Sunday, November 23, 2008

Shrug and Agree

How does freedom die?

Not the way you'd reasonably expect with guns and bombs. Usually it's stealthily given away bit by bit, inch by inch without barely anyone noticing. And it's all for our own good.

First they tell us to stop doing supposedly unhealthy practices such as arcane methods of meditation / exercise for fear of corrupting influences. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Then they censor movie and books to shield us from perfidious degenerate thoughts. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Persepolis
What kinda inappropriate dressing is this!!

Then they tell us to dress appropriately for our gender to ward away unwanted harassment. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Then they separate cafes / stores / cinemas according to gender for our own convenience so we don't feel intimidated. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Then they tell us to stay home during certain hours of the night to be safe from harm. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Then they keep us away from schools and universities since unhealthy wicked practices are being spread there to divert us from the true path. We shrug and agree since it's for our own good.

Then they extend the curfew hours to keep us home. We want to shrug and agree but we know it's wrong. By then we want to raise a protest but it's already far too late. The gates are shut. And we are all cabinned, cribbed and confined.

Persepolis
Why are we cabinned, cribbed and confined!!

And it all happens just because we shrug and agree.

So listen to the near-prophetic words of lil Marji in Persepolis. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

9 comments:

the Constantly Dramatic One said...

I feel as a human being...I have no say nor any worth in this country. And as a woman, even less.

Mr.D said...

In many ways i am happy not being born a girl in this country and in many ways i am happy not being born a muslim girl in this country.

Sighs what to do?

AJ v2 said...

religion is all about interpretation....

but sadly some people decided to force others to embrace how they see it and create a negative image of a particular belief

let us not let those people who wants power to use religion as a divene sign to condone what they agree and to disallow what they dislike

joshua said...

I totally love this movie!

One of the few animated films that has changed my life... Brilliant oh my so brilliant!

Alice said...

Yet we shrug and agree.

William said...

I nearly bought that DVD. But then I thought it a little too heavy a topic for a cartoon...

Prash said...

I still have to watch persepolis !

Perky said...

Well, I pretty much disregard what they say. Reading abt their "law" is like trying to understand what a goat is saying.

Dave said...

Persepolis! My all time favourite animation!

It might sound too heavy, but hey, we don't get to see animations that discuss some serious issues in Malaysia.

What do we get? the same old animal stories from Disney and Dreamworks, and mankind vs robots (or combine both of them) in Japanese manga.

Like what Marjane's grandma says, the Japs knows only how to create monster and wreck havoc on earth, or takes a samurai sword and start hecking people.

Which justify why Persepolis is so different from other animation, and why this is a must watch. :)