A Night with Marjane Satrapi

On Monday, March 30th I briefly met and spoke with Marjane Satrapi who was giving a lecture at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. It was an honor to meet her and I'll discuss her lecture and then tell you about my brief encounter with her.

As the author of graphic memoirs Persepolis 1 and 2, and a very successful film, it is understandable that the music hall was filled with so many eager people; our eager eyes bouned off the decorated walls as did our voices, which hummed in anticipation.

We were eager to witness a product of Iran and eager to listen to the truth, Marjane's truth; we were eager to find out the honest-truth that only she could tell.

She was introduced by a very elegant Anahita Firouz, who is also an Iranian female writer. Anahita gave a short introduction about Marjane and included that they were actually related, they are cousins; something that I found very intriguing.
As Marjane came out, she was instantly comfortable; comfortable enough to tell the audience that she had a cold, but that she would still need a cigarette break before her book signing. As the audience bubbled with laughter, Marjane set the tone for an hour of humor and focus on the human condition. Through out Marjane's talk I tried to take a few photo's from my balcony seat, but they were too dim and blurry.

However, I was able to jot down a few of her statements:

On calling her book a graphic novel-- "I don't like for my work to be called a grahic novel. That was just something for the publisher's to put so that people knew what type of book it was."

On why she used a comic book as a medium to write her story-- "I think with images and it was an obvious way for me to tell my story. Because to me, the image is first and then the words."

She explained that the president of Iran (during the islamic revolution and Iran-Iraq war) did not represent Iranians. The media, Marjane felt, did not honestly portray the reality of the middle east. And so, through her books she wanted to tell a story of laughter and family. She wanted to correct the image of the middle east, by giving another honest point of view. In her words, "The personal point of view, is the universal point of view."

After Marjane mentioned politics about her own country she addressed the audienced about President Barrack Obama, "Thank you for electing President Obama. He's not only the president of the U.S. but of the world. You made the world have hope in a future when you elected him. Thank you."

Lastly, Marjane stressed the importance of believing in humanity. She wanted people to think about how we blame this abstract concept of "evil" on other countries. She wanted people to remember that ALL fanatics (whether Muslim, Christian, etc) are the same. And that the world citizens who desire a life worth living outnumber the fanatics by far. She encouraged people to remember this and not dehumanize an entire country and people.

At the end of her talk, I wanted to ask a question regarding the veil in Islam and her feelings about it. But someone else asked it and so I tried to think of something else to ask, but nothing came to mind. So, I just tried to take more pictures, from the balcony, which were still blurry.

My brief encounter--As she finished up her question and answer session, I raced down the marble steps and into a line--within seconds it had already snaked around the tall, white, music hall pillars in the lobby. I squeezed my copy of Persepolis and talked with friends to kill time. When I got to Marjane, I studied her shiny black hair and her arching eyebrows. I peered closer and saw her mole and red lips. And then, I had a question. I walked up to the table and told her my name. After thanking her and watching her ring finger twinkle with a diamond studded skull, I said

"Can I ask you a question Marjane?"

"Of course, please." She answered.

"Okay. What is your opinion on Muslim women and the way in which the Hijab (covering of hair and body) is sometimes used to oppress them? I mean what should Muslim women do to stop this?

"I'll tell you a story about my friend. She was Muslim, but before this whole Islamic revolution in Iran, she wore a mini skirt. Yes, a mini skirt, right up to the butt. But she called herself a Muslim. Okay and then my friend's grandmother, who was a Muslim also, wore Hijab. And both of these women lived in the same house. But now, it has changed. What you have to do is not care what these people (men) say. You are as much a Muslim, regardless if you wear Hijab and you have to stand up and show them that. You can wear or not, but they should treat you the same." I looked at her and saw that she was serious. Now knowing what else to do with my star-struck self, I asked for a photograph with her. She eagerly wrapped a hand around my waiste and smiled for the camera.

Not only was this lecture informative, but it was also inspiring to me as a writer. Marjane spoke the only truth she knew and said that "when you tell the truth, there is no need to ellaborate." And that really struck me because it reminded me that as creative non-fiction writers we should just tell the truth--tell it like it was and is, and if we do the language to tell the truth will come to us.

Marjane has the gift of making others laugh and this humor is prevalent in her books and even when she speaks. Humor allowed her stories to be lighter in tone and gave the reader a moment to recover the from the violence and suffering.
I recorded a small clip of Marjane commenting on laughter and its importance. As we all know, when we laugh something magical happens. We lighten up and our body relaxes. We smile when we laugh. And we really mean it, we really do.