Expects Of The Islamic Culture In Persepolis By Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is the True Story of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood and early adult years, growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. It depicts the Muslim experience through the eyes of a young girl, and allows the viewer to experience first hand, the cultural hardships and occurrences that are often overlooked by mainstream media. Marjane’s struggle between religion and her surrounding culture is one of the most poignant areas of the film, and the most relevant to our study of the Islamic culture as a whole.

Persepolis starts in 1970s Iran following Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi as she watched events through her young eyes of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. As Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life. However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments about her faith and the culture she was brought up in, and that deeply troubles her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and her homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs, and that place is unfortunately not Iran.

I believe one of the most important aspects of Persepolis, and what this film depicts most accurately, is the Iranian Muslim experience. Persepolis focuses mostly on the political factors of the turbulent times after the overthrow of the Shah, the film tends to focus less on any type of religious experience ...

... middle of paper ...

...and an emotionally turbulent young adulthood surrounding the Islamic reform of a country, and the struggle to find ones place between the faith they are born into, and the knowledge they have come to know and love. Marjane Satrapi’s story depicts the Muslim experience through the eyes of a young girl, and allows the viewer to experience first hand, the cultural hardships and struggle overlooked by mainstream media when it only focus on the fundamentalist side of a recently controversial sect of religion. Marjane’s struggle between religion and her surrounding culture is important to the Islamic faith as a whole, and the study of Muslims by outsiders, because it is a first hand account of a world one can only experience through books, films, and most importantly, the voice of the people, even if they are young, rebellious, and most importantly very inspiring, girls.