Morgan's Musings
Saturday, February 23, 2008 - 1:12 AM
I saw the best movie on Thursday! Certainly the best movie I've seen this year-and I've seen about three or four already so far! It's a film I recommend that all Americans see, at least parts of it.
Called Persepolis, it is a coming of age story about a girl, named Marjane, who witnesses the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s. She and her family come to terms with the drastic changes that occur in her society, and discover that her free, more liberal lifestyle and the new fundamentalist conservative culture are not compatible whatsoever. So, after realizing that these irreconcilable life views could prove fatal to Marjane, she is sent to Europe to study. Here, her horizons are broadened and she is free to live as she wishes, but this freedom becomes almost as deadly, as she never really feels at home so far away from her family and culture. Without that familiar foundation during her teen years, she ends up homeless and ill.
Fortunately, she was able to return home, if she could call it that. She didn't really fit in there either, with the new fundamentalist rules and social turmoil. She falls into despair, feeling she didn't fit in anywhere, but at the last second, Marjane pulls herself together and decides to live boldly under a regime that frowns upon women doing just that.
As the danger that comes with defiance of Iranian society was still too great, she leaves her homeland again, forever, for France. She remains there, never able to see her parents or dear grandmother again, but Marjane is always proud of who she is.
So, that is the film in a mini-synopsis. Oh, and I forgot to tell you the best part: it was entirely animated!! The movie was adapted from the real-life graphic novels Marjane made of her life. I had heard about the book years ago in U.S. News, but never got around to reading it.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the film for a variety of other reasons as well. I liked how the story had a lot of first-hand perspective on a major historical event that many Americans don't understand, or have seen only one view of. I mean, did you know that the people of Iran voted for such a style of government!?! Not to mention that the West set it into motion in the past by encouraging an autocratic Shah over a republic for easier oil access. So, if anyone thinks war with Iran would be a great idea because they're �evil�, you'll see in this film that there are plenty of citizens in that country that do like a globalized, contemporary society but are being held back by the actions of a few.
I do wonder though, now that a generation has grown up knowing only the post-revolution society, and unlike Marjane, unable to relate to many alternatives, would �plenty� still be accurate?
I also could relate to a common theme, of not seeming to fit into any single societal mold. Also, the concept of not feeling at home anywhere is an experience people of my culture experienced in the past as well. African-Americans didn't really fit in when they came to the New World as slaves, and centuries later, when they could return to the continent of their ancestors, they couldn't quite fit back there either (ie: Liberia). Also, within the US, Blacks were oppressed in the South and lacked freedoms, but when they moved northward, like when Marjane moved to Europe, it was just as rough of a transition dealing with life in cold factory towns and an apathetic (if not worse) populace in some places not used to people of such a heritage. Now, those days are behind us. We are mainstream. We are Americans. So, this is why it is important that we ensure all peoples feel welcome, because we know how it was. It will take some understanding of the newcomer's culture, and some reaffirmation of the values that make us the US, but it can be done.
A good start towards understanding Marjane's culture would be to see this movie.
Corie would have called it �Iranime�. :)
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