lpahomov

Maddi Etxebeste

Staff Writer

Quick: What do you know about the Islamist revolution in Iran? If you answered “not much” or less, than this movie is for you.

Persepolis is a French animation (in black and white) directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, author of the autobiographical graphic novel with the same name.

The film describes Marjane’s life in Tehran with her family and friends. Always a “rebel”, her and her family are against the political regime and her parents protect her from ideologic troubles sending her to Austria. There, she experiences good and bad, ultimately deciding to go back to her home, ignoring her parents’ advice. Then she goes back to Europe, where she builds a new life far from her home-country’s conflicts.

This film is an excellent animated adaptation from the comic of the same name. Without very complex cartoons, it explains all the story with details, skipping some years, but describing all the situations that could happen at the same moment during her life, it often was: her own situation vs. the political situation of her country.

This animation shows the difficulties she has had during her life, and the different contexts she has experimented with along her childhood and later.

It shows how the Pahlavi Shah was supported by the U.S. government at that time, when Marji’s father tells her that American people “helped him to become the Shah of Iran and have the absolute power, in exchange for Iranian petrol.”.

His speech makes the spectator see the meanness and wickedness of the first Pahlavi Shah, and that his successor was even worse and more cruel than him. The Shah is overthrown in 1979. While the Iranian population are glad for having overthrown the Shah, the elections arrived. With people full of fear, Islamic party won with the 99% of the votes. They established Islamic rules that they have to be obeyed in a very orthodox way.  

The movie also shows the restrictions and heavy rules of the new Islamic regime, when the parties, music, alcohol, and every kind of leisure festivity. Marji, for example, has to buy a punk-music CD illegally from people who sell them secretly. We can also observe the propaganda of both regimes, giving speeches in colleges, schools, and other institutions in order to convince people and make them have the same ideology as them.

An example is when Marjane is very young, and arrives at home she tells the story her teacher has told her pupils at the school, a version of the story that makes the Shah a good person, a good head-of-state. Thereafter, her father tells her the true story, which is almost the opposite thing. That’s an example of propaganda given to the population.

I really recommend you watch this film, it is very enjoyable, in some moments funny, educational, entertaining and easy to understand at the same time.

I think it is very educational because it shows different political contexts in first person, so the spectator can understand it better. You can learn about politics, Islam, Islamic extremism, and the situation in Iran influenced by their governments. In my opinion, the most entertaining aspect of the film was seeing her situation and taking her place for a moment. The film was turned into funnier thanks to the way they explained all the context, in a very realistic and direct way, but with some moments of humor that makes the film less as dramatic as it could be if it only talked about the Iranian revolution, Iran’s wars and pain, etc. Without this bit of humor, the film would turn into a mix of historical and tragic film.

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

It’s been almost a year since one of the world’s biggest boy bands, One Direction, went on hiatus. Niall Horan just recently put out one of his first solo songs, drawing a lot of attention to himself on September 29th with the release of “This Town”. Many fans were shocked, thinking he would have been the last out of the other three members to put out solo music and potentially a new album.

These type of events have happened to other large boy bands, such as N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Justin Timberlake is a great example of branching away from his band, releasing music of his own which gained him more fame than he already had previously. “Like I Love You” was released in 2002, being the first song after he decided to pursue a solo career.

The main difference between that situation is that Niall is only doing a solo project, which does not mean he fully left the band like Zayn did, and also how Justin left N’Sync. All of the members are doing their own things as they were granted a hiatus after touring and producing music nonstop for almost five years.

Horan’s soft voice compared with the simple cords of an acoustic guitar easily makes this song very calming. The chorus is very catchy, goosebumps appeared during the line of, “Everything comes back to you.” The song itself is very simple, yet very catchy. It tends to make you randomly sing along to it, due to the occasional repetition of the lyrics. So far, the song has been a large success.

“This Town” makes you picture a scene in your head with the lyrics Niall sings, “And I remember everything from when we were the children playing in this fairground” letting you get a sight of the emotions he was feeling during the writing of the song. His feelings toward this special person are highly shown, but it’s fun to think he’s singing about you while listening.

The black and white filtered video containing Niall performing “This Town” live with just him, a guitar, and a microphone creates nostalgia for One Direction fans. This is because they compare it to the “Little Things” music video which was released in November of 2012.

Niall has always been my favorite ever since I started liking One Direction, and obviously it is a bit weird to only hear his voice while listening to this song. I support the choices he makes in terms of making music, but I hope that he doesn’t stay solo. I love all of the members together, since it is what I’m used to hearing.

I feel that it’s almost incomplete with just one person singing, though. All four of their voices are unique and blend nicely. I respect Niall’s decision of wanting to make his own type of music, but also appreciate how it is staying in the genre of pop, which is the main style of One Direction’s music.

Niall himself admitted how he eventually wanted to release an album of his own, and then go on a tour to promote that album. Again, I would absolutely support his music and tour but there would be even more of a scare that One Direction will no longer come back together as a band. I have faith that one day all four of the members will be ending the hiatus, because me and loads of other fans are so ready to have another tour and new music to look forward to.

Aaron Watson-Sharer

Staff Writer

Last March, my friend Jason referred me to a TV show named How To Get Away With Murder. The primary reason I started the TV show was because it’s set in my hometown of Philadelphia. Middleton University is fictional, but the school resembles the University of Pennsylvania. It was one those Saturday afternoons in March, still too cold to appreciate the spring, so I gave How To Get Away With Murder a chance, which turned out to be a great choice.

The show took a page out of Quentin Tarantino’s book, displaying actions occurring at multiple moments in time, like in movies Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, but better. This show had the scenes of what was to come versus what is in the present, and eventually those times cross paths to make a wonderful story.

The second and most important thing I noticed besides the anxiety I’d have after each rapid-fire episode was the diverse cast. There are nearly a dozen mainstay characters who all come from countless backgrounds. I applaud Peter Nowalk’s ability to create a TV show that has what television lacks: diversity.

Just look at the Keating Five, Annaliese’s students. We start with Wes Gibbins, an African American law student coming from community college who was orphaned after his mother was killed at age 12. He grew up in the foster care system after the death of his mother and absence of a father. Then we have Michaela Pratt, also a young African American law student, she has a very unknown background, but we know she networked herself into a higher society. Connor Walsh’s character brings to the Keating Five what they lack, proper leadership. With his charisma and confidence as an openly gay man. And Asher [lastname] has has the dream of following his father’s footsteps in law, he came from wealth which isn’t the case for many in this show. Laurel is the only Latina character, she comes from a wealthy Latino, Spanish speaking family.

Lastly, there’s the professor behind the students. Viola Davis’s Annalise Keating has had to overcome countless tragedies and challenges. I’m stunned she can handle the courthouse. Annalise Keating leads a life that few could. She’s an outcast in society as a southern born-African American lawyer, bisexual and alleged killer. She’s been a target her whole life but it has yet to faze her. She also lost a son in a car accident that was meant to hurt her. At least on TV, nobody is as mentally tough as Annalise Keating.

This show also takes a unique lens on Philadelphia. There’s a local character, Frank Delfino. He’s not your average paralegal, insteading of organizing files, he’s erasing them, or something else that’s very illegal. He’s a Philadelphian from a stereotypical background, Italian working class family and he would just try to get by. Frank is the kind of man who wasn’t meant for law. At least defending it.

How To Get Away With Murder does one thing many Hollywood productions fail to do. Represent all the kinds of backgrounds that can be found in a city, especially Philadelphia. There are people who come from all different paths, of all different cultures and ended up together. In a world where 71.7% of major actors are white, and 66.5% of actors are men , it’s refreshing that How To Get Away With Murder recognizes Philadelphia is 43.2% African American and a city that continues to grow in diversity.