Persepolis: My view

Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi
This movie is a documentation of a girl who is also the author who outlived the Islamic Revolution back. The author is none other than Marjane Satrapi, who was a bright child who indulged in the knowledge of politics of her surrounding when she was young. She has a very confident attitude, one that accompanied and enhanced other elements of her behavior to mold who she is today. In the 1970s, during the reign of the Shah, a supreme ruler in Iran, the revolution took place. It was during that period of time that when the revolution was taking place, everything was in shambles. Therefore, Iraq took this opportunity to poise a strike on Iran. That is when the Iran-Iraq war occurred in 1980, following the Islamic Revolution. During the Islamic Revolution, there was a demonstration against the present Shah at that period of time. It was to overthrow the monarchy ruling system of Iran under the leadership of the Shah. Therefore, the Shah had to abdicate its title and was exiled. Thereafter, Khomeini came in to power and took over the Shah’s position.

During this period of time, every Islam girl had to wear a scarf over their head; a rule to follow. Seeing how it was necessary, or rather to be imposed upon the women of that time that wearing a scarf to cover their head so that it would not be deemed ‘obscene’ to other people sounds like Kelantan at first hearing. Then again, does it really make any difference whether you are wearing a headscarf or not?

As a Christian, going to church every Sunday is a solitary time taken to appreciate the things God blessed us with. During these Sunday mornings, the ladies in the church will wear headscarf as a sign of respect to adhere and obey the proper instructions during worship. However, after the morning service, the ladies can remove them there and then. Compared to the Islam, Christian ladies are allowed to take it off when the service ends whereas for Islam ladies, it is a 24/7 kind of decree. Sometimes, it gets me thinking whether when Islam ladies put on their headscarf, do they see the significance of doing so, or is it just to oblige to the laws? Given the chance, if this decree never existed, will they have put it on? In Persepolis, even when Marjane Satrapi was in a foreign land, the locals somehow created a barrier of prejudice that surrounds them to estrange Marjane. It was because she hailed from Iran, and people do not really welcome such visitors to their country. On the other hand, there were her classmates that welcomed her into their crowd and accepted her for who she is. In fact, having a boyfriend from a different country made it all the more clearer that barriers should not exist between people from different races. Having said all these, there is no real conclusion as to whether we should obey rules which are forced upon us or to stand up for ourselves. The more we resist, the more power-craving the government becomes. Already as it is, there is not real peace, but the one thing that remains is compromise.