Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Persepolis... A hint of what's to come

Marjane tells of when she starts having trouble with Dr. Heller, and her new boyfriend Enrique. One day he invited her to a party, she didn’t expect to have a good time. While at the party she met Enrique's friend Ingrid. The morning after the party, she wakes up and Enrique was lying there. She immediately jumps to the conclusion that he is in love with Ingrid. Later that day Enrique tells Marjane that he is gay. Marjane feels confused and has a long talk with her physics teacher. At this point she is really trying to place herself and decide whether or not she should take her personal relationships further with men, and ultimately decides to do so. After failing horribly with the boys she likes, she starts getting deeper into drugs. When at first it was something she was totally against. A little while later she meets Markus and falls in love with him. Marjane gets some drugs for Markus, and gains a reputation as a drug dealer. When this change comes about its not a real big surprise to me. She has been whimsically following whatever is popular at the time throughout her whole life and finally this is the path that leads to her demise.

2 comments:

  1. I assume this was from the book, because I do not remember a lot of this from the movie. While it did show Marjane using drugs, the movie did not go so far as to hint how she acquired a reputation as a drug dealer. I remember one thing she said was even though she had lived through war, it was boy trouble that would be her downfall. I guess this just goes to show that she is still a human being. Despite many ordeals, she still retains her emotions. Even though she falls into depression after she moves back to Iran, she never completely calluses over. She does consider never falling in love again, but her human emotions take over.

    One thing I wondered about while watching the film was what percentage of youth in Iran at that time became so rebellious? In class, we discussed how some of her habits (like smoking) were not only a way of rebelling against her parents but also against the government. Maybe the strictness of the government sometimes actually encouraged people to be less conservative?

    In the book, Marjane does admit that her mom is uncommonly lax compared to other parents. I was sometimes surprised her dad would go along with this. It is clear that the relationship between Marjane's parents is not traditional. Their marriage can actually be seen as a form of rebellion. Rather than the husband being dominant, he really seems to be at equals with his life, definitely a more modern model for marriage. I am sure this too is an influence on Marjane's rebellious nature but also perhaps why she does not give up on love.

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  2. To address the drug dealer issue.

    The book eluded to her being a drug dealer because of how easily she was able to procure them from the boyfriend she was flying with in the VW ...((movie scene))... While they tripped on drugs... slight foreshadowing.

    I definitely agree with you when you state that her parents are an inspiration to continue to search for love. Their marriage definitely has signs of a modern day male/female relationship. But, in all of her run-ins with men throughout her exploration away from home she was not at all like her mother or even her grandmother. Even though she retained all that rebellious veracity from her defiant revolutionary mentors, she resolved to such a weak demeanor after being heartbroken by a boy. And that was the ONE thing her Grandmother advised her of prior to departure for school.

    I do understand that the book itself is a story of her growth as a person. I also see that it is an attempt to gain acknowledgment as human/equal as well. She successfully ties our attention to the fact that she is growing. By the use of simple artistic diagrams she pulls this off. It was definitely a new way to introduce the life of an individual through literature accompanied with animation. But, it lacked that personal connection that I yearn for from a serious narrative about real life situations. The animations kept me from really connecting with the writer. Although she possesses a true talent, its not one that I am particularly fond of.

    But, all in all, it was a good read. Very creative and insightful.

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