Just like the book, the film “Persepolis” talks about life in Iran during the ruling of the Shah, the uprising of the revolution, and the start of a new Islamic Republic. It portrays the struggles through the life of Marjane and her family. Marjane at a young age saw the revolution take place and the oppression that came with the new Islamic government where women were forced to wear the veil and other civilians were imprisoned. The film clearly shows that she stands against her own believes causing her to get into trouble by the police for wearing makeup, hanging out with her boyfriend. She discovered Iron Maiden and punk music to help her stay true to herself. As the oppression and violence increased in Iran her parents became worried about her and took her out of the country for her safety. Citizens of Iran were oppressed under the Islamic government as they were repressed from their freedom and tortured for expressing their beliefs.
Before the Iranian Revolution, Iran under the Shah was a westernized country where people had the freedom to express themselves enjoy alcohol and pork. As some individuals opposed those practices and violence uprise during Shah’s ruling, eventually lead to his exiling and the establishment of the new Islam Republic led by Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini’s refusal to accept the secular practices and western liberalism thus introduced this new Islamic Republic (Nurrzzaman, para. 5). Under the ruling of Khomeini, inequality dispersed as women were oppressed due to their liberal beliefs and were forced to wear veils while others were imprisoned. This oppression and lack of freedom are all the negative effects of the Islamic Revolution that still affects modern Iran. (Priborkin, para 15).
An example similar to the oppression and lack of freedom seen today through Marjane’s story is Uyghur Muslims in a concentration camp held by the Chinese government. Forcing Muslims to eat pork, drink alcohol, and renounce their religion is oppression and repression of freedom. They are put under these restrictions and forced to share the same beliefs as the communist party. This shows that government goes against their civilian’s rights and beliefs. This is also seen through Marjane’s story and the Islamic Revolution.
Nuruzzaman, Mohammed. “The Iranian Revolution at 40: Shifting Grounds, Continuing Resilience.” E-International Relations, 14 Mar. 2019, www.e-ir.info/2019/03/14/the-iranian-revolution-at-40-shifting-grounds-continuing-resilience/.
Priborkin, Emily. “40 Years Later: Iran After the Islamic Revolution.” American University, 8 Apr. 2019, www.american.edu/sis/news/20190408-40-years-later-iran-after-the-islamic-revolution.cfm.
Considering most of us grew up in a place where freedom is granted, or at least now live in a free country, its hard to wrap our heads around that level of oppression. It is easy to sit here and think… Why don’t they overthrow the government if there are a greater number of oppressed than oppressor? Or why weren’t there more protest and more public influencers speaking out? While this is a norm in our country (to protest, strike, see people with high platforms stand against hate) this could mean a death sentence in other countries. As we read in the story, protesters would be killed by the hundreds everyday. But ultimately, it was those protesters, and revolutionists, advocates, whose constant fight brought down the oppressor. Thank you for sharing your research on this idea.
Thank you for the background information for oppression and freedom in Iran. It is hard to fully grasp what it would be like to live in under the Shah’s ruling when we live in the United States.
Reading things like this always makes me wondering why people think they can force someone to do anything that is against that they believe in. Such as being forced to eat pork is absolutely insane and inhumane. Being that we live in the United States we take out freedom for granted a lot.
I loved your presentation topic! The struggles that people went through during this time were so difficult and for us it is hard to even imagine. Their freedoms were taken away and they were told what they could and couldn’t do. In our lives we have never really experienced anything like what they went through. During this time there was not much that any normal person could do about it without fear of being killed. They went through so much horror and I think choosing this topic was a good way to show that! Their oppression can’t truly be seen by other people and so reading about the experiences is the best way to learn these things. I feel as though it is so important to learn these things and to know what life was like for other people, without it there is no way to relate to people and what they went through.
I really enjoyed reading your presentation and it definitely touches on what freedoms were taken away and how this affected them during this time. The events that margi encountered as well as her family were vert tramatic, but they will always have these experiences to grow from and look back on. I really like the sources that you used, I believe that they give a differnt outlook such as where you mentioned that “This oppression and lack of freedom are all the negative effects of the Islamic Revolution that still affects modern Iran”. This allows us to see and understand that the restriction on ones freedomn and the opression that occured is still effecting people today in iran, which is sad.
I really enjoyed reading your presentation! It is very saddened to think about how there are people out in this world forcing people to do things that they simply don’t believe in. Forcing someone to eat Pork seems extreme to me, but sadly that is how parts of our world is. The word freedom can mean a lot to a group of people and individuals and it makes me realize how appreciative I am to get the freedom that we do have here in the U.S. depending on what we are talking about of course.
Thank you for explaining this topic in further detail. It has deepened my understanding in this week’s content.
I really enjoyed reading your post and appreciate the extra insight it gave me to the on the oppression in Iran during this time. I think it is very hard for many of us to grasp this oppression as none of us have faced this level of oppression where people are being summoned to death for their freedoms. I think the best way for us to get any sort of idea of what this oppression looks like is to read from first hand stories. This fear of freedom is very saddening. I think this is a big eye opener of how lucky we are to live in such a free country. I think your comparison to the oppression in Iran and Uyghur Muslims in a concentration camp held by the Chinese government go very hand in hand is an amazing comparison to draw. I really loved your post and the connections it drew between the time of what occurred before the new Islamic Republic (something I wasn’t aware of) and Marji’s time in Iran.
It was sad first reading about the oppression Marji faced in the book and then watching it again in the film. She went through so much at such a young age and its devastating to realize that so many other young individuals go through similar obstacles in other countries. I appreciate the example you gave about the Muslims in the concentration camps because I think its important for people to understand that what Marji went through does still happen to people. This book and film has really allowed me to be grateful for the freedoms I am granted.
You did a great job showing how oppression and repression of freedoms are present in Persepolis. It’s pretty hard to imagine what it would be like if I was ever in the shoes of Marjane. Your comparison to the present day Chinese internment camps was a great example and I appreciate the details you included. My brother had mentioned this to me but I didn’t know much about it. It’s sickening to think that these things still take place in our world today.
Reading Marji’s, Persepolis, showed how life was for her and for many during that time as well as watching the film. Your presentation also showed how the oppression people faced. The examples you shared are not only heartbreaking but also were to inform readers about the things that were happening, like forcing Muslims to eat pork and drink.
You did a great job explaining this topic in great detail. Growing up in the United States, the country of freedom we could never imagine oppression being this bad here. I cannot even begin to imagine living in a country where you would have to be that scared to even be alive if you are a certain color or religion. I know that in the United States there is oppression, but no where near as bad as it is in those countries. Being forced into doing something that is against your religion is sickening to even think about.
You did a great job highlighting just how drastic of a shift the Iranian government took between the Shah and the Islamic Republic. The Shah was backed by America and Great Britain, so a more westernized society was bound to happen. However, when the religious extremists took over the new government, many of the western things people enjoyed were banned. In the US, instances of religious repression are usually singular or contained to a small group, so relating what occurred in Iran to anything in America is tough. But the comparison you made between the Iranian people under the IR and the Uyghur Muslims was great. Religion to billions of people is heavily engrained in who they are as a person, so religious suppression is essentially a way people in power strip the populous of what little power they have.
I did not know that before the Iranian Revolution that the country was so westernized to the point of drinking alcohol and eating pork. That is surpirising to me because from what I have been grew up to know about Iran is that they are very religious and the revolution happening not even 50 years ago in astounding to me. I would like to know more about what life was like before the revolution.
i think that your context blog was a very insightful read! I think as a country where we have so much freedom it is important to educate ourselves on other countries freedom restrictions. It is crazy to think the iranian people have been put under so much opression for decades and are still facing this same opression today.
Thank you for the background information on oppression and repression of freedom in Iran.
The blog does a great job in contextualizing and providing information about the change in power in Iran from the Shah to the Islamic Republic. The subsequent change in acceptance of policies of western culture and imposing of more oppressed and often extreme policies by the Islamic Republic left some long lasting effects that shifted Iran’s growth from a blooming nation to a struggling one where power is a constant struggle. The Chinese treatment of the Uyghur is similar in the sense that oppression is used to impose their ideals over what the suppressed hold.
You are right that in Persepolis we can observe the lack of freedom and you can observe that the beginning of the story, women were forced to wear the veil and other civilians were imprisoned.
Although I don’t agree that “She discovered Iron Maiden and punk music to help her stay true to herself” and that “she stands against her own believes causing her to get into trouble by the police for wearing makeup, hanging out with her boyfriend” . I believe that these actions were done because she wanted to follow her beliefs and she didn’t care about the laws that restrict her freedom.
That is a great connection between modern day events and the class content. Thank you for sharing!
This was a great read and hope more people step back and look what’s happening around the world. It’s very sad of what is happening to the Uyghur Muslims and how they’re being forced to do things that are deemed sinful, such as eating pork and drinking alcohol. Sometimes freedom is being used for granted and it’s disappointing to see other parts of the world in this day in age getting their freedom taken away in that way.
Thank you for further explaining this topic.
I think that it is very important that you wrote about this topic pertaining to oppression of the Islamic people during and after the revolution ended. It is something that is put into perspective for us because many of us grew up in a Western nation that has very different beliefs and practices than many Middle Eastern countries. One of the main things that is different in Iran than in the West is gender inequality. In Iran, females virtually have no rights and are forced to cover up and wear veils in public, which Marji expresses in the book and movie how it inhibits her independence. Another thing is religion, where Iran is strictly Islam and it is enforced on the people by the government to obey those rules. I also thought it was interesting that you related it to the Chinese concentration camps for Muslims. That is another example of oppression that exists in a corrupt government which targets a specific group of people and strips them of their rights and beliefs.
This was a very well done post. Trying to learn and understand oppression that is happening else where in the world is really difficult. It is crazy to think about the changes that happened in Iran after the Iranian revolution. It is a very misunderstood place and you did a great job explaining it.
Trying to learn and understand oppression that is happening else where in the world is really difficult. It is crazy to think about the changes that happened in Iran after the Iranian revolution. It is a very misunderstood place and you did a great job explaining it. The connection that was made between the juxtaposing countries was also a really good point.
I believe that the comparison of the Chinese government concentration camps to the Iranian republic is accurate. I think that this draws attention to the importance of education and socioeconomic status. Being educated would allow citizens of these oppressed countries to realize the warning signs and the freedoms being taken away from. Economic flexibility would also allow these people to fight back agains oppression.
I really liked how you compared Marjane’s story to a real life example that people are facing in the world today. Sometimes it is really hard to make those connections between book and world, and you did a really great job with this presentation!
Fantastic description of the film, you did a great summary of essentially the main points of the story. I can greatly appreciate how you took these points of the film and applied them to other situations throughout history, and furthermore indicated that the Iranian revolution is still going on today. It’s definitely important we all stay aware of how life is in other places throughout the world and we shouldn’t take our lives for granted, especially when compared to those who are limited and oppressed on a daily basis.
I liked how you contextualized Marji’s story with the real-life narrative of Iran. It makes you grateful to live in a country that isn’t so legalistic but also sympathetic of those who are struggling in countries of war and revolution.