Although I enjoy both the book and the movie, there seem to be noticeable differences between the book and the movie. For me, the defining difference has been the speed of movie to that of the book. While reading the book, I was able to look and analyze (most of the for about two seconds) the frames of each page. While doing so, I was able to appreciate the techniques Satrapi uses to better leverage her book: the use of black and white to expand on certain themes of the book, the use of picture to better reflect the dispositions/moods of the character, and her use of height/dimension to communicate particular messages within each scene.
With the movie, I find myself more preoccupied by the plot and the characters than by the art of Satrapi. Of the parts of the movie that I have seen so far, I feel like some of that subtlety has been lost. Instead, had I not read the book, I would wonder 'why make the movie in the form of a cartoon in the first place?' The most distinct of the animation has to be the use of black and white, but couldn't that dichotomy between white (good?) and (black?) have been recreated fairly easily (something along the lines of Sin City I guess)? Wouldn't the use of real characters create more empathy for Satrapi from the audience? Although I haven't finished the movie, so far, I would say that Persepolis definitely lends itself to the graphic novel as opposed to the movie.
To digress, at what point in this book am I supposed to sympathize with Satrapi? Certain aspects of her personality (the obsession with becoming God and finding a "hero") was really offputting, and her life as opposed to the lives of others around her, has seemed to greatly benefit from luck.
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My sympathy lies with Satrapi due to the situation she is in. The most important years of finding oneself are lost because of the war. Any attempts to assert her identity are quickly squashed, as we see when she wears her jacket and "punk" shoes. She does not know who she is in Vienna and therefore cannot possibly follow her grandmother's advice of "be true to yourself." She takes on the personality of those around her but never feels like it is who she really is. The war, which Satrapi has no control over, has greatly affected her life, drawing sympathy from the reader.
In your post, you suggest questioning whether or not we as readers are supposed to empathize with Satrapi. However, I think this is missing the point. Satrapi is relaying her story not to make herself look good, but to convey her experience growing up as a child in the middle of an unstable country. I appreciate her honesty and the sense of humor she has at her own childhood fantasies.
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