1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

I was excited to see the book that Persepolis was based on. I’d seen some clips of it

before on some feminist sites online, particularly that scene where a man tells a young Marjane

not to run because it makes her rear move obscenely and she tells them to stop staring at her ass.

However, I didn’t realize the scene’s particular significance given the context, and I didn’t know

that it was a true story based on a book.

The establishment of the first National Film Society in Iran in 1949 might account for the

influence of overseas pop culture in Iran, since they started showing non-commercial as well as

English films. The phrase “adversity breeds excellence” rings true in Iran where the oppression

created the very nationhood and culture it is now known for in the art world.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.

Roger Ebert begins his review with a small anecdote relating to the tense situation in Iran.

Specifically, he remembers visiting the Tehran Film Festival in 1972 before the strict new reign,

recalling the translator he stayed with, and sympathizes for everyone he met there and millions of

others like them that are now forgotten by the rest of the world, suffocating under the current

regime.

Marjane grew up in the free Iran pre-Islamic Republic – albeit under a dictatorship which

tortured its opponents. But, more or less, the rule didn’t affect most Iranians, as that kind of

government was normalized in the Middle East. Her youth was as normal as anyone’s and she

grew up in a modern, progressive family. The new rule threatened Marjane’s safety and

especially her individuality, which is vibrant and unstoppable, so her parents sent her to Vienna
to live with a friend. However, she finds herself moving from place to place, unable to find what

it is she’s looking for, and eventually returns home after being homeless for a little while.

Ebert concludes that this is a coming-of-age film that supersedes the “witlessness” of

Western ones, and that Marjane grew into a version of herself a little less dramatic but just as

meaningful as the one portrayed in the film. “She is no heroine, no flag-waving idealist, no rebel,

not always wise, sometimes reckless, but with strong family standards … more interesting in

spirit, in gumption, in heart.”

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

Ebert writes that Marjane’s “books have been embraced by smart teenage girls all over

the world, who find much they identify with.” While I can never say I’ve seen or suffered war or

a dictatorship, I could still find aspects of myself reflected in Marjane. My country might be

liberal and progressive, but my Muslim parents are not, and I’m all too familiar with aligning

myself with angsty rock and rebellious punk music in my adolescent years. Marjane had dreams

of being a great prophet and speaking to God, and I’m sure many of us, especially at a young

age, would turn to spirituality in times of toil, lose faith, and find it again just when it was most

imperative – like when Marjane saw God again after attempting suicide.

The animation style of the film also aided in keeping my attention. It didn’t distract at all

from the plot or dialogue, and the color scheme plays wonderfully in to the plot. Ebert describes

the “guest appearance” of colors in the mostly gray/monochromatic film. I feel that the

simplicity and juxtaposition of the gray, black and white throughout the film emphasized the

simple opposition between Marjane and – well, everything. The monochrome is appropriate for
the harsh and senseless violence of Iran’s political circumstance, with only rare splashes of life

and a little something else showing up here and there in the colors. I think this is animation done

right. We should forget we are even watching a cartoon, wrapped up instead in its story and

characters. Persepolis achieves this.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the

screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

This was my favorite movie we’ve watched all semester by far. The plot of the film was

as unpredictable as life must have been to the Iranian citizens it portrayed. I learned a lot about

Iranian culture and its history. I knew that there had been a major shift in policy, completely

altering the society, but I’d never known any of the details or how it so affected the country’s

citizens. Everything I knew about Iran was limited to its strict regulations, so seeing the freedom

of a time before them was new and fascinating. I was also surprised to learn that people would

hold secret parties, or sell rock music illegally on the streets. It was jarring to see this behavior

(which is so normal we Westerners don’t even think about it) be ostracized and even punishable

in the film. Marjane was almost in a lot of trouble for wearing a Michael Jackson pin! Her father

told her he and her mother used to walk down the same street holding hands that now she could

not even be seen with a boy walking through. How bizarre! And even more bizarre because it

was real.

Not only was the film informative, it was also so relatable. Once Marjane could move

away from the society which subdued her existence, we could see how she would do in the freer

Western world. I especially loved that montage of her memories of her boyfriend after they
broke up, where the rose-colored glasses came off and she saw what a disgusting creep he was,

and what a fool she was for falling for him! Though not all of Marjane’s experiences are

universal, that one certainly is. I thought her life-saving dream of Karl Marx was hilarious and

true too, as I’ve had my share of inspiring dreams about Walt Whitman and St. Teresa.

Marjane’s story had every critical element: whimsy, hope, gaunt reality, romance, humor, war,

loneliness, love, determination, strength, personality. Independence.

1) (x) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) (x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I
clearlyexplain that in the paper.
3) (x) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used
indentation and citation within the text.
4) (x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in
thetext of the paper.
5) (x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) (x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I
cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) (x) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) (x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.

Ebert, Roger. “Persepolis.” Roger Ebert, 17 January, 2008.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persepolis-2008

Name: Rida Hasan

Date: 5/5/18