Denying Thermopylae - taken from the Newsfeed section

[Arthes]

"What is most disturbing about this movie is not that it lacks historical accuracy. It is not that Xerxes, the Grandson of Cyrus The Great and loving husband of Esther, is shown as an oversized drag queen. It is not even the outdated racist cliché of casting the Persians as Africans and the Spartans as white, blue-eyed 'Chippendale dancers,' when in reality the roles may well have been reversed."
African Spartans? White, blue-eyed Persians? This is just plain silly.

The Persian Empire at the time included areas that had races with dark skins....Egypt for example would have had Nubians amongst their warriors. So a Nubian emissary was not out of the question... However, there was also an ancient race of noble Persians that did have white skin coupled with dark hair.
There is a poem written by a Spartan that describes at least some of them as having blond hair... Alcman/Alkman - Partheneion Hymn to Artemis
There are different translations - but all mention the golden hair, and further on in the poem is mentioned 'she of the lovely yellow hair'

Do you not see? The Venetian racehorse -
the hair of my kinswoman Hagesichora
blooms like untarnished gold;
her silver face -
but why should I talk with you openly?
......
Imagine her if you can. Her hair,
As gold as a Venetian mane,
Flowers around her silver eyes.
What can I say to make you see?
She is Hagesikhora and
Agido, almost, almost as beautiful,
......
See how her hair, so thick, so bold,
A long mane of Venetian gold,
Flowers around her silver face.
What figured image can I place
That Hagesikhora shall stand
As if you touched her with your hand?.
.....
(Fragment I.50-6)
From Diotima

The original Dorians were also said to be fair haired.. and 'silver' eyes, have cropped up amongst the 'Celtic' races.

The depictions of the Immortals show them with dusky skin and dark hair with aqualine noses.
See this portrait Immortals

So we have Spartan women described as fair haired and the Persians with dusky skins and Nubians in the ranks....!
Therefore, what is wrong with caucasian men with dark hair and sometimes blue eyes portraying the Spartans...?