Marxism, Interpellation, and Ideology in Persepolis

Persepolis is an animated French film, which follows the life of Marjane Satrapi, from her childhood before, and during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and into adulthood. It recounts, from her perspective, her struggles coping with the new political and ideological system after Iran becomes an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini and how she adapts to life in Vienna after her parents send her away to protect her from herself and the authorities. The film is particularly suited to Marxist analysis because it is within its historical context and through the idea of interpellation that the ideological messages of the film can be best understood. 

Interpellation is the idea that “an individual’s identity is forged by society, but that same individual is also complicit in that creation” (Gray 2010:51). Given the context of ideological revolution in which the events of the film occur, it becomes clear that people’s identities were not formed cohesively by one state ideology and this is the basis for the film’s message. 

Marjane herself, grew up in a liberal household and was influenced by her parents, who believed in progress; her uncle Anoush, who was a Marxist; by her time at the French school in Tehran; and her time in university in Vienna. She reveled in the freedom afforded her by her parents beliefs and the beliefs of her Western education, so she was not quick to accept the new ideology presented her by the Ayatollah, even at a young age. Her identity was forged and set in stone not by the new regime, but by the relatively liberal and progressive beliefs of the old one. Also the revolutionary atmosphere of the people forged her identity. She was complicit in accepting the revolution, but never moved on from it to the Ayatollah’s belief system. Audiences are meant to identify with Marjane, and thus with her struggles with and disapproval of the Islamic Republic. The result is a critique of the new ideology, and the people who mindlessly accept it without question. 

 

A still image from the film Persepolis. 

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For people like Marjane’s teacher and a gardener turned powerful hospital administrator, when presented with the Ayatollah’s rules and vision for Iran, they readily accepted it. In the case of the teacher, Marjane sees her as a mindless follower; one day she is adamantly teaching a Shah approved curriculum of modernization, and the instant the Ayatollah takes control she begins worshipping him in class and teaching how women should be modest and not lead men to temptation. In other words she completely succumbs to the new ideology, simply because it is the new ideology, with no regard for her personal beliefs. Through her teaching she also passes on Iran’s new ideology to her students. This convinces many of Marjane’s classmates, but not Marjane. The motivations for the gardener are associated in large part with the socio-economic benefits it brings him. He goes from being an uneducated servant, to being promoted to a high level public official position, simply because he practices orthodox Islam. For the teacher as well, keeping her job might have been a major motivation for her ready acceptance. However, he also abuses his power and will not allow Marjane’s uncle to be transported out of the country for life-saving surgery, citing as his reason that only the gravely ill can receive overseas treatment. The result is that Marjane’s uncle dies. 

These two examples demonstrate the process of interpolation, showing how and why people embraced the new ideology, and how it was replicated and passed on. They are also key to elucidating the position that the state’s ideology is not a good one. First, by bringing into the foreground the processes of interpolation and state-ideology-forming, as they relate to the weak teacher and greedy gardener, and placing them in opposition to Marjane’s strength and conviction in her beliefs, the Iranian government is portrayed as coercive and immoral. The film does not advocate adoption of a specific ideology for Iran per say, but the criticism people blindly following the government, as well as the criticism of a friend of Marjane’s in Vienna, who disregards politics and sees it as frivolous, subtly sends the message that people need to actively choose their political Ideology and social system, not blindly follow someone on the basis of religion, greed or adoration alone.   

  

Works Cited

Gray, Gordon

   2010 Film Theory. In Cinema: A Visual Anthropology, Pp.35-73. Oxford, New York: Berg.

           

Paronnaud, Jason and Marjane Satrapi

            2007 Persepolis.