Idealism is the first form or iteration of coercion. Why is it that the intellectuals are always the first to be purged after a revolution? Because intellectualism invites questions, questions raise skepticism, and skepticism pierces the fragile skin of over-blown ideals releasing the hot air and bringing the whole enterprise crashing down to earth. Close inspection of the remains of a failed ideal reveals the impossibility of its mechanics for practical purposes.
Coercive idealism is beautiful in its stealth; a devil in angles vestment. The halo shines so brightly that the horns are hidden in the beam of its rays. Thus garbed the messenger can deliver his directive without suspicion of coercion. Indeed, the subjects are all too willing to act bringing into question whether a coercion is taking place at all. So the question arises: when the victim has a hand in his own tragedy through a willful suspension of skepticism, who bears responsibility, the dupe or the duper?
Persepolis brings this question to the fore as it presents to us a nation of a willing many swept up in the fervor for change, all too eager to buy into the rhetoric of an idealist and ideologue, suspending reason for hope. When oppression is ripe and revolution is in the air it is all too easy to be lead astray by the beauty of words, and the power of words, and one can lose ones sense of practical reason. Marjane’s father exemplifies this when he dismisses the possibility of a repressive theocratic regime in the face of rhetoric that leads to that logical conclusion. Instead, lulled by his Marxist belief in the good of revolution, and the zeitgeist of the moment he erroneously concludes that all will work out well for Iran and Iranian freedom.
Hindsight has shown that the Iran so many wanted and wished for during the revolution was not realized. One yoke of oppression was thrown over at the service of a new oppressor. Whether the new oppressor is better or worse than the old one is up for debate. But, what is not debatable is that as we inspect the remains of the Iranian revolutionary apparatus, the ideals and hopes of people like the Satrapis were never realized.
Oh History, are we forever doomed to ignore your lessons?
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What kept coming back to me while I read your absolutely gorgeous blog was the issue of racism in America as well. We are taught that the Civil Rights movement was a revolution that changed this country - yes, it did, but sadly the issues that persisted then still persist now - its the forms and vehicles of oppression that have changed, not the systemic racism itself. And how DO you alter a status quo? I think the recent political example needs no explanation in this context - how America was so emotionally distraught by the events of 2001 that even the legislators failed to actually read The Patriot Act before signing it into existence... (I hope that reads as it sounds in my head!)
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