Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel memoir, Persepolis—released in the United States in 2003—was a clear-eyed, sensitive portrayal of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, seen through the eyes of a young girl. Now Satrapi’s stark, inky images have been “remixed” with new text to tell the story of the recent disputed elections in Iran—ending with the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

According to Agence France-Presse, the remixers behind the ten-page “Persepolis 2.0” are two young Iranians raised in the West and now living in Shanghai, who watched the elections from abroad:

"Persepolis 2.0" has also been "vigorously" attacked in the ultraconservative press in Iran, its authors say.

"We consider this to be a good sign," they said, adding that the site itself was secure and had not been hacked into.

But Satrapi—who gave the authors her go-ahead for the project but was not otherwise involved—told AFP she was sceptical about its power to change the situation on the ground in Iran.

"They said they wanted to do something with my work -- I gave them my blessing."

(Via ArtsBeat.)

Tags: graphic novel, iran, neda, persepolis

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I don’t know if any photo can be more ironic than this one, which spent part of Thursday as the top photo on MSNBC.com. Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, suffering from terminal cancer, was sent home to Libya to live out what’s left of his life. And to board the plane, he walked up a staircase bearing an ad that exhorted flyers to “Relax Before You Fly.”

Right. Thanks to people like al-Megrahi, none of us can really relax before we fly. Not just uptight, overworried infrequent flyers like myself (is this going to be one time in a million that something goes wrong?). Not only business travelers who have to deal with onerous security measures on a regular basis just to do their jobs. But also passengers who might be of Middle Eastern descent or look like it and who can be subjected to, at best, nervous glances from fellow passengers and, at worst, humiliating extra security screenings. (I’ve seen it happen.)

The Lockerbie bombing happened more than 20 years ago, but this transcript of a public radio story previewing the 2000 trial is a gut-wrenching reminder of the tragedy. It helps explain why President Obama called the release a mistake and why Ted Kennedy, suffering from his own terminal cancer, signed a letter along with other U.S. senators calling for Megrahi to be kept in Scotland.

And yet, news accounts tell of al-Megrahi getting a hero’s welcome in Libya. Relaxing? Hardly.

Tags: abdel baset al-megrahi, libya

Jess, I am hyper-susceptible to Octo-empathy right now, having just returned from a long overseas trip with just two squirmy boys who often behaved and sounded like at least eight. The part of me that can’t believe the quantity of potty talk a 4-year-old can generate on a transatlantic flight almost weeps for the Nadya Suleman whose 2-year-old called her “bitch” when she attempted to discipline him in the documentary. Mary Elizabeth Williams is right about one thing: Parenting ain’t easy and had the cameras been trained on me during hour seven of the flight last week, the New York Times would be pouring out their parenting wrath at me as well.

But the reason I find Suleman unwatchable actually has less to do with her parenting (or even her freaky dislocation from human reality) than her weird contempt for everyone around her. In the documentary, she excoriates her mother—the woman who cared for her kids as she was delivering more. She derides the same paparazzi she has invited into her life and her delivery room. She somehow finds time to slam poor Kate Gosselin—whom she creamed in the ratings wars last night—even though both she and Gosselin are more or less the same person with different bangs. She even talks a stream of trash about herself. In the end, the only thing sadder than watching the whole world judging Nadya and finding her wanting is the spectacle of her own judgment that everyone and everything has let her down.

Tags: documentary, nadya suleman, Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage

Kerry, though married heterosexuals without children seem to have caused much Canadian ire, octomom Nadya Suleman, back in the press because of a documentary about her that aired last night, inspires even more furious levels of vitriol. But in Suleman's case, the vitriol seems at least somewhat warranted. According to Ginia Bellafante's write-up of Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage in the New York Times:

Throughout, Ms. Suleman—who allowed Radar’s cameras into the birthing room, trademarked the name Octomom and plans to appear in a reality show—idiotically aims to convince us that she loves her privacy and wishes the paparazzi would go away, proclaiming at one point: “I’m just a mother!”

Indeed, at this point it's not Ms. Suleman's fertility decisions that rankle, it's her hypocritical fame-seeking. Broadsheet's Mary Elizabeth Williams thinks that Bellafante's write-up was unnecessarily bitchy, and scolds Suleman's critics for being overly, well, critical: "Only her children will ever be able to truly judge Suleman's performance as a mother. But as an observer of human behavior and psychological projection, I'd say she does a hell of a better job than a whole lot of her critics."

Veterans of the mommy wars can all agree that the minutia of the average woman's mothering choices shouldn't be subject to endless public picking over. But Suleman continues to dangle herself and her entire family in front of the country like judgment catnip. During the documentary, Suleman giggled about how she once locked her mother in a car trunk, for god's sake! If Saint Mary Elizabeth can refrain from having critical thoughts about Suleman after that admission, then she's a better woman than I am.

Tags: documentary, nadya suleman, Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage

Anne Kingston wrote a Maclean’s cover story on “the case against having kids.” Then she wrote another Maclean’s story—on all the hate mail she received for making the case against having kids. The bulk of the objections are, of course, about the “narcissism” of the childless, an accusation so stupid and baseless in its breadth that the no-kids people lob it at proud parents just as frequently. Most of the accusations the anti- and pro-child camps make against one another have this protean quality; the pro-child people say they’ll be better stewards of the environment because they’ve got someone to save it for. The antis point out the massive carbon footprint each new delivery promises. The antis say they’re sick of subsidizing the parents with their tax dollars. The parents say they’re, in fact, subsidizing the childless narcissists.

I’m struck by how furious people become at the existence of this one very particular familial arrangement: heterosexual monogamous pair-bonding without children. No one would question the childlessness of the couples in Kingston’s stories if they simply chose to be single; single and childless by choice, at this point, is culturally acceptable. But if you get married and still find no baby-shaped hole in your heart ... well, ask the subscribers of Maclean’s. “One inflamed letter writer,” says Kingston, “even suggested it’s not safe to send trick-or-treating children to my house on Halloween.”

Tags: children, companionate marriage, parenthood

Sometimes, amidst the funny animal routines and videos of drugged-out kids, you can unearth a gem on YouTube. Here’s something to start your morning on an inspirational note: a 1930 newsreel clip of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan. The whole thing is mesmerizing, especially the close-ups of Keller’s fingers on Sullivan’s face, as she feels the vibrations of her speech. Watch it all the way through, because the final few seconds will kill you.

Via BoingBoing and Coilhouse.

Tags: anne sullivan, helen keller