| Marjane Satrapi, Keepin' It
Real
By Sarvnaz Lotfi
On Monday October 10, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., bestselling graphic novelist
Marjane Satrapi spoke to a full crowd in Finney Chapel about her latest
book, Embroideries, and her experiences in Iran before and during the
1979 Revolution. She is currently on a book tour addressing student
audiences around the United States and all over Europe. Her night’s
visit to Oberlin was no less than thrilling for anyone who heard her
speak.
I had the pleasure of spending time with. Satrapi before her speech
and at The Feve afterwards. During the hour and a half she spoke at
Finney—without having prepared any of it beforehand—she
enthralled hundreds of listeners and generated new fans.
Dressed in a Parisian style and greeting people in a quick and quirky
way, Ms. Satrapi made an intense first impression. Leaving Finney, I
overheard someone describe her as “cartoon-like.” While
that is a quaint allusion to her graphic-novelist career, it is also
somewhat true: Ms. Satrapi’s presence takes up a whole room in
a most surreal and wonderful way similar to the experience of reading
her novels.
Although her personality is easy and laid back, her understanding and
explanation of Iran since the time of the Revolution were far from careless.
For the large part, views on Iran that address the political, social,
and cultural aspect of the country fall into a dichotomy of either a
country of fine, culturally rich, and welcoming people or a country
of terrorists and dictator-loving, freedom-hating brutes. Marjane Satrapi
avoided the dichotomy, instead offering a less extreme and much more
realistic perspective on Iran. Ms. Satrapi emphasized over and over
again the distinction that must be drawn between the Iranian government
and the people who are ruled by it.
Marjane Satrapi went to art school where she studied graphic art in
Paris where she now lives with her husband. When I asked her if she
has any kids, her response was “Never!” Her work keeps her
too busy, and she loves it. Ms. Satrapi doesn’t believe she can
return to Iran any time soon due to the nature of her writing, but in
between puffs on her hundredth cigarette of the night she said what
many expatriates from Iran feel, “I will live in Paris and go
back to die in Iran. I will because it is my country.”
She is proud of her culture though she lives outside it—an indication
that political turmoil cannot oppress the freedoms, cultures, and values
implicit in people. It is this love of the land, of the culture that
may bring hope to Iran in more ways than one.
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