Comparing Persepolis And Marjane Satrapi's A Far Cry

Society has created a world where people believe that they need to act and look a certain way to be accepted and liked. The media, celebrities, and the culture someone grows up in influence how people perceive themselves. In the film Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and the poem “A Far Cry from Africa” by Derek Walcott, the characters in both must face the difficulty of finding themselves after being impacted by their surroundings.

Persepolis is an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi and her struggle to be able to find herself in every culture she is assimilated in. In the opening scene of the film, we see Marjane dressed in attire that would be as “regular clothes” in the eyes of Americans. She is in a French airport and is looking at the flight to Teheran. When the shot goes to Marjane again, we see her in the bathroom looking at herself in a mirror while

putting on a veil. With this shot established, the audience can conclude that Marjane has two different identities: an identity with the veil and an identity without it. The mirror presented reminds the audience and emphasizes the “reflection” that Marjane has concerning her “veiled” identity. [Split paragraph here?] As the scene continues, Marjane goes up to the French ticket agent’s desk where she is asked for her ticket and passport. The asking of Marjane’s passport represents the question and test towards her identity. In addition, in this part of the scene, the continuous editing that occurs plays a huge role. The shot reverse shot that transpires helps compare Marjane and the ticket agent through their different appearances. The French ticket agent is wearing the regular dress code that the airport requires her to wear, whereas Marjane is wearing her veil while at the same time using common clothes found in France. Although Marjane is wearing a veil, it is not enough to be able to continue to Teheran. This scene also highlights how the French ticket agent has been able to become aware of who she is and where she stands in society while Marjane is still on the lookout for self-awareness. She is caught between two cultures, one of which she cannot return to in Iran and one in France where she will always be categorized as the “other.”
As a child, Marjane was innocent and naïve about the world around her and therefore, could be easily influenced by the people that surrounded her and whom she cares about.

In the scene where Marjane and her mother are outside of the grocery store loading up their car, a man comes up to Marjane’s mother and tells her to put her scarf back on, and when she kept minding her own business, the man became irritated. She then responds that he should have more respect towards women which in turn, made him respond angrily, “Women like you, I fuck them against the walls!” Marjane’s witnessing of the oppression of women, specifically to a woman she cares deeply about, can be evidence of the reasons for her rebellious stage later in life. Furthermore, Marjane’s uncle told her about his story of rebelling against and running from the government which led her to become motivated to be like him. As she grew older, she began to have a mind of her own and actually started to think about what was going on around her. This is initially where she began to lose her cultural identity and where the link to westernization becomes

apparent.
Marjane decides to fight against the laws and standards that were put on her which, as a result, caused a change of dressing mannerisms, music tastes, and eventually the language she spoke in. This is when the westernization over Marjane becomes apparent. For instance, during the beginning stages of the emersion into the westernized culture, Marjane began to push herself more towards the pop culture side. She went on to buying Iron Maiden death metal as a symbol of rebellion towards Iran and a step closer to a westernized version of herself. Also, while growing up in Iran, the law of wearing a hijab and dressing moderately for women came into play when the new government came into power. As a response to this law, Marjane created a jacket with the words “PUNK IS NOT DED” on the back to show her support for the punk culture as well as to stand out. By wearing this jacket, she displays her inability to conform to the new requirement in Iran as well as her attempt to find herself in the ever-changing country. Additionally, disgusted with the lies her teacher told the class about the amount of prisoners from the time of the shah compared to the amount during the new government reign, Marjane decides to stand up and rebut against the teacher. This results in her parents realizing that Marjane’s rebellious attitude is not a fit for Iran and decide to move her to a French school in Vienna before she gets into any more trouble.
While in Vienna, Marjane made friends at her new French school who were interested in her Iranian background. At first, Marjane had a difficult time trying to adjust and trying to find out who she was while around her new friends. She attempted to convince herself that she fit in, but she remained different. She will never become fully European despite integrating herself into the European cultural values that every other European holds. Marjane’s identity is now defined by the history of Iran and will always be categorized as an “other” because of her difference in race. While in Austria, Marjane began losing more of her culture and her self-worth, because she was in a culture that was not hers. For instance, while Marjane stays with the nuns in Vienna, she deals with trying to accustom herself to the cleaning, cooking, and television programs that everyone else finds typical and entertaining. Her expressions portrayed in these scenes emphasizes the tiresomeness and detachedness she feels from the new culture she was emerged into.
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