300 - An Outrageously Racist Movie

To: Warner Bros. Pictures Company

Cc: Zack Snyder (director)


Dear Warner Bros. Picture Company and Zack Snyder,

We, the undersigned, have created this petition to protest the outright racism inherent and apparent in your recent picture production, "300."

The production and release of such a fraudulent and historically distorted motion picture is at best unethical on the part of the director and irresponsible on the part of Warner Bros. Company, not to mention that it is a blatant violation of international human rights.

Obvious distortions in historical facts have already been explained in another petition against this movie (http://www.petitiononline.com/wpci96c/petition.html) and can be verified by anyone willing to consult the vast body of scholarly literature on the subject. The purpose of this petition, however, is to address the blatant insult, which amounted to outright racism throughout the movie, directed at not only the Persians but also all the nations of Asia, and even blacks.

We, the undersigned, do not think that it is a mere coincidence or an innocent attempt at turning Frank Miller's graphic novel into film that the mass of "Asian hordes" facing the brave 300 in the movie were depicted as retards, at times half-human half-animal, at times plague faced, and, yes, at times black. This in contrast with the impeccably gorgeous, athletic, free-spirited, and brave white men that make up the members of the "300" speaks volumes.

The offensiveness of this movie goes beyond simple portrayal of Persians or "the Persian army at the battle of Thermopylae as some monstrous savages." It has inherent in itself the manifestly undemocratic "Us against Them" rhetoric; it gives the message that the human values of reason, justice, and freedom are the monopoly of a select race while demeaning the countless achievements and contributions of other races to human civilization; it purports the subliminal symbolism of white equals reason, justice, freedom, bravery, non-white is equivalent to tyranny, mindless savagery, slavery, cowardice.

We, the undersigned, have signed this petition to voice our repulsion at such an open and arrogant insult against us, our races, our histories, our identities, and demand an immediate apology from the producers and distributors of this movie.