To fly in the face of something

[Glen]

This is such a striking representation of the idea of opposition - for example to fly in the face of reason, to fly in the face of a theory, to fly in the face of an argument, etc. - that there should be an equally graphic one in Spanish, something more lively than desafiar or oponer. Any ideas?

[JPablo]

Mmm... "oponerse arremetiendo contra"... "oponerse violentamente a" "desafiar [a la autoridad] en su cara" ("en sus morros" for Spain).

"Plantar cara"...
Yup, DRAE:
cara
plantar ~a alguien. 1. loc. verb. coloq. Desafiarlo, oponerse a él, resistir a su autoridad.

"Plantar cara" is problably what I'd use.

From Gran Diccionario de la Lengua Española LAROUSSE
plantar cara

locución coloquial Enfrentarse a una persona, colocándose frente a ella con ánimo agresivo e intimidatorio:
le plantó cara al portero que no le dejaba entrar en la discoteca.

[Glen]

Sounds good, just what I was looking for. So it applies not only to opposition to people but also to opposition to ideas etc., right?

[JPablo]

Probably stretching it a bit, it could be used talking about opposition to ideas... although I think it is not very commonly used like that...

Well, actually... look at this example...

http://asiabudayrollitosprimavera.blogspot.com/2012/04/los-mejores-y-los-mas-brillantes-2.html
y convencido de que Vietnam era el sitio en el que había que plantarle cara al comunismo.

Salu2!