Comparative Essay: Argo and Persepolis

Who is Telling the Story?

Introduction

The Islamic Revolution occurred in full blast in 1979. Iran still holds strict censorship policies, which limit the people of Iran to express themselves freely whether it be music, name brand materials, movies, drinking alcohol with the opposite sex, make-up, etc. While the continued censorship is present in Iran today, two stories occurred directly in the middle of the Islamic Revolution and their stories live on.

Protesters around Shahyad Tower Tehran, 1979

Persepolis, first a graphic novel, was later produced into an animated biographical film. The story follows author and director, Marjane Satrapi, through her young childhood years into her life as an adult during the Islamic Revolution. This movie has been translated into three languages, but the original was done in French.

The second story is Argo. This thriller drama film from 2010 is directed by Ben Affleck. The movie is based off a true story of a CIA mission named Canadian Caper. This real mission, transformed into a film of the Islamic Revolution hostage situation at the United States embassy in Iran, closely follows a familiar situation that happened during this time in history.

The purpose of comparing these two films set during the Islamic revolution of 1979 is examining who is telling the story, and how the story changes based off the storyteller’s point of view.

We will explore the similarities and differences between an Iranian born Islamic female Marjane Satrapi and American Ben Affleck/former CIA agent Tony Mendez. Interviews, scholarly journals, and examination of filming techniques will assist in finding the similarities and differences between the two.

Persepolis

Scene from Persepolis: Police questioning Marjane

Persepolis is narrated from the standpoint of a Marxist-raised upper class Iranian female. Marjane Satrapi and her “leftist parents: their protest against the Shah” (Chute,2008) feared walking the streets of Tehran frightened by the Muslim fundamentalist who took power during the Islamic Revolution.

Marjane grew up witnessing firsthand family members being murdered, “havoc wreaked by the Iran-Iraq war,” (Elahi, 2007) and became more class conscious. The arrest and execution of her Uncle Anoosh was the final straw which led her to act out in class and get in trouble with the police by breaking modesty laws. 

Marjane began going to school abroad at age 14 and completed her remaining grade school years, college, and early adulthood outside the country of Iran. Marjane avoided talking about her nationality and religion at all costs. To new friends she would say, “I am French, born and raised in Paris.” Marjane felt the need for this because of how the rest of the world views Iran and Iraqi people in the 1980’s and still today.

In an interview with Bitch magazine Satrapi encourages non-Iranians, “the 70 million people [of Iran] are human beings, they are not an abstract notion. They are individuals with life, love, hopes. Their life is worth the life of anybody else in the world.” (Elahi, 2007). Satrapi attempts to teach people through her graphic narrative and biographical animated film the frameworks of acceptance with the use of “pictorial framing of the comic art panel.” (Framing and Mirrors, 2007).

In Persepolis, the audience sees Marjane as a normal teenage girl who loves punk rock, Kim Wilde, and Bruce Lee. Elahi, author of Frames and Mirrors, believes the purpose of showing Marjane’s infatuation with western pop culture is to not only “piece together a divided identity,” but to bring forward the contrasting sides Marjane had to live with growing up during this time in Iran.

In the single frame below Marjane is pictured in her hijab with a Persian artworks in the backdrop, split down the middle of Marjane free of the hijab surrounded by tools and gears. This technique Marjane used throughout her film is to assist her audience in understanding the competing states of her life.

 Image from graphic novel, was also shown in animated film

“Persepolis may show trauma as (unfortunately) ordinary, it rejects the idea that it is (or should ever be) normal, suggesting everywhere that the ethical, verbal, and visual practice of "not forgetting" is not merely about exposing and challenging the virulent machinations of "official histories," but is more specifically about examining and bearing witness to the intertwining of the everyday and the historical.” (Chute, 2008)

Other Iranian Graphic Novelists

Graphic novels in the Middle East have become more popular since the release of Persepolis. Of the few graphic novels published out of the Middle East, the majority were written by “exiled Iranians and Iranian Americans.” (Lazreg and Reyns-Chikuma, 2017) Though these stories are a part of an underground movement in Iran, i.e. the black market, Iranian authors have successfully told their story.

Nylon Road

Nylon Road, created by female Iranian artist Parsua Bashi in 2008, relates most to Persepolis for various similarities portrayed throughout. 

For example, this graphic novel “tells the story of a young girl who traveled to Europe (in this case, to Switzerland) after the Iranian Islamic Revolution.” (Lazreg and Reyns-Chikuma, 2017) The story goes through Parsua’s struggles as a mistreated wife and a new migrant of Switzerland.

Nylon Road takes place in the adulthood of Parsua. A technique Parsua used for her novel is to “represents a younger version of herself coming back to haunt the older one who now has different opinions about life, and both are comparing the problems one encounters.” (Lazreg and Reyns-Chikuma, 2017) Parsua uses variations of grays and browns so the audience can differentiate between the past and present.

The importance of comparing Persepolis and Nylon Road accurately proves Marjane’s experiences in Iran which have been said to be faulty facts by Iranian officials. As well as, similarities among the technique used for both graphic novel/film authors, with the use of little to no color, corresponding storylines, and transnational characteristics of Iranian authors being published in different languages other than their own.

Argo

The story of Argo was told from the standpoint of a white male CIA agent entering the country of Iran in the middle of the Islamic Revolution for an undercover mission. The opening scene of this movie begins with a group of Iran/Iraqi protesters swaying a flaming American flag outside of the American embassy.

Having the movie begin in such a fashion automatically gives the audience an idea on what type of person is telling this story. Social scientists Alex Mintz and Steven B. Redd affirm that “political leaders set foreign policy agendas through various forms of framing including thematic and sequential framing.” (Elahi, 2007) 

For example, George W. Bush’s frames Syria, Iran, and Korea as “the axis of evil.” This framing technique is used to enhance policy making decisions and gain patriotism.

 Political Cartoon by anonymous illustrator

Within the first five minutes the audience sees the people of Iraq and Iran as mad people in the wrong, and with that initial image of these people, Ben Affleck sets the stage for how the audience should view the people of Iraq and Iran.

In an interview with director of Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant, Affleck explains how he wishes he could have traveled to Iran to see the country in person but the studio said, “it was a bad idea… whenever people go there (Iran) they always end up being followed by secret service agents.” (Ben AFFLECK, 2012)

With this movie being released in 2012, during the United States and Iraq war, Americans already had their stereotype of Iran/Iraq people figured out. The story of Argo seems so far-fetched; CIA agent and U.S. emissary hostages posing as Canadian film crew exploring locations for a fake epic sci-fi movie. The fact that it is a true story brings light to so many questions unanswered within the film.

 Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez pitching mission to CIA board

With Argo being Ben Affleck’s first period piece, he became captivated by the objective of submerging his audience into the 1970’s. Affleck spent much of his time researching movies from this era including All the President’s Men (1976) and The Killing of Chinese Bookie (1976) to mimic directors filming techniques, including blown up shots to enhance graininess. 

Along with analyzing other films, Affleck wanted to “ensure maximum historical accuracy” by working with the actual CIA spy who completed the real-life Argo mission (Canadian Caper), Tony Mendez. (Stein, 2012)

Ben Affleck in Time Inc. interview with Joel Stein states, “I wouldn’t be able to control the perception of me somehow endorsing some part of their government.”

In an interview, Ben Affleck and Tony Mendez both go into detail about the feature film. “The events in Argo weren’t the first time. I was working with them (Hollywood) routinely,” Mendez says. The completed mission of Argo was just one short chapter of Mendez’s entire spy career. (Nashawaty, 2012)

Pictured: CIA agent Tony Mendez and Director/Actor Ben Affleck

People may question how accurate Ben Affleck’s movie may be, since it is not categorized as a documentary. Mendez states, “I didn’t think he needed to change a thing.” (Nashawaty, 2012)

Differences Between Persepolis and Argo

Both films Persepolis and Argo took place at the exact same time within the same region of the world. What makes them so different?

Persepolis is a black and white animated film. The specific purpose for the film being told in black and white animation was to prove that the people in the movie put in these different scenarios could be from any country, not solely from Iran. Color of skin, or minuscule physical features could not be depicted to prove that characters were a certain race. “It can be anywhere and it can be anybody.” (Davies, 2008)

Persepolis, being told from a female perspective, reveals some situations to be more lighthearted than if it was told from a male’s point of view. For example, in multiple scenes Marjane goes into great emotion about relationships with boys. As well as, Marjane’s description of her “grotesque mutations” (Davies, 2008) during puberty. Yes, this is an autobiography and part of her story, but most would agree these scenes do not add to the plot of the movie.

Persepolis was first released in French in 2007, then translated into English, Persian, German, and Italian. This clearly show Marjane’s direction on who she wanted to appreciate and learn about her film, everyone.

Argo is a biographical action drama filmed in color. This movie being filmed in color gives it more life and feeling of being in the streets of Iran during the Islamic revolution. Color is necessary to depict who are the Americans and who are the Iranian people throughout.

Argo is told by not only a male, but an American CIA spy. The narrator makes himself clear throughout the actions of his overall mission that he will do anything no matter how implausible it may seem and add in a handful of bad-ass riot scenes to keep the audience on their toes.

 Argo has not been translated into any other languages It is only featured in English, which again clearly shows what audience Ben Affleck was reaching out to, Americans.

Both films show straightforward differences that are obvious on purpose to assist viewers in representing who is telling the story.

Similarities Between Persepolis and Argo

Both Persepolis’ and Argo’s directors threw themselves into the screening production of their films. Marjane Satrapi “inserts her literal, physical body into each frame of the film through her own physical act of repition.” (Chute, 2008) In other words, in the studio Marjane would act out emotions and scenarios for her animation artist. Ben Affleck, director and actor for Argo, explains he uses a “keep the camera rolling” technique to capture accidental emotions, “it feels real.” (Ben AFFLECK, 2012)

Marjane Satrapi and Ben Affleck both had no intention of ridiculing the historical period of the Islamic Revolution. The two simply wanted to shed light on actual events that occurred during this time. 

Marjane is retracing steps of her life, a visually appealing representation of her childhood in Iran. She loves Iran. She dedicated her Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival to the people of Iran, even though the country of Iran refuses to print her graphic novel and program her movie on television. (Chute, 2012)

Ben first read about mission Canadian Caper in Wired magazine and thought it was “sort of a couldn’t believe it was true kind of story.” (Ben AFFLECK, 2012) Which sparked more interest for the director, and he found Tony Mendez’s book, The Master of Disguise, and realized Canadian Caper was just one chapter of Tony’s CIA career. Ben believed the people of America needed to know this story and appreciate two completely different agencies (CIA and Hollywood) came together and carried out an audacious mission.

Let’s Wrap It Up

Persepolis and Argo were both box office hits, receiving enormous amounts of attention from people across the world. 

Still today, Persepolis is still not sold or streamed on televisions in Iraq and Iran because of their strict conservative laws and the governmental standpoint of Marjane’s story being inaccurate. 

Argo, though set 30 years in the past is “feels timelier than ever,” (Nashawaty, 2012) with prevailing issues with the United States and the Middle East.

The course concept of transnationalism is clearly the focal point throughout both movies. Persepolis is a melting pot of cultures all thrown into one animated feature length film. 

Marjane is Iranian, her movie was originally released in French, and her artistic technique used for her cartoon has a Persian flare. 

Argo includes two languages throughout the film, English and Farci. The movie takes place in the United States and multiple countries in the Middle East.

The importance of transnationalism in film is becoming more prevalent and viewed to unite the people of the world. Information about similar historical events told from various countering people one ups history textbooks for the sake of perspective. 

Watch Argo (2012) trailer

    

            

Watch Persepolis (2007) trailer

Works Cited

"Ben AFFLECK." Interview, vol. 42, no. 8, Oct/Nov2012, pp. 60-157. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=82717482&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Chute, Hillary. “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi's ‘Persepolis.’” Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 1/2, 2008, pp. 92–110., www.jstor.org/stable/27649737.

Davies, Jon. "A polite way of being desperate; An interview with Marjane Satrapi." CineAction, no. 75, 2008, p. 58+. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com.proxy.kennesaw.edu/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=kennesaw_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA184147634&asid=f3de64877333070a295ce62aab0c6ff0. Accessed 1 May 2017.

Elahi, Babak. “Frames and Mirrors in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis.” Symplokē, vol. 15, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 312–325., www.jstor.org/stable/40550774.

Nashawaty, Chris. "Spies Like Us." Entertainment Weekly, no. 1227, 05 Oct. 2012, pp. 52-55. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=81284060&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Reyns-Chikuma, Chris and Houssem Ben Lazreg. "Marjane Satrapi and the Graphic Novels from and about the Middle East." Arab Studies Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 1, Winter2017, pp. 758-775. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=121396501&site=eds-live&scope=site.

STEIN, JOEL. "Mr. Serious." Time, vol. 180, no. 16, 15 Oct. 2012, pp. 44-47. EBSCOhost, proxy.kennesaw.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=82400930&site=eds-live&scope=site.