During Ben Affleck’s 2012 geopolitical thriller, Argo, Alan Arkin’s character Lester Siegel is tailed by a news reporter wanting to know what the тιтle of his new movie means. Siegel is a film producer hired by the CIA to develop a fake movie project that will serve as cover for a group of American hostages to flee Iran. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have an answer prepared about the meaning of his fake movie’s тιтle, so responds with an expletive-laden pun instead. President Donald Trump’s latest comments on the Iran-Israel ceasefire feel eerily reminiscent of Siegel’s famous response, “Argo f*** yourself!”
When reporters on the White House Lawn tried to get one last clarifying answer out of the President about the status of Israel’s ceasefire with Iran, he also responded with the same four-letter word. “They don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” he told stunned journalists, in reference to the governments of both Israel and Iran (via CNN). Like Lester Siegel in Alan Arkin’s best movie performance, Trump’s answer appears to reflect that he’s at a loss for what to say about an extremely dangerous situation involving the Iranian regime, which he feels he has no control over.
Rewatching Argo Today Is A Different Experience In Light Of Trump’s Ceasefire Comments
President Trump’s Comments Are Reminiscent Of Lesley Siegel’s Most Famous Argo Quote
Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, and Argo screenwriter Chris Terrio were evidently so pleased with the pun on their movie’s тιтle that they worked the joke into Lester Siegel’s dialogue multiple times in the film. In truth, “Argo f*** yourself!” was a real expression coined by the makeup artist working on the real-life Canadian Caper operation on which the movie is based (via HuffPost). It really was used in the true story behind Argo, and wasn’t just an invention of the movie.
Today, the President of the United States himself is talking with the same sense of uncertainty and frustration about the situation in Iran as Alan Arkin’s character in Argo.
In light of what’s going on in the world today, between the United States, Israel and Iran, and Trump’s latest comments in relation to these current events, watching Alan Arkin’s character fumble around for an explanation about his fake movie has taken on a whole new meaning. Before now, it was easy to view Argo’s story as a daring escape with a meta Hollywood-centric conceit, somewhat removed from the hard-hitting realities of contemporary geopolitics. Yet, today, the President of the United States himself is talking with the same sense of uncertainty and frustration about an apparently botched negotiation with Iran.
Argo’s Relevance In 2025 Is A Reminder Of Why Ben Affleck’s Movie Was So Hard-Hitting
The Movie Is Set In The Context Of Deteriorating American-Iranian Relations
Argo is no longer just a heroic Hollywood tale set almost half a century ago that’s best-known for winning Ben Affleck an Academy Award for Best Picture, to go with the actor’s screenwriting Oscar for Good Will Hunting. It’s a dramatization of history which bears strange parallels to present events, in which the geopolitical situation around Iran once again threatens countless lives, as well as the interests of the United States in the Middle East. The movie’s newfound relevance puts into perspective the perilous risks its characters took in their audacious operation to rescue six American Embᴀssy employees from Tehran.
The name by which this operation is generally called in the history books, the Canadian Caper, suggests that it was an exhilarating adventure without much at stake. In fact, dozens of lives could have been lost if the Argo plan went wrong, and American relations with Iran could have faced a catastrophic setback. Likewise, any wrong move in the minefield of Middle Eastern diplomacy today could endanger people across the region, from Iranian and Israeli citizens to American service personnel stationed in nearby countries, as well as harming US relations with both Iran and Israel, as recent weeks have demonstrated.
What makes Argo so hard-hitting is the context of deteriorating American-Iranian relations in which the movie is set. The disturbing parallels between this context and real-world events today make the film even more of a must-watch than it already was.
Sources: CNN; HuffPost
