The Foreign Service Journal, October 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 55 increase the pressure under which Mendez was seen to be working. Cora and I suggested other ways this could be done, but I don’t think our input had any impact. And, for a time, I again felt foolish for ever thinking actual history would matter to Hollywood types. Consolation Prize Last fall we were invited to Los Angeles to watch some shooting. We visited imposing sets and met the actors playing us, several of whom bore an uncanny resemblance to the originals. We also had lunch with Ben Affleck, who struck me as genuinely interested in telling the story the right way. But I also came to see that for Affleck, truth was less about facts than about atmosphere. And I finally understood why the questions I had gotten during production usually pertained to details like the layout of the buildings and the signs on office doors, or what we were thinking or feeling at certain times. Another producer explained that the Shear- downs were excluded because including them would have required a longer film, another set and two more actors. So they decided to house our group with Amb. Taylor, since he was already a necessary character. While regrettable, that explanation makes sense to me. Ultimately, I accepted that it was unrea- sonable to expect a “dramatization based on true events” to substitute for history, even though I expect that for many viewers, it will do exactly that. As a sort of consolation prize, Cora and I were interviewed for the DVD bonus features, during which we once again stressed the crucial role of the Canadians. We hope the Sheardowns and their compatriots will receive their due there, at least, if not in theaters. n This poster for the fake movie “Argo” was created by the CIA in 1980. The film and its Studio Six production company were part of the elaborate back- story used in the rescue. CIA