Viewing Iran It is debatable whether most people in Western societies, particularly here in the United States, share a common perspective that Iran has a reputation for terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. In today's media, Iran is accused of possessing nuclear weapons and various politicians have made reference to its contribution to the ongoing violence in Iraq. The information we absorb daily from news reports adds to our biases and reinforces our negative views of Iran as a country. Through the media, people in our culture stereotype Iranians based on an ethnocentric point of view without developing a clear understanding of the reasons behind their beliefs. In the graphic novel Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi gives a point of view on Iranian society that is very different from widely perceived stereotypes. She portrays the Iranian people as much more than fundamentalists, fanatics and terrorists by incorporating a human atmosphere within their family and visualizing events that resonate with everyone, regardless of ethnicity and culture. An impression I had about the Iranian people before reading Persepolis was that they lived their lives in torment and oppression because of their strict religious practices. Satrapi effectively manages to convince his readers that this was not always the case. She presents her family in a progressive approach while maintaining the morals and values ​​of their culture. She assimilates several common stereotypes about people from Western culture into her stories to illustrate the similarities between the two cultures and at the same time the differences. For example, early in the novel, Marji talks about her father's ownership of a Cadillac. In b...... middle of paper ...... pity for the recurring violence resulting from the revolution. The portrayal of his family in a progressive approach offers a counter to the perception that all Iranians were strictly religious. On numerous occasions, she references an appreciation of Western culture to challenge the idea that Western culture was widely looked down upon. People in our society develop opinions about other societies that we view as inferior based on what we have been taught to believe and what we hear. news reports. Since our society views Iranians as terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists and fanatics, this has become an accepted belief. Satrapi's efforts to change our ethnocentric stereotypes speak volumes about the self-centeredness of our society. Rather than acquiring knowledge on our own and creating our own perceptions, we depend strictly on the widely perceived opinions of biased individuals..