PERSEPOLIS:
Persepolis 1 is an interesting coming of age memoir about the author, Marjane Satrapi. I find it interesting how there is a dramatic shift in her childhood at the time of the Islamic Revolution. I can imagine how dissonant it would feel to one day be able to be in the same classroom with both boys and girls, then the next day be in a class only with girls and have to wear the veil. The way she describes her childlike rebellion to this paradigm shift is very accurate, I think, to how children reacted to this change, and just generally how children might react.
Unfortunately, I have a confession: Since Julia(my Sister) went through this class and had read both the books just as the movie came out, I watched the film version first when she watched it. The good news: I completely forgot everything about it. I have very vague memories of the second part of the story, but I had no idea about any of the events in the beginning.
My favorite parts are when she describes how the government, the television, and their schools are lying to them, contrasted with the "truth" that her parents tell her. During class after the Shah leaves Iran, Marjane questions her teacher telling her to rip the Shah's photo from her books. She questions the teacher asking her to do this when just a few months earlier when the Shah was in power the teacher told her that the Shah was chosen by God. Marjane is then ridiculed by her classmates and punished by her teacher for saying so. Her Father says something very profound when the adults are arguing once the Shah leaves, "In any case, as long as there is oil in the Middle East, we will never have peace." Later in the book, during the height of Iraq's takeover, Marjane's family jokes about how the TV is always telling them that the Islamic Regime has shot down hundreds of enemy planes every day, but since they say that every day that means they've shot down more Iraqi planes than the United States has.
As for the second part, based on the very vague memories I have of the movie, I remember another scene that exemplifies Marjane's rebellious spirit. She is driving down the road with her friends and she removes her veil and lets it flap in the wind. I also have vague memories of her falling in love, but that not working out. I would really like to finish this, however in the interest of time I will leave it there for now.
Overall, its interesting to see history written from another's perspective. I always got the feeling that in my school they taught our history class in a very Euro-centric type of way. Although I know every one of the US Presidents, I barely know any of the famous Kings or Queens of the past. The only ones I know are because of Art History, or French Class, as that particular teacher was very good to keep it very complete. I also, as I'm sure most people thought, that the Middle East had always been very "conservative" and Islam had always been in control of the Government there. Its unfortunate, but as I've expanded my horizons its definitely opening my eyes to the world outside my own country.
