7/11 Persopolis

The Hillary Chute article addressing Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis has some excellent examples of Satrapi's style and type of narration, which Persepolis employs not only in the form of an autobiography but also as a graphic novel. Upon reading the comic excerpts I never really took into much consideration the physical layout of the comical tiers. However, in her article, Chute does address the appearance of the comic, the way the pages are broken up and split apart. I who thought nothing of this was intrigued to read the idea that this was a conscious step to further articulate the suffering and torn childhood that the author, "Marji" endured. The article also points out that Persepolis is a groundbreaking graphic novel in that not only has it been worldly acclaimed and translated into more than twenty languages, but also it is written by a woman. An Irani woman at that. Through its publication Persepolis has undoubtedly broken the traditional views and standards of Irani women who are mostly subject to the rule of their husbands and are as shown in Persepolis forced to wear veils, hiding their faces and having little rights. The comic as told from Satrapi's ten year old perspective as Marji realistically dictates a child's imagination and lack of actual experience with violence to characterize its true horrors. The comic's being in black and white versus color also represents the normality of Marji's childhood in 1979, 1980 and beyond. Her childhood experiences through the Cultural Revolution and the Iranian War were probably duplicated and experienced through many other youths in Iran at the time of the repressive shah regime. In this way, Maji's testament to youth appeals to many others who have suffered and cannot forget the traumatic events that to many of us today are simply picture on the news or in a history book. It is a shame that Marji's story is banned in Iran but by the Irani government banning this historical account, they reitterate the points that Satrapi is writing about. I find it impressive that she also made a movie of Persepolis completely by her own gumption. Denying the appeal of Hollywood money and outside direction, Satrapi directed the movie herself which is aesthetically and ironically pleasing as it initially is her story to tell.