Argo: A Mere Depiction of Machiavelli (Warning: Movie Spoiler)

Haven't seen Argo yet? Well then go and see it! Not only is it a phenomenal film based on a remarkable true story, it is a great example of Machiavelli's theories in his famous writing, The Prince. The behavior of the central character truly captures Machiavelli's concept of dirty hands as well as his idea of fear over love. However, before I begin to draw a relationship between the film and this philosophy, let me start with a brief summary of the movie for those who are unaware of this astounding CIA mission. (WARNING: this post is a complete movie spoiler)

A mob invades the U.S. embassy and burns an American Flag after
students seized the compound along with more than 60 hostages
in November 1979. 

In 1979, Iranian rebels began to form rioting crowds outside the U.S. Embassy. It all started with the Iranian belief that America destroyed Iran by putting the last Shah into power. However, personally, I understand their hatred since the Shah's regime was nothing other than a corrupted and bloody mess. Nonetheless, the Iranians were further infuriated by the U.S. as they chose to give asylum to the Shah as he was dying from cancer. Disgusted with America's decision, Iran and its people demanded for the U.S. to send the Shah back to Iran, however, they refused to do so. In response, Iranians began to take extreme measures. The 1979 riots quickly turned into a brigade of insurgent individuals breaking into and taking over the U.S. Embassy.

As a result, each American was held hostage besides the lucky six who escaped just in time. These six Americans mark the beginning of the legendary 1980 CIA-Canadian operation: Canadian Caper, or as we now know it as, Argo. Fleeing from the U.S. Embassy, these fortunate individuals escaped to the Canadian Embassy where they were protected by the Canadian Ambassador, Kenneth D. Taylor. However, Taylor obviously couldn't keep them safe forever. The CIA had to find a way to extract these hostages out of revolutionary Iran before the Iranians realized six Americans were missing from their imprisonment. Unfortunately, even for the CIA, brainstorming an idea to successfully save the lucky six was a difficult task. Take a look at the clip below to get an idea of the troubles they faced to come to an agreement. As you can see, Tony Mendez, played by Ben Affleck, was not supportive of the bicycle idea.

Although the others didn't like him going against their proposed plan, if it wasn't for Tony Mendez, the hostages would have never been saved. Mendez, an intelligent CIA agent, came up with the outlandish but brilliant idea to stage a fake movie and have the hostages pose as a fake Canadian film crew. Sound impossible? Not for this man. Mendez was dedicated to his mission and did whatever it took to get these hostages out of Iran, even if it meant getting his hands dirty (I'll get to this in a second). The CIA originally thought his idea was nonsense and crazy until they realized it was the "best bad idea" they had. With the help of movie producer, Lester Siegel (played by Alan Arkin) and make-up artist, John Chambers (played by John Goodman), Mendez was able to give fast legitimacy to their fake movie, Argo. They had to make this movie seem as real as possible in order to trick the Iranians into believing the film was real. If they failed to do so, this mission wouldn't have been possible. After publicizing Argo as much as they could, Mendez took off to Iran to complete this risky CIA operation. 

With tight security and suspicious Iranians, Mendez knew the most important part of this mission was making sure the hostages completely transformed into their new identity. Patient but persistent, Mendez worked hard to gain the trust of the six Americans in hopes of successfully extracting them from Iran. However, to instill a sense of fear for him within the hostages, he was very strict in his orders, too. Mendez recognized how crucial it was for them to listen to him, therefore, he strayed away from trying to receive their love. Additionally, it would have made the operation more difficult if he was worried of hurting the feelings of the Americans; instead, Mendez had to be focused on his duty without being concerned of emotionally upsetting them. His behavior coincides with Machiavelli's concept of fear over love. Machiavelli believes a leader should be feared by his people in order for him to gain the respect and cooperation of them. Furthermore, fear, over love, allows a leader to concentrate on "doing bad" in order to successfully "do good" for his people. Watch the clip above to see how aggressive Mendez was in his efforts to get the hostages to listen to him. Mendez does not care to politely inform the hostages of the possible consequences of not knowing their fake identities. Instead, Mendez quizzes them in a strict and firm manner. Evidently, there's no love going on, only an instillment of fear. 

Anyway, after fooling the Iranians, Mendez planned to fly home with the disguised hostages. Unfortunately, after all his and the hostages hard work, Mendez received a call from Jack O'Donnell, another CIA agent, that the mission had been terminated. The CIA did not want to interfere with a planned military rescue of the hostages (Operation Eagle Crawl). At first Mendez agrees to listen to their orders, however, after recognizing his leadership position and responsibility over these 6 Americans, he realized he can't back down, even if it means getting his hands dirty. Obviously it is wrong to go against authority's orders, but even this doesn't stop him. Mendez calls O'Donnell back to tell him that he is going through with the original plan; he is going to get those hostages out of there. Without allowing O'Donnell with a chance to respond, Mendez quickly hung up the phone and proceeded on with his mission. Although this operation was originally recognized by the CIA, Mendez clearly went against authority after they told him to immediately stop taking action; in other words, he really dirtied up those hands. Machiavelli describes his concept of dirty hands as one who acts against his morals for the good of his people. Additionally, this person, or leader, recognizes his actions are wrong, however, he does them anyway. Therefore, a man with dirty hands is a man whose interest is invested in his people rather than himself. Mendez realized his decision to follow through with "Operation Argo" was morally incorrect. Nonetheless, he also understood if he didn't take action, the hostages and the Canadian Ambassador may have been caught by the Iranians. Overall, Mendez's choice to "do bad" was also his decision to "do good." Fortunately, that's exactly what he brought his people: the good of returning safely home to their country and loved ones.

Conclusively, Mendez displays the true qualities of a Machiavellian leader: one who practices fear over love and one who always has dirty hands. What does everybody else think? Do you agree with me that Mendez's behavior accurately displays Machiavelli's concepts? Let me know what you guys think! I'd also love to hear of any other scenes in this movie that may relate if anyone knows of one!