After sweeping the Golden Globe Awards, Argo won the Best Picture award at the 85th Academy Awards. Though the intense and simulative plot, and excellent performance of its cast helped Argo bag the Oscar, politics too played a role in its success, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

Argo has once again drawn the world's attention to Iran and other Middle East countries. Of late, American filmmakers have focused on the Middle East through movies such as The Hurt Locker, A Separation and Argo.

Argo highlights American-style individualistic heroism. The United States aborted the mission to rescue American prisoners for fear that failure would bring shame on Washington. But the hero in Argo, Tony Mendez, decides to save six people, and actually does so by disobeying orders, which is characteristic of individualistic heroism. No wonder, Argo has found favor with the Academy and American audiences alike.

A line in the film, "history starts out as farce and ends up as tragedy", reflects the US policy in the Middle East. Looking back at the past decade, chaos best describes the situation in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions have been rendered homeless thanks to American policies. Instead of bringing relief to people in the Middle East, American-style democracy has caused social and political turbulence in many countries in the region. Besides, the US has lost thousands of its soldiers in its attempt to spread "democracy" in the region.

In short, Argo won the Academy Award because it is a near perfect marriage of film and politics.

(China Daily 03/01/2013 page9)