Maxx Vail
Mrs. Clark
English II Honors
8 March, 2016
The Movie That Ended It All
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. In moments that bring the world into a standstill, the bravest will go out and do anything in order to solve the problem. Humanity is a flawed idea that will never be perfect. Humans are made to develop ideas, opinions and live the way they want to but never to the extent of agreeing fully. Whether they fight or not, violence is almost inevitable. The Iranian Hostage Crisis served as a cornerstone for the disagreement of two parties. The bravery of Ken Taylor sheltering six Americans with a bounty on their heads to Tony Mendez who unexpectedly found himself as a vital part one of the oddest rescue missions of all time.
The bravery of Ken Taylor provided evidence to the success of one of the most suspicious acts to rescue the members of the U.S Embassy. As Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's position as the Shah of Iran began to tremble, his health did as well. Pahlavi started the White Revolution. He decided to redistribute the land which then backfired at him as many did not benefit from his decision to do so. In the article, Iranian Revolution, the Shah tried to make 'a reform movement aimed at modernizing Iran's economy while prompting the country.' ('Iranian Revolution' n.p). Pahlavi could not handle the outcome and fled. (Fredriksen n.p) Pahlavi, unlike most of Iran, was tolerant of the United States. He had close ties with the United States to protect the Oil Resources when Iran needed it (Fredriksen n.p). Although, once Pahlavi's cancerous body began to deteriorate, he went to the the United States to receive the necessary treatments that he needed. This outraged the Islamic Radicals and they protested against the Shah's decision. On the day of November 4, 1979, furious Iranian students invaded the U.S Embassy in Iran holding the lives of more than 50 people hostage. Little did they know, they had just started one of the biggest events in history. This is the day of the Iranian Hostage Crisis (Fredriksen, 'Ken Taylor..' n.p). During the chaos of the invasion, six lucky members of the Embassy escaped with their lives. Ken Taylor, the Canadian Ambassador, had his attention aimed directly at the situation when his Swedish colleague informed him. He took action immediately and sheltered five of the six escapees in his Residency in Iran ('Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper.' n.p). It was on Nov 21, 1979, that Taylor received a call to shelter the sixth hostage. Brilliantly, Taylor decided to split the six up and sheltered three in his residency and three in his house. There, the hostages waited to be rescued. If they were caught they would be killed. If the U.S potentially attempted to rescue them and failed, they would be killed. On top of that, strong suspicions and worries grew in the hostages and the U.S once the story of their location 'leaked'. In the storm of the crisis, a Canadian hero by the name of Tony Mendez, rose ('Ken Taylor'' n.p; 'Tony Mendez' n.p).
Tony Mendez became apart of the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, because of an ad that he had seen. At first, he started as an espionage artist for the CIA. But after two years he got promoted to be an agent. Stationed after his promotion in Asia, Mendez stayed for a while. He specialized in fake documents and disguises ('Tony Mendez.' n.p). This made him the perfect candidate to enforce the rescue mission of the six hostages taking shelter under Ken Taylor. Mendez soon enough became the Chief of Disguise for the CIA which eventually led to his method of a successful rescue mission. Making a fake movie in order to save the six innocent lives. An idea looked at as a joke at first, but slowly persuaded those involved ('Tony Mendez.' n.p; 'Ken Taylor'' n.p). Thus, on January 25, 1980, Mendez created the Canadian Caper. The idea was to make a fake film by becoming a fake film production company. Mendez chose the name of Studio Six Productions, the identity of which the plan would use. Mendez, along with the Canadian Caper, flew out to Hollywood in order to make the name official enough to pass as a real film company. Scripts were eventually processed and later passed out to the Caper. Mendez read the name 'Argo', which the film would be referred to and called from that point on ('Tony Mendez.' n.p). It was now up to this movie to save the lives of each of these Americans.
President Jimmy Carter gave personal orders to begin the rescue mission. Mendez arrived in Iran as an Irish movie producer scouting for a location to shoot his film. Choosing the preselected location of the Ken Taylor residency, he met with the six hostages. He distributed false information to each of the Americans who studied them over a three day period. Each of them slowly mastered their own role in order to escape Iran without any eyes watching ('Tony Mendez.' n.p). There was only one way the six hostages would be able to escape with their lives; Mendez escorted them all on a regularly scheduled flight. The risk was incredibly high, but the thought of the whole situation being over pleased the hostages ('Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper.' n.p). Surprisingly, during the escape in the airport, the Caper and the hostages were faced with very few obstacles. The biggest one being the fact that the flight they were scheduled to go on was late by one hour. Once the plane finally came, the Caper and the hostages were safely aboard to fly home. The event of escorting the hostages is known as the 'Exfiltration.' This making Mendez a hero in one of the world's oddest and most remarkable rescue missions ever to happen ('Tony Mendez.' n.p; 'Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper.' n.p). Once word got around popularity grew about Argo and it became very well known. The Canadian Caper became known in the minds and place of the media. A television movie aired a year later after the Iranian Hostage Crisis ended on January 20, 1981. Along with that, the death of the Shah soon followed and the position was soon replaced by Khomeini who prior the death of Pahlavi was exiled by him ('Khomeini in Power.' n.p; 'Tony Mendez.' n.p; 'Ken Taylor….' n.p). In the rush of the popularity, a film was remade in 2012 called Argo, which was highly praised upon and helped tell the story of the real life Canadian Caper. Thus ending the reign of the Iranian Hostage Crisis.
Ken Taylor and Tony Mendez hold a legacy over their heads as an essential reason behind the survival of six Americans. Tony Mendez, who risked his life knowing how ridiculous the plan was, did everything he could and dedicated his life to enforce the success of the rescue mission. Ken Taylor, who helped shelter the escapees, knew that at any waking moment he and the six others could have been killed. The Canadian Caper and the efforts of individuals like Ken Taylor and Tony Mendez remain engraved as a win in the imaginary scoreboard. The unexpected success of Argo might just be one of the reasons behind the rescue. The movie that saved the lives of six. The movie that ended it all.
Work Cited
Fredriksen, John C. 'Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.' Biographical Dictionary of Modern World
Leaders: 1900-1991. Fact on File. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
'Iranian Revolution.' History in Literature. Facts on File, 2004. Modern World History Online.
Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
'Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper.' Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs Trade and
Development Canada, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Communications, E Communications, Communications Products and Services. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
'Khomeini in Power.' Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Chelsea House, 2004. Modern World
History Online. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
'Tony Mendez.' Biography in Context. Detroit, 2013. Biography in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.