Power and the Veil
“Persepolis� deals with many different power struggles, one of which is the veil. The main women in the film fight against the veil; they find it oppressive. The scene where Marji goes to buy illegal music demonstrates this. Outside her house, she must wear the veil, and the older women accost her for not wearing the proper outfit. Once she gets home, however, Marji removes the veil and jams out to the music in her room while her mother looks on indulgently.
This inside/outside power struggle mirrors that of the rest of Iran at this time. Khomeini cannot control events happening outside of the country (the war with Iraq), but he can control events happening inside the country (requiring women to wear veils, executing political prisoners).
Marji and her family follow the same principle: they cannot control what happens outside of the home (attacks, forced wearing of the veil), but they can control what happens inside the home (no wearing the veil).
Since the film focuses on the power struggles involving the veil, it fails to point out that, as the readings and the first YouTube video show, women choose to wear the veil to represent different things: wealth (or lack thereof), piousness, modesty, etc. This film only points out one reason: it’s mandatory. Since this film is about identity and finding yourself amid the chaos, I understand why people are upset that she didn’t show more sides to the veil issue. However, this film shows her life and the women who influenced her, and therefore I don’t feel she’s obligated to go into more detail.