Persepolis

After viewing the film, I had a mixed reaction. I thought that the film provided an alternative look into the lives led by women in Afghanistan. Also, I thought that being able to view the lifespan and transition of Persepolis from a young girl to a women was very interesting. Not only did the transition encompass the fall of the Shah (1979), but also her life living under the Islamic extremist rule. Even as a young girl, it is clear that Marji recognizes that even after the fall of the Shah, the country is run under the most opressive of conditions. One scene in particular I though was extremely grasping was when Marji and her family were stopped at a roadblock while attending a secret party. The images of the young soldier ordering Marji's father around and then her mother stepping in was very interesting. At first, the soldier regarded Marji's family as nothing but law-breakers, but when her mother made the comment of how he could be her own son, the enforcer seemed to show some compassion and less resistance to the family. Under the same conditions, the market scene was by far the most disheartening. Marji and her mother run into a man who demands that they pay him respect by veiling themselves. When Marjis mother asks for the same in return the man replies with "Respect? i rape women like you and throw them in the trash". The look of shock and hurt in the two female characters faces touched a nerve with me, as I cannot imagine being threatened with such a statement. Growing up in a more modernized family, in terms of values and traditions, it was inevitable that Marji would begin to have feelings of repent towards the extremist in the government. Also an outspoken individual, Marji's parents arranged for her to travel abroad to Vienna. It was here that Marji reached her lowest point. Yet, I thought that it was important to include this scene, as it shows another changing chapter in her life- as even when she returns back to home country, she finds nothing but change, but in the form of destruction, destruction in the country, and in herself.