Martin Chow

English 1100

Reflection
Personally, I learned a lot this semester. Looking back at what Ive read I can
truly say I appreciate comics in a new light of personal thought, culture, and societal
views. Out of all the comics however, I enjoyed reading Persepolis the most. Something
about reading about the Iranian Revolution through the eyes of a young girl is truly
fascinating. Persepolis to me was a breath of fresh air when compared to other similar
stories such as Maus because it was simple. It has this simple charm and thoughts that
only a child would have when dealing with these same issues in contrast of an adult.
The whole theme of the story was insightful as to how certain revolutions occur and why
they happen. One interesting theme was the ideology used from religious Islam to
Communism, and Western Imperialism ideologies and how they came together
differently to create modern Iran as well as the impact that had on others, specifically
those like our protagonists family in the story.
Some themes and cultures I want to explore further in the future were the topics
about the perception of women and their roles in the 1900s versus the roles they hold
now. Id like to learn more about this because of the current feminist movement that I
see in many areas of today in books, movies, and internet. In addition to how that would
differ to how people thought in older generations or eras. I would also like to find out
more about views towards Asians in general and how their cultural shifts have changed
over time. Id like to learn more about this particularly because I myself identify as Asian
and I find the entire subject fascinating because of how many cultures and people this
covers. Not to mention the stereotypes I commonly see in the races that exist in Asia
today.
In the trope paper, I believe I learned more about the issue of whitewashing as a
whole and how it plays a role into a persons socioeconomic class as well as other
factors. Also, the paper has increased my own understanding of some of the reasonings
of why whitewashing happens in newer films, despite their negative connotations that

come with it. The deep cultural meaning has changed on the matter for myself, because
I never realized how much it matters to not just some but many throughout America.
The class has definitely helped myself be better able to determine certain causes in
subjects like character design, personality, and race. Along with the motivations that
come with those causes. Before taking the class I never realized the sheer scale that
pop media has on society today, or at least the amount of possibly racist,
oversexualized, and stereotypes that are represented in it. As of now after finishing my
trope paper as well as the class I feel that I am more conscious about a characters race
and ethnicity more than anything because of the Hollywood whitewashing my trope
paper was about.