Based on the true story of the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, “Argo” portrayed the efforts made by the US government, the Canadian government and the CIA to remove six American consulate officers from their refuge at the Canadian embassy.
Hiding from Iranian revolutionaries and students, the six Americans hid until efforts were made to get them out of Iran.
Posing as a film crew looking for a Middle Eastern location to film the science-fiction movie “Argo,” CIA operative Tony Mendez worked with both governments, people in Hollywood who set up the behind-the-scenes parts of “Argo,” including offices, business cards, posters, articles, advertisements, and storyboards to make the movie seem real.
Barely making it out of Iran with a couple of close calls that surely kept the Americans in Iran on high alert and the audience on the edge of their seat, “Argo” brings up a topic that needs to be addressed.
Young American students do not know much about American history unless they want to know a lot about American history. But even the students who push to learn more about American history do not know much about the latter half of the 20th century.
Is it because the history is considerably modern? Anything from the end of World War II and on are still fresh in the older generation’s minds. Is it because the younger generations do not need to know why the U.S. is involved in the Middle East or why such conflicts today are not new, but part of the bigger picture?
Is it because the students don’t care? Why study history? The same information is just thrown at the students and expected to be remembered for testing. It’s just a waste of time when schools are focusing on test scores and not the quality of the education.
The questions conflict today knowing history answers.
Iraq, Iran and North Korea are all conflicts that started decades ago that continue to this day.
The reason why the US continues to be involved in foreign affairs also goes back into history. America was involved in World War I because the country was threatened, but beforehand and after the war, America practiced a policy of containment and isolation.
The hemisphere was to remain guarded and untouched by foreign powers as America expanded its empires. When efforts were made to include America in the international community, efforts were made to stop it, as seen with the League of Nations.
Then Great Depression, the Holocaust and World War II happened. It taught America that the domestic economy would have to depend on the international economy and become tied to other countries. The Great Depression did not just affect America, but most of Europe also experienced the same effects.
The Holocaust taught America that something had to be done to prevent such an awful loss of lives from happening and yes, these horrors do happen.
World War II, much like the first World War, showed the need for an organization that would work out the differences between various nations for mediation.
But what got America out of its shell was the fear of the spread of communism throughout the world. From Korea to Vietnam, the Berlin Wall—all were because of communism.
Tensions in the Middle East were tied to fighting the Soviet Union before their collapse. Fighting to contain communism, a lot of today’s current news stories were made possible as communism was fought, contained or not contained.
Without some of this base knowledge, students and those who do not know history that well cannot connect the events of today with the past, even though they’re hardly mentioned.
