Hello readers!
For the last week my ASTU class has been reading the graphic narrative Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis tells the story of Satrapi’s childhood through “Marji”, an ambivalent and rebellious young girl growing up in the midst of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In the introduction, Satrapi argues how Iran has been associated with “fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism” and states “This is why writing Persepolis was so important to me. I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists.”. The importance of Persepolis does not only resonate with Satrapi, but with many young girls who grew up surrounded by social or political turmoil all around the world.
Marji is introduced as a ten year old girl whose every day life is drastically changed by the Islamic Revolution. Having previously gone to a co-ed school where she could play with boys and girls combined and be a care free child, the move to an all girls school where she was required to wear a veil was confusing and unsettling. Despite these restrictions put on Marji, she still acted like any normal rebellious teenager. She pushed the rules to the limit by wearing a denim jacket over her burqa, wearing nike sneakers, and listening to “punk” music. These are actions almost every teenager has taken to be rebellious, and they show that the punk movement did not surpass even Iran. The perception that the west has on Iran and of the Iranian Revolution has been heavily influenced by what our media has chosen to show us. Western media tends to be mediated to fit a certain criteria of how we are meant to think of Iran and the Middle East. That perception is, as Satrapi stated, one of terrorism. However, haven’t there been many other extremist groups throughout history? For example take the Ku Klux Klan, an extremist white-supremacy group formed in the United States. This terrorist group was originally affiliated with the Protestant church, however neither the protestant church nor America as a whole have been clumped in with the wild extremists of the KKK. So how come the same measures aren’t taken to distinguish the extremists from the citizens in Iran like Marji’s family, who simply wanted social justice and change?
Iran has been constantly painted with one brush- showing them as terrorists and extremists. However, the reality is that the majority of Iranians were much more similar to us than we have been taught. I can guarantee you that Marji and much of the western world, although in completely different environments, had similar childhoods. What child didn’t dream of becoming something completely unreachable? To Marji it was a prophet, to others an astronaut, or a superhero. What child didn’t rebel against social norms? for Marji it was wearing Michael Jackson pins, for others it was Metallica t-shirts and ripped jeans.
We are not as different as we thought. Persepolis tells the story of a childhood much like mine and much like many, and we should not let the extremist views of a few lead us to think differently.
Until next time!
Mia:)