Persepolis: A Girl’s Maturity Intertwined with Revolution and War

The journey from childhood into adulthood is experienced by every human being. It revolves around a change, whether it’s a physical, mental, or environmental one. A coming of age proves to be something that comes to define a person and their life. People, places, and things drive a person’s development. Persepolis shows how both revolution and war change the lives of the Iranian people. In this review, the topics of the Islamic Revolution, cultural shifts, Western interference and influence, religion, and the idea of a better life will be analyzed.

Persepolis focuses on the coming of age of an Iranian girl named Marjane. It takes place during the Islamic Revolution. The film begins with Marjane (Marji), sitting in an airport reflecting on her life. Marjane’s childhood took place during the Iranian Revolution (Islamic Revolution). Marjane discusses how most of her family members (e.g. her grandma, parents, and uncles) are involved with the revolution and support the overthrow of the Shah. She talks about how many of her family members were imprisoned and even killed for being communists. The movie shows how the Iranian people were gassed, gassed, and killed for protesting. After the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic Republic comes into power. The Islamic Republic completely changed the way of life in Iran. For example, they forced the women to wear veils – abandoning the previously Western fashion the women dressed in. Likewise, due to the fragile state Iran was in, Iraq decided to invade and so started the Iran-Iraq War. With the outbreak of the war and increasing violence in the country, Marjane’s parents decide to send her to Vienna. She was supposed to live with a family friend, but instead ends up living with nuns and then renting from an eccentric, retired teacher. In Vienna, Marjane matures and finds love in the forms of Fernando and Markus. Fernando ends up being gay and Markus cheats on Marjane. After this discovery, Marjane gets into a dispute with Frau Dr. Schloss, the woman she’s been living with, over whether or not Marjane took a brooch. She decides to leave and ends up becoming homeless. It’s after this that she goes home. While she’s back in Iran, she’s diagnosed with depression and is put on pills for her condition. However, she attempts and fails to overdose. After her unsuccessful attempt, she decides to turn her life around and go to university. She begins to study art and meets a man named, Reza, whom she falls in love with. Marjane and Reza decide to get married, but this ends in divorce. After, she desires to go to France and leave Iran.

Depicted in this film is the Islamic Revolution, which completely destabilized Iranian politics (Angrist 254). This revolution was to overthrow the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The people didn’t see “his policies benefitting the majority of Iranians” (Angrist 271). Persepolis depicts Marjane’s family being avid supporters and participators in the protests. They desire to see the Shah removed from office in favor of a more just government. The movie also showcased the brutality the people faced while protesting. Horrifyingly, Marjane’s mom mentions that a young boy was shot. The government didn’t care if they killed or harmed their own people. They viewed those who disagreed with them as threat and had them imprisoned. There is no true freedom if one doesn’t have the right to believe in their own morals and ideals. Though, a seemingly more oppressive regime takes over after the Islamic Revolution.

A culture shift is also seen through the movie and the shift from the Shah’s regime to the Islamic Republic. Underneath the Shah’s regime, the viewers see the women in Marjane’s life, including Marjane herself, dressed in Western style clothing. In fact, Reza Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s father) desired for his people to dress like the West and subsequently banned women from wearing the veil (Angrist 257). His son later got rid of his father’s law against the veil. Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, women didn’t abide by a strict dress code. However, the Islamic Republic required women to wear the veil and dress in a way that differed from the West. Unlike the Shah – who believed that women dressing like the West would modernize the country, the Islamic Republic believed that they were rescuing women from the corruption of the West (Angrist 274). Under the Islamic Republic, women were not given the freedom they had before. The republic made women conform to gender roles, viewing women as simply mothers, daughters, and wives – not as independent individuals (Angrist 274). The republic believed that this suppression was putting them their true place. In the film, the viewers see that the main characters don’t quite view the veil or republic as being ‘liberating’. Marjane’s grandmother at one point tells Marjane to take her veil off, because it was making her feel ‘claustrophobic’. In another scene, Marjane removes the veil while she driving with her friends in an act of rebellion. However, in the setting of Marjane’s school, the teachers support the veil and dress code, because they believe that women need to be saved from the man glance and remain pure. These contrasts show the significance the veil does and does not have to people. The concept of mandatory veiling has been perceived differently throughout society in both the sense of oppression and liberation (Angrist 275). To some, it represents a life of purity and modesty; others see it as a restrictive tools being used against them. It shows how the government wanted to create the image of a perfect Iranian woman, differing from if she was Islamic or Western.

The film shows its viewers how the West both influences and interferes with Iran. Prior to the Islamic Republic, the Shah and monarchy ruled over Iran. In the movie, Marjane is told that the West wanted oil and in therefore vowed to make Reza Khan king if he aided them. Khan made sure the wants of the United States were maintained in getting oil (Angrist 258). Specifically, he got “economic and military assistance and political patronage from the United States,” (Angrist 258). It is the fault of the West that he came into power. They meddled with a foreign situation and didn’t account for the potential consequences. Furthermore, during the Iran-Iraq War, they supplied weapons to both Iran and Iraq, which only exacerbated the conflict. This shows that sometimes countries would be far better off without the interference from foreign nations. Many issues in the film might not have come about if it wasn’t for the West’s involvement.

Though, one can argue that the West represents rebellion for the Iranian people. Because of the disdain for the West, dressing in Western attire and even listening to Western music are outlawed by the Islamic Republic. There is a scene in the movie where Marjane asks her mom for money so that she can buy an Iron Maiden album on the black market. Marjane dress in a jean jacket (which is over her traditional clothes) and Nike tennis shoes, which in turns angers two older women who want to turn her in for her ‘punk’ appearance. Marjane and other Iranians attempt to exercise some form of freedom by adapting culture from the West. Typically, the Western states are more democratic than the ones in the Middle East. So, it would make sense as to why Western music and culture is a way to rebel against the strict authoritarian government.

One can see how the concept of religion plays a role throughout Persepolis. It’s not only something can be fundamentalist, but also a learning tool. As a child, Marjane believes that she is a prophet who talks directly to God. The majority of Iranians are Shi’ite Muslims, with Iran operating as a religious state (Dr. Nadi). It makes sense that religion would be at the heart of many people’s lives. However, it’s very interesting the relationship that Marjane has with the God ‘figure’. Around three conversations are depicted in the film: one about Ramine and his father’s actions, second about Uncle Anoush’s death, and the third after Marjane has overdosed. From these conversations, the viewers learn some important lessons that transcend the conflicts occurring in Iran. When talking about whether or not to punish Ramine for his father’s actions, God tells Marjane that he is not to blame for his father’s actions. This drives her to not attack the boy, because she understands that other’s actions are not the fault of all. The second lesson she learns is that it is not God’s fault that her uncle was executed. Specifically, God tells her that it’s men’s doing – not his. This tells us that the wars being fought are not of a divine doing, but of a mundane one. The final lesson Marjane learns is that everyone has a time to die. After trying to commit suicide, she realizes that she can’t die because of this. So, even though, Marjane turns away from her faith after the death of Anoush, it ends up being faith/religion that saves her and forces her to turn her life around. Religion is something that should be used to do good in the world, not to oppress and go to war with others.

The final concept to discuss is that of a better life abroad. Marjane is sent to Vienna, because her parents believe that in doing so she’ll be free. However, in Vienna exists prejudice and stereotypes about Iranians. This is manifested in the nuns she’s staying with and the girls she encounters at a restaurant. In fact, when talking with a man at a club, Marjane denies being Iranian – saying instead that she’s French. She recognizes that it’s easier for her to be accepted this way. It is even mentioned in the film that there isn’t much job opportunities for Iranians aboard, because despite being educated they will work as maids and taxi drivers. People are seemingly stuck in Iran, because they won’t find much economic opportunities aboard. The idea of a happy life outside of Iran seems to be one of a fantasy.

Hidden within the revolution and war is Marjane’s coming of age. Due to events outside of her control, her life and person is formed and molded. She watches as friends and family are executed and killed during air strikes. Marjane has to carry this with her throughout the entirety of her life. She will never not be affected by the events she witnessed in her childhood. However, it’s important for her to never forget them, because it is up to the people who witnessed such atrocities to be the change they want to see in the world. One needs to take the bad things in their lives and use those experiences to make the world a better place.