events surrounding and leading up to the Iranian Hostage Crisis itself. With research, it became apparent that  there were in fact a lot of tensions and international political chaos that was not necessarily mentioned in the movie. The database, Encyclopedia Britannica discusses how the hostage crisis was the chaotic aftermath of Iran's Islamic revolution and the overthrow of the Pahlavi Monarchy, which affect domestic politics and U.S.- Iran relations greatly. In addition, Mohammed Reza Shah, the deposed Iranian ruler was close to a succession of U.S. administrative, which produced a deep suspicion and hostility amongst Iran's revolutionary leaders. This is what caused the students who were "Following the line of Imam" to orchestrate the capture of the American Embassy. 

       The last inaccuracy that could be found was very minor, and was another omission of detail, that failed to mention that one hostage, Richard I. Queen, 28, NY. Vice Consul, was freed of an illness that was later found to be multiple sclerosis. Also, 13 women and African Americans among the Americans who were seized at the embassy were also released. This information was found amongst the CIA.gov archives which stated the list of casualties and the names of all the hostages. This was most likely not included because it might have taken away from the story line, and the point that was trying to be made was not necessarily to show that the captors had any degree of leniency. 

        Other reviews such as the one from The Guardian, only had good things to say, "An amazing real-life caper straight out of Ripley's Believe It or Not! It tells the true story of some imaginative derring-do on the part of a brilliant and unorthodox CIA agent called Tony Mendez. The film is extraordinary in showing the reality and nail biting moments that surrounded this event." Most historians and reviews of Argo recognized that the script was quite accurate, and the writer of the screenplay actually won the academy award for best adapted screenplay. This can be accredited to all the sources available in the making of this movie, such as Tony Mendez's book which contains his full experience and story of his rescue mission which he lead. Like in the movie, it discusses the capture of the embassy, and the location of the Tehran 6. It also discusses in length the CIA's coverup plan and story, and the details such as the posters made, and the millions spent on creating the fake production company "Studio 6" which was created in 4 days, business cards, and hiring makeup artists as well as esteemed artists such as the man who drew the sketches for Star Wars. 

Argo Movie Project Annotated Works Cited/Bibliography/Links List

A Classic Case of Deception
I used this government data base to read the background information from Tony Mendez regarding the work of the CIA to make the mission possible


How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran
I used this article written by Joshuah Bearman for a full account of the story, since it is the article that the screenplay for Argo was adapted from. It helped me remember any details that I overlooked in the movie.

Guardian Movie Review for Argo
I used Peter Bradshaw's critique for notes on the accuracy of the film since he is an esteemed critique of historical films.

New York Times Argo Movie Review
I used this review since it is from the New York times which I thought is a credible source. I took notes from this review on what seemed to be dramatized in the film, and critics perspectives on the movie.

Encyclopedia Britannica Facts and Causes of the Iran Hostage Crisis
I used this data base to gain more information and a better understanding of what actually caused the hostage crisis and the global tensions that were occurring at the time.

Global Affairs Canada: Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper
This Canadian government data base was used to gain more information about Canada's involvement and their perspective of the events that were occurring, and why they decided to get involved.


Encyclopedia Britannica Canadian Caper, Canadian-Iranian History
I used this database for the article written by Richard Foot and Norman Hillmer  to get a real account about the actual escape, and blackout situation in the airport

Wikipedia Iran Hostage Crisis Negotiations
This was the first site I looked at to start the project, just so I could try to create more questions and ideas to research about the hostage crisis

Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library and Museum Robert C. Ode's diary
Since Jimmy Carter was the president during the crisis, I looked in his presidential database to find primary sources. I found the journal of Robert C. Ode, the oldest American hostage in the embassy who kept a journal once he was allowed by his captors. It is the most accurate insight into what life was like inside the embassy for the hostages.

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum The Hostage Crisis in Iran
I searched in this data base again for more primary sources and information about the hostage crisis. I got an overview of the situation as well as more information regarding the political struggles, social and economic reforms, as well as information on the global relations and struggles occurring around the crisis.

The above link also supplied me with many other primary source documents linked at the bottom of the page such as "The Hostages and the Casualties", which allowed me to see who died and how they died, people that were released, and names, ages, and diplomatic status of the hostages.

 Another document linked was the "Rescue Mission Report" which was used to gain information on the mission from an analytical point of view, which provided many concrete facts and a realistic view into the mission.

The next primary source was "The Tehran Six"which I read letters regarding the rescue mission that Argo was based on, as well as real time reports and statistics regarding the mission itself.

 The last primary source I got from this data base was named "Select Records at the Jimmy Carter Library Related to the Iran Hostage Crisis"which showed correspondence between Jimmy Carter and Ayatollah Khomeini, and correspondence between U.S. government officials regarding the crisis which gave insight into how the U.S. was actually reacting and what was going on in the government, and their plans and failures.

Excerpts from an Iran Hostage's Diary
I used this site to help sort and clarify what Robert C. Ode was saying in his diary entries to get a better understanding of what life was like for the hostages.


U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian- The Iranian Hostage Crisis
I used the U.S. department of State database to find more information about how the U.S. was handling the Hostage Crisis and other international affairs that were occurring as a result.

Argo Dinner Party Menu

Appetizers:

Kuku Goleh Kalam ( Cauliflower Kuku) : A traditional Iranian appetizer typically served with dinner


Bread and Butter: A meal served to the American hostages, however it was a main course not an appetizer




Main Course:

Kebab : A traditional Iranian dish of skewered lamb or chicken flavored with lemon juice and onion and basted with saffron and butter


Fesenjan: An iconic and traditional Iranian dish that is a pomegranate and walnut stew.


Pigs in a Blanket: One of the few meal choices available to the American Hostages, many were concerned with the meat as pig does not fit into the muslim religion and is not typically available in Iran.




Dessert:

Faloodeh: A rosewater and lime noodle sorbet that is one of the earliest known frozen desserts, dating back to 400 BCE. It is made from vermicelli noodles and a sugary frozen syrup laced with sour flavors like cherries or lime.

Dates: The product of the Date Palm tree, the date fruit are rich in fibers and vitamins and are native to Iran and the middle east in general. Since the captors were students, they lacked the ability to maintain a food supply, so Dates were given to the hostages often as they are inexpensive and abundant. They were eaten very reluctantly and often with disgust and apprehension.


















Drinks: 
Alcohol is prohibited in Iran and the Islamic republic, so all beverages are non-alcoholic. 

Aragh: A very popular flower essence beverage that often contains chia seeds.














Senkanjebin: One of the most famous middle-eastern drinks, also known as a Sherbet or fresh juice with fruit syrup.

Cold tea: Unfortunately, this was the beverage most commonly served to the hostages.

Argo Dinner Party Artifact Exhibit

These are all important artifacts that portray parts of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and Canadian Caper, which the movie Argo was based on. 

These movie posters and business cards were created as protective measures by the CIA team in hopes to provide another level of authenticity towards their mission.

This photo shows Canada and the United States standing side by side, with many individuals in the back talking with each other. The image became popular after the story of the joint effort between the United States and Canada to bring six Americans home, became popular.

       

This image was taken as some of the American hostages were being paraded around the captured embassy compound by their captors.

This article was issued front page in the The New York Times first thing after the return of the hostages became public news. The headline is famously known as it announces the end of one of the longest international hostage situations, but is also playing enormously in the favor of President Reagan and giving his presidency the perfect start.

With the poster of Ayatollah Khomeini amongst the seemingly never ending sea of students, this photo was captured at the perfect time. It shows the start of the Iranian Hostage Crisis as the students literally climb over the fence to seize the compound.

This excerpt from a letter from the Assistant Secretary of State, Harold H. Saunders, to the Secretary State is part of a status update. It gives us insight into the American public’s view on the situation. The letter discusses the the return of the six american hostages, and said that it did provide some hope to the families of the the other 52 hostages still remaining in Iran, however they all remain frustrated.

President Jimmy Carter’s first attempt at negotiating the return of the American Hostages, that would be followed by many other failures.

Argo Movie Project Dinner Invitation

You are cordially invited to a dinner this Friday evening at 6:00

Dinner will begin at 7:00,  following appetizers and drinks 

Cocktail Attire

The guest list has been curated with the evening’s theme of, “Argo 2.0” in mind, in hopes that each of those invited will bring an edit to the movie or authenticity of the story, in regards to their involvement with the affair.

So that you are prepared for the intimacy of the gathering, a guest list is disclosed below. Next to each name is a brief description so that you may become acquainted faster with those that you are not.

Tony Mendez is invited since one else has closer information or more accurate details of the rescue mission. He is the author of The Master of Disguise (novel which Argo was based off), and lead CIA operative on the Argo rescue mission.

Robert C. Ode is invited as he was the oldest American hostage in the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Once allowed by his captors, he kept a journal documenting the ongoings within the embassy walls while he remained a captive for 444 days. Ode can provide a different perspective as he holds the information and first hand experience from inside the embassy, and life as a hostage.

Chris Terrio is invited for his key role in the making of Argo, as the writer of the screenplay. He won the academy award for best adapted screenplay, so his editorial cuts must have been purposeful and tactful, yet interesting to know.

Ben Affleck, the director of Argo, also played the main role of the movie as Tony Mendez. His portrayal of Tony Mendez can only be bettered by Tony Mendez.

Joshuah Bearman is the Author of the Wired Magazine article, "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran" which the movie was also based on. He wrote this article with a slightly fictional tone, and when adapted, some of the details may have strayed from authenticity.

Jean Pelletier is the Co-author of the book, "Canadian Caper" as well as the leading journalist on the original story. He was one of the first to find out about the six missing hostages, but refused to make the story public even though it would have been an extreme career changing break. He deserves a lot of gratitude for not exposing the mission, but his novel he later wrote contains more realistic and important details to provide the view of the American public.

Sharon Seymour was the production designer for Argo, was responsible for all the locations and sets the movie was able to be shot on. How she managed to find these locations, and provide such an accurate image would be enlightening to hear, and any inaccuracies in the scenes would be graciously accepted by her.

Former President Jimmy Carter was the United States President throughout the crisis. He struggled greatly to diffuse the situation as it was such a tedious one, but his perspective and voice on his position in the conflict, and his decisions and failures could add another dimension to the script.