HELLO.: Black Friday, A Child's Perspective

As an American, I have only thought of Black Friday as the day after Thanksgiving, when people stand in lines for HOURS to spend bucket loads of money on things that they may not necessarily need. After reading Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, my idea of "Black Friday" has markedly changed. In Iran, "Black Friday" refers to the events that occurred on September 8, 1978 in Jaleh Square in Tehran, Iran. On this day, thousands of people showed up to protest the Shah's regime, and on this day, the military opened fire against the protesters, killing and wounding several people. This day is marked as extremely important in the Iranian Revolution as it marks the "point of no return," and in this moment, the people realized that there was no "hope for compromise" between the people and the Shah's regime.

In Persepolis, this event is told from a child's perspective. This is important because it is honest and yet innocent. Satrapi attends this protest with her maid, unbeknownst to her parents. (They leave to protest when Satrapi's parents leave the house.) Both Satrapi and her maid are yelled at and punished by Satrapi's mother, and it is mentioned that this was indeed a bad day to protest because it was "Black Friday." The BBC paints a different, more journalistic picture of this day; photos are shown which are unforgettably gruesome, and it's enough to incite the viewer to protest the Shah. As it happens, the shooting not only came from the military, but from inside the crowd as well. Satriapi illustrates this day, and the BBC provides the viewer with photographs and news coverage (the number of dead reported varies from one media outlet to the next.)