At the beginning of the new year in 2020, US President Trump suddenly ordered the targeted removal of Qassem Soleimani, the general of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. For a time, the voice of Iran's revenge was everywhere, and the relationship between the United States and Iran was on the verge of breaking out. Iran once again stood on the cusp of the international political arena.
One can't help but wonder: Iran, why did it come to this? Where will it go? Persepolis tries to find answers from the perspective of an Iranian girl.
In the 1920s, Reza, a Cossack officer from a poor background, established the Pahlavi dynasty with the support of the United Kingdom and became a dictatorial monarch. On the one hand, Reza worked hard to learn from Western powers and promote the modernization process; but on the other hand, due to the "original sin" of the regime's legitimacy, Reza carried out bloody suppression of opponents (including churches and left-wing forces). After World War II, Reza's son Pahlavi also succeeded to the throne under the support of the United Kingdom and the United States, but like all "Seconds", he was arrogant and lacking in talent and strategy. He carried out drastic economic reforms, but then economic development was out of control and inflation was serious , which eventually led to a large-scale "Down with Reza" anti-king movement.
This history is the backdrop for the film's beginnings and is told to Marjane in the film by Marjane's father and uncle. Marjane went from a little girl who was brainwashed in school "likes Reza because of the divine right" to a little "angry youth" who shouted "Down with Reza" every day.
Dictators and modernization reforms are doomed to be incompatible with each other, as the Pahlavi dynasty is an example. In order to clear the "original sin" of the legitimacy of the regime, the dictator hopes to gain popular support through economic reform and modernization, in order to strengthen political rule. However, the people will gradually become enlightened in the process of modernization, realize the fatal flaws of dictatorship, and pursue equality and freedom. Although a temporary economic dividend can make the people silent for a while, once social problems exceed the tolerance of the people, the people will The long-standing backlog of anger and dissatisfaction will be vented through revolutionary means. This was the hotbed of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
In 1979, the "Islamic Revolution" ended the Pahlavi dynasty, and 99% of Iranians voted to establish the Islamic Republic. As said in the movie, more than half of the people in Iran were illiterate at that time, and only nationalism and religion could call on the people. Khomeini, the leader of the Shiite sect of Iran, seized the real power of the government in one fell swoop, and since then he has built Iran into a country with the integration of politics and religion, and has fully Islamized Iran.
At the beginning of the film, Marjane, mom, and grandmother are still living in a more female-friendly environment: women don't have to wear headscarves, they can dress as fashionably as other secular nations, love freely, and have the right to vote. However, after the Islamic Revolution, women must wear black veils and robes, smoking and drinking are prohibited, and all Western books and movies are prohibited. In the film, Marjane's mother is treated rudely by others because the hijab doesn't fully cover her hair. Ironically, women's freedom under the Pahlavi dictator was completely lost after the Islamic Revolution.
In 1980, the Iran-Iraq war broke out. The Shiite leader Ayatollah Khomeini hopes to export religious values to Iraq, where there are many Shiites, while Hussein Saddam, the Iraqi ruler of the Sunni faction, is also coveting Iran, where the regime is not yet stable. The Iran-Iraq war lasted for eight years, and the people of both countries were devastated. Prosperity, the people suffer; death, the people suffer.
Marjane's parents sent Marjane abroad during the turmoil of the war, but Marjane lost herself in a foreign country. In a volatile environment like Iran's, it's hard to blame a girl for losing her sense of identity. At first the school taught Marjane to love King Reza, but it turned out that he was just a murderous dictator; the revolutionaries finally overthrew the dictatorship and established a new regime at their own risk, only to find out that it was a more repressive religious rule; foreign Little is known about Iran, and the talk of the tiger is so venomous that even Marjane cannot proudly admit that he is Iranian. Iran is in this situation, but where is it going?
Marjane's grandmother said: "In your life, you will meet a lot of villains and it would be foolish to be driven into a corner by them. Fighting them back with a straight spine is the best way to deal with them. There is nothing scarier than weakness. Always maintain self-esteem and be true to yourself.
If every ordinary person can do what Grandma Marjane said, instead of holding high the banner of teachings and doctrines and trying to achieve great things, perhaps the future of the Iranian people can still be expected.
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