Persepolis

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Persepolis by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi includes many symbols and images that make an overall statement about the condition of the world during the later part of the 20th century. In the film, protagonist, Marjane struggles to strictly follow the restrictions and limitations set by Iran and enforced by the Religious Police. It is evident throughout the movie, that Marjane’s surroundings affect her and the way she interacts others. Overall, through the use of selective lighting and symbols Paronnaud and Satrapi highlight the problems of Iran to make a statement about the severity of tensions amongst Iranians as well as how women are required to respond to such tensions. Lighting plays a key role in how the citizens of Iran are …show more content…

The hijab is one of the most prominent symbols in the film Persepolis, it is worn by all the women in Iran,the women in Marjane’s family typically only wear it out in public. The hijab in this film seems to represent freedom. For Marjane, she is judged based on how fitting the scarf is on her. For example, when she was caught purchasing contraband music, one of the women said to her “fix your scarf you slut!” This statement shows that not wearing the hijab in a certain way could also make a woman look promiscuous. Oddly enough, when Marjane portrays her experiences in France, the audience can see that she is longer wearing an hijab, in fact it is illegal. It is very interesting how something required in Iran is banned in France. Including this detail helps engender the idea that Iran is unfair with their strict guidelines concerning the attire of women. Not only was Marjane persecuted for the fitting of her hijab on this occasion, she was also antagonized for her “punk shoes and punk jacket”, of course Marjane not being dressed in her full abaya was quite odd, but even as a young girl the decision not to wear it made her appear immortal to the outside world. The use of the hijab and abaya as symbols in Persepolis help display the difficulty women of Iran faced when trying to overcome to

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