Rant: I thought the 1990s 'Persepolis' ban in Iran was just about the government, but I was wrong

I was talking to a friend from Tehran last week, and she pointed out I'd only ever read the English translation. She said the Farsi version, smuggled in, has whole panels edited by the censors themselves, changing the story's feel. I'd been treating it like a simple 'banned book' case without seeing the actual altered artifact. Has anyone else compared the censored and original versions side by side?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmam982mo ago

Heard about that from a professor. The censored Farsi version apparently redraws some scenes to make characters look more "modest." Changes the whole tone.

the_oliver2mo ago

Wait, they actually redraw the art? @emmam98 that's wild! I can't imagine how weird it must look when they change a character's whole outfit or pose. Like if someone's running in the original, are they just standing still now? It sounds like they're not just covering stuff up but changing the actual story beats. That's way more than just blurring something out!

oscarcraig1mo ago

Just heard they redrew Marjane's face in some panels to make her smile less. That's next level creepy, like they're trying to change her whole personality on the page. It's not just about clothes, it's about the feeling she gives off. That's so much worse than I thought.