In the film Persepolis, based on the graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi, it focuses on her life experiences as an Iranian woman. It goes through every stage of her life, starting with being born and raised in Iran for the first part of her childhood. Then moving onto her adolescent and young adult years moving abroad to escape the war in Iran. Finally it ends with her moving back to Iran and experiencing new challenges there as a grown woman. While this film mainly focuses on her life, it also represents and talks about the hardships that the country went through. It shows what the Iranian people had to go through during the revolution.
The Iranian revolution was a huge event in Iranian history, and involved the entire country. From government officials and all the way down to the unemployed people, everyone was affected. The revolution started when the Iranian people decided they were not happy with how their country was being handled. The ruler, Shah, was seen as a bad leader and people thought he was very unfair by almost the entire country. With this thought in mind, the people of Iran took matters into their own hands and started to protest the laws that were in place. From research, I found that it started with “slanderous remarks” made about some of the people in Tehran (Afary). From those comments, students and other youth of the country started to protest. This paved the way for the rest of the revolution. This is demonstrated in the film, Persepolis, towards the beginning. Marjane was a very young girl when she first witnessed these protests. Her father then explained the whole history behind the protests and why the country wanted a new ruler.
While the protests may have seemed harmless, they were far from that. Thousands of innocent people were killed in the mists of these protests. Part way through the revolution, the government decided they had enough with the protests and open fired against the people of Tehran (Afary). This amount of death was also shown in the movie. In one scene, Marjane’s parents were attending a protest and while they were standing there, an innocent kid was shot. This was a common thing during the revolution. Along with death, harsh laws were put in place against the Iranian people. Shown in the movie, women were forced to wear veils that covered their entire head and hair. They had to dress and be modest all the time while being out in public. Their rights were very much decreased. Another harsh rule that was seen in the movie was that there was no alcohol allowed at all. People would be arrested for even owning any alcohol. Through all these harsh rules, and new restraints made by the government, it is clear that the Iranian revolution had a huge negative impact on the people of Iran.
“Iranian Revolution.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution.
Hello.
It is crazy that thousands of innocent people were killed during the protests. In the United States, protestors might get injuries, but there are usually no protests or innocent people who get killed. You described one scene of how Marjane’s parents attended a protest and witness a innocent kid get shot. Perhaps after witnessing the kid get shot, they didn’t want Marjane to attend a protest because they fear she could get shot as well. Additionally, it is interesting how people weren’t happy before the revolution and after the revolution people still weren’t happy. The Iranians must have disliked life under the Shah, but the rules and laws after the overthrow of the Shah weren’t better either.
Hearing about the harsh rules that were forced upon women is so unimaginable. As you mentioned in your post, women had to dress and act in a particular way. Although this story takes place during an earlier time period, these types of discrimination against women are happening in our world today. I think it is crazy to think about the fact that women are unable to live a “normal” life, and that they must live one that abides by other people’s preferences. Things like this remind me to be grateful of the simple freedoms that I have, such as getting to dress and act how I choose to.
I enjoyed reading deeper into this presentation as background information was provided on the effect of the Iranian revolution on innocent individuals. With this background information and statistics, I was able to form a greater comprehension of the book Persepolis surrounding the hardships of Marjane’s journey throughout the revolution. This blog stated the negative aspects of the protests and how innocent individuals were affected. Even after the revolution, we can see that the people were still distressed as stern rules were brought into effect. Therefore after reading this blog, I constructed that the revolution illustrated more hardships and terror than a positive impact on the Iranian people.
It truly is sad that Iranians had to live this way, and somewhat still, live in terror and uncertainty. The part that is most relatable to me is the restrictions on women. As a woman who fights for women’s rights, I would be furious with the state of how women were treated during the book and movie Persepolis. While my struggle as a woman in America is very, VERY different compare to women in Iran, I can empathize with the fighting spirit recognized in Marjane and her parents, as the revolutionary spirit that they possess and demonstrate in Persepolis.
It was interesting to read this presentation and find out more detail about the Iranian revolution. I find it very upsetting how many of innocent people were killed amidst the protests. I also found it interesting how the Iranian revolution ended up having more of a negative impact on the Iranian people than a positive one because that is usually not how revolutions go. Overall I think you did a very good job on this presentation.
Hi! I really enjoyed your post. I loved how you connected the underlying story in Persepolis with real history. It helped me gain a new perspective on the story. I especially liked that you specifically identified a similarity in the protests and provided more information on it. The movie gave more details than the novel did because of the imaging used.
Thinking about the Iranian revolution makes me feel really bad for the people of Iran, they weren´t happy to start with and it after the revolution ended they still weren´t satisfied. The rules that the women especially had to obey to, I can´t imagine, they were not treated as humans. I think the same as one of my classmates above, where maybe the parents didn´t want Marjane to attend protests because they saw innocent people being shot and killed. I can´t imagine the fear they must have gone through not feeling safe in their own country.
I like how you focused on the hardships that the country faced. It is very interesting how they chose to show more of the violence in the movie over the book. The book and the movie are both great ways of educating people from other countries about the hardships faced. This education can help get rid of the stigma around middle-easterners and terrorism. This is a really important aspect of education that we as a society need to keep working on. Great job on your presentation!
Hi! Very interesting presentation. It is sad to learn how many innocent lives have died fighting and protesting for their country and all the hardships they went through and the peoples rights being taken away. And like you pointed out happened in the movie, we saw women being forced to wear veils and cover their heads completely. Their freedom was taken from them completely.
Hello! Your presentation was really interesting and I enjoyed reading it. It’s incredibly sad to think of all the innocent lives that were lost during protests. Watching women lose their so many of their rights is heartbreaking as well. Women had jobs taken away from them and couldn’t even dress in the way they wanted to. Covered in cloth head to toe is somewhat dehumanizing and it saddens me to think that people have to go through this. I think this book did a good job on educating me about Iran’s history and I would recommend others read it. Great job on your presentation!