Author: khatami.3

Text review: Argo

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I chose to review the movie Argo, a movie about the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crises that took place soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution that took place in the nation. The movie illustrates how Tony Mendez (portrayed by Ben Affleck) managed to sneak six hostages out of Iran who were likely to eventually be found and killed. In February of 1979 massive riots and protests erupted outside of the US embassy in Tehran, primarily comprised of college students. They at last broke through the gates and stormed the embassy putting tens of Americans at risk. While most were taken hostage, six Americans escaped through the back and found asylum in the Canadian embassy for a short period. With a short window of time to act, the US sent Mendez to pose as a Hollywood producer looking to film a movie in different locations around the globe, Tehran being one of them. Upon arrival to the country, he reunited with the six hostages in the Canadian embassy, gave each of the hostages a new identity with passports and social security numbers, and ensured they all were prepared to play their new roles in order to survive. In the end, Mendez was hardly able to fool airport security in Tehran. The thriller was so successful that in 2013, it won three Oscars and was nominated for seven total, winning the Best Motion Picture of the Year. While Argo was awarded prestigious achievements, the movie depicts themes of “otherness” in several ways, primarily due to its success. The movie visualizes the 1979 protests with anti-USA propaganda in a modern context, making viewers who are, for the most part, not Iranian think that the Iranian people hold this negative sentiment towards America now. This sparks anger and distaste towards Iranians in and outside of Iran. Argo’s depiction of how the CIA outsmarted Iranian intelligence puts forth the notion that Iranians are easily gullible and weak. Both themes being spread by the 2013 movie of the year contributes to the marginalization of Iranians worldwide, and further reinforces Adichie’s accusations of the presence of otherness in society.

Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase

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A clear yet often overlooked example of systemic injustice is in the workplace, especially during the hiring process. Besides the commonly recognized pay gap between ethnic background employees and Caucasian employees, applicants for job positions also face discrimination during the process. According to a Harvard study, it was found that when potential job applicants submitted their applications, equally qualified black applicants were statistically less likely to receive an interview for the job when compared to white applicants. This clearly illustrates the systemic injustice that exists within the workplace for black applicants, which only exacerbates the fact that poverty also disproportionately affects the black community. In addition, the study indicated that black and Asian applicants with ethnically sounding names were statistically less likely to be called for interviews and be hired for the jobs, despite identical, if not greater, qualifications for the job. This only further emphasizes the clear and unfair struggle that exists within our society. Because of this internalized racism towards ethnic individuals and ethnic sounding names, they end up not getting jobs that they deserve and need to feed and support their families, despite having all the necessary qualifications. Furthermore, reiterating the fact that poverty already affects individuals from these communities disproportionately more than Caucasian individuals, this only serves to further hurt the condition of those in these communities. In addition to the economic aspect of this condition comes the psychological and mental burdens of such discrimination. In such a situation, when applicants are already being discriminated against, the workplace itself also poses as a place for more potential trauma. In fact, according to a Gallup poll, in the last 12 months, 75% of black employees reported being discriminated within the workplace itself. This further highlights the degree of toxicity that ethnic employees within the workplace, even after attaining their jobs. Even worse, this 75% figure is constant across all genders, ages, and income levels, meaning that at no point in an black person’s career are they safe from workplace discrimination. This not only results in less productive workers, but poorer qualities of life for people who are working just as hard, if not harder, than their fellow employees. Hence, we see that even in the workplace, a place that an individual would expect respect and equality, systemic injustice and racism continues to still prevent hardworking individuals from accessing the success they deserve.

hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51633 

https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx

Context Presentation

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“Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and the ‘National Allegory’” by Aijaz Ahmad is a piece in which Ahmad argues there is no validity in the Three Worlds Theory (Ahmad). He argues that by Jameson’s definition, first world nations embody capitalistic ideals, and second world nations have a socialist economic system. But the third world countries are a conglomerate of different ideals and phenomena. Moreover, he argues that literature developed from African, Indian, and Latin languages are incorrectly described as “Third World Literature”, and that in fact this description is polemical (Ahmad).

I think that overall, Jameson’s writing shows that he has some attitudes rooted in prejudice towards non-Caucasian ethnicities. In my opinion, his attitudes are a product of his environment. Fredric Jameson was a professor at Duke University and a prominent political Marxist theorist (Contemporary). He grew up in the United States (Contemporary). Large nations in the past that were predominantly white such as England or the United States believed conquering new lands and practicing imperialism/manifest destiny were important parts of how their nation would succeed. The British occupation of India is a prime example of how the English entered India and ruined the country. Aside from stealing resources like cotton and coal from India via railroad, there was a law prohibiting Indians and dogs from riding. The British were also notorious for dividing the Indian people whenever a sentiment of nationalism arose (Sahni). They would remind Indian citizens of their distinct religions by dividing them, causing nationalistic attitudes to dissipate and hatred towards other Indians to take its place (Sahni). By the time empires were done receiving all benefits they could from the countries they’d imperialize, the countries would be nearly destroyed. This destruction predisposes countries to be vulnerable to being “third-world”. Jameson’s attitude is likely a product of his environment, where his environment took pride in oppressing other nations in their imperialistic conquests.

Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. . Encyclopedia.com. 17 Aug. 2021 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 5 Sept. 2021.

Ahmad, Aijaz. “Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness.”

Sahni, Manmeet. “5 Ways the British Empire Ruthlessly Exploited India.” News | TeleSUR English, TeleSUR, 25 Apr. 2017.