Persepolis depicts author Marjane Satrapi's experience growing up during the Iranian Revolution. Satrapi's goal in writing Persepolis was to show a different side of Iran than the one portrayed in the media during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Adults become jaded and biased after years of conflicting opinions and news stories. To get past the negative image that has plagued Iran for so long, the story was presented through the viewpoint of someone innocent and open-minded. Satrapi chose to narrate this story through the eyes of her younger self, as well as combining several childlike elements to create the story of Persepolis. Why does Satrapi use childlike imagery and techniques, and how does its use help shed a more positive light on Iran and its people?
At first glance, the graphic novel style of Persepolis adds to the childlike atmosphere. The drawings are obviously not done by a child, but they are simple and sketchy. In an interview, Marjane Satrapi how humans are always learning through images. Children learn by watching people who are older, and therefore images are an easier way for children to understand an idea than heaps of text. A graphic novel allows for the story to be told simply, and to audiences both young and old. The pages are not cluttered with small type and massive blocks of text. Satrapi is even known for writing and illustrating children’s books, so her use of graphic novel style is inevitable and very much the way a child would present information. The illustrations throughout Persepolis are also very uninhibited in terms of facial expressions and the emotional scenes depicted. Teenagers and children are emotional, and I felt like these drawings portrayed how children are very free with their feelings. One such example is when Marji is agonizing over the unfair treatment of Mehri, the house maid. Her father informs the man she loves, that she is just a servant. Marji loves her father, but is confused as to whether he agrees with social classes or not. In the illustration, she is holding her head and has her eyes closed tightly, with her brow furrowed. She has a thought bubble on one side and a speech bubble on the other, representing the confusing clutter that results from this. You can just tell that Satrapi is confused, even if there had been no words on the page. Not only is the style of illustration reminiscent of a child, but the use of black and white is representative of a child’s nature. Everything is black and white when someone is little, because they are usually told the difference between right and wrong.
In Satrapi’s case, her parents have imparted certain views on her, but have given her room to form her own opinion about issues. Reading lots of books, such as the comic book “Dialectic Materialism,” and earning an education, a French one at that, are some ways in which Marji’s parents tried to help enlighten her. They want her to see viewpoints that differ from the propaganda that was spread at the time of the Iranian Revolution. One other way to stave off the lies was to tell Marji stories about her family, and how they were affected by the revolution. Her father told her about her grandfather who was a prince, son of the emperor who was overthrown. Most children have been told fairy tales by their parents, so Marji immediately formed a grand royal image in her head of her grandpa wearing a crown and riding an elephant. Marji’s father brought her back to reality when he told her his father hated what he was forced to represent and was sent to prison for becoming a communist. The delusions of grandeur and innocence disappear when Marji is told the truth, and she has to face what life is like outside her considerably liberal existence. Stories are a way to explain something someone does not understand, or help one mentally escape. Persepolis itself is a story, but it’s one in which the truth is shown. Therefore, it washes away the illusions about Iran being thrown at people at this time. It’s an education for the audience who was previously ignorant to the truth, just like Marji and the story of her grandfather, and just like any child being told a fairy tale.
Persepolis happens to be a story written by an adult looking back through the eyes of her younger self. Other novels have successfully used this formula to get a point across or convey a certain mood in the story. Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is written from the perspective of a ten year-old girl named Scout. The plot and characters have some basis from the author's real life and people she knew. This novel addressed racism, classism, gender roles and the loss of innocence. I remember reading the novel for the first time in my freshman honors English class, and felt like it was the first time I had seen these issues faced in literature. Scout was only four years younger than I was at the time, which made her narration easy to relate to. Having an adult narrator preach about what's right and wrong or their view point never felt as relevant to me at that age, because adults forget things. Many of the adults I knew put away optimism and open-minds and bent to the will of the media, just because it was easier. Children are prone to rebellion and following their hearts. In Persepolis, Marji rebelled by wearing tight jeans, a jean jacket, a Michael Jackson pin, and an incorrectly wrapped veil. Anyone who dares to look back to how they were as a child will see a willingness to stand up for what they thought was right. Having a child act as a narrator forces the older reader of the graphic novel to confront the fact that he or she doesn't always know everything. Children also evoke strong emotions in many adults, especially when they are seen facing situations that are difficult for even the strongest adult. When Marji heard a missile was launched on her building while she was out, I felt so terrible for her. She had to worry that her parents might have been killed, and face being all alone in a war torn country. Only the most heartless human being would be unable to feel any pain at this scenario.
Incorporating a visual style that is reminiscent of childhood pulls the reader into the book very quickly, and makes the content more simple to understand. While the use of a young narrator allows the audience to see a more innocent perspective, as well as become emotionally tied to this story. These childlike techniques help the audience to see what was really happening to the people of Iran during the Iranian Revolution, because children tell it like it is. Young Marjane Satrapi had not yet been molded into a closed-minded and jaded adult at the time, and therefore presented nothing but complete honesty.
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trends in food, jumping on the bandwagon, going with the status quo. it is good to make your own diet. you give in to bad foods because other people want you to. it’s a social thing to eat. veg, organic. your food does not have to dictate style of dress or the way you act. which trendy diet is healthier? are any of them healthy? what about flexitarianism? does an unhealthy diet have anything to do with your class or what your are stereotyped as? Living in Oregon, the hippie state, how does this affect diet? peer pressure it should be about health, not trends. mountain dew is hip, vegans, vegs hating people with other diets, status because of diet just like social class.
Fashion constantly produces trends and ideals. “Pink is the new black,” or skinny jeans are much more hip than boot cut jeans. Something most people don’t consider is that food and eating habits have bred fads similar to those found in the fashion world. Vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian and flexitarian are among the trendiest diets found in America. The very practice of nutritionism is a craze itself. Alarmingly enough, these vogue diets seem to go hand-in-hand with the ideals of the fashion world. Has the importance of food shifted from nutrition to developing designer brands and making money?
Much like fashion has replaced the simple term jeans with skinny, low-rise, straight-leg, foods have been replaced with similarly confusing words. According to an article by Michael Pollan, “Where once the familiar names of recognizable comestibles - things like eggs or breakfast cereal or cookies - claimed pride of place on the brightly colored packages crowding the aisles, now new terms like ‘fiber’ and ‘cholesterol’ and ‘saturated fat’ rose to large-type prominence.” (“Unhappy Meals” pg 1; par. 6)
Not only are these nutrient names confusing to the average American, but they detract from the importance of foods as a whole. People began focusing on these separate parts of a food, believing that health would improve if more or less were added to certain foods. In the 1980s, “the food industry set about re-engineering thousands of popular food products to contain more of the nutrients that science and government had deemed the good ones and less of the bad.” (“Unhappy Meals” pg 3; par. 2)
In 1988, this “good” nutrients mentality reached a new level, or as Pollan calls it, “The Year of Eating Oat Bran.” Oat Bran was combined and included in every food scientists could possibly fit it into. This is where the idea of food and nutrition as a fad came into play.
Nowadays, breakfast cereals are being called heart healthy, multi-grain, and contain oodles of fiber. However, it’s not just the foods themselves causing Americans to obsess. Diets, both every day meal plans and those meant to aid weight loss, have become all the rage. The Atkins diet is an example of a diet mentioned in Pollan’s article. “when the Atkins mania hit the food industry, bread and pasta were given a quick redesign (dialing back the carbs; boosting the protein), while the poor unreconstructed potatoes were left out in the cold.” (“Unhappy Meals” pg 3; par. 3) The foods that were less complicated and could not be genetically altered were all but forgotten when scientists discovered the effects of carbohydrates and proteins. It’s much easier to advertise supposed health claims on a bright shiny box of fruit snacks or cereal. The food industry and those behind the Atkins diet made, and still make much more money off boxed junk. This is proof that food is more about trends and profit than the health and well-being it provides consumers.
As I mentioned before, every day diets not associated with weight loss have also become fashionable. Not every individual chooses his or her actions or what to buy based on peer pressure. However, a majority of people usually conform so as to cause less hassle. Going vegan or vegetarian seems to happen more often these days. There are of course medical claims that not eating meat altogether and cutting out dairy is healthier for you. However, most vegans and vegetarians would probably tell you that the decision to choose the diet was to support his or her belief against eating living creatures. However noble a cause this may be to the individual, the nutrition is usually not the top priority. Special vegan and vegetarian food brands, restaurants, and cookbooks cash in on this need to save baby animals. Not only does a veg lifestyle guarantee some sweet niche marketing, but it’s a social statement as well. Those living this lifestyle tend to be more political in other aspects and seem like a stereotypical hippie or someone who is very “green.” Being green is ultra-hip right now. As is being a vegan.
On the flipside, being a heavy meat eater may be more about fitting in as well. Most men who want to appear manly are all about the huge steaks and huntin’ trips. Especially if that man is the type who desperately wants to belong to a group that most people see as “rednecks.” I attended high school with a group of boys who prided themselves on their frequent hunting trips and hating anyone with a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. These boys also wore similar camouflage gear, work boots, and flew confederate flags.
Fashion and food are similar in their ability to create diverse markets for companies to profit from. They bring people together to form groups in which similar lifestyles can flourish. Both encourage socializing. However, in the same way that the world of couture has lead to eating disorders, designer foods have led to diabetes. Each industry has the power to be a tool for help as well as harm, and it seems that harm has won out over health and well-being.
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