Yummy: Monster or Misunderstood?

 

 

   In the graphic novel Yummy by G. Neri, the course of events that end a young boy's life are recounted. Robert Sandifer, also known as "Yummy," was 11 years old when he met his end. The story of Yummy and his gang affiliations that ended in his accidental shooting of a young girl and his own eventual death by two members of the very gang that claimed him was made even more real to me when I saw the above photo. This was the cover of Time magazine that featured Yummy and his story, highlighting Yummy's age and situation. He is described as having a "short, violent life." Was Yummy a little monster, bent on using whatever means necessary to get what he wanted or was he a misunderstood child who did not possess the ability to make good choices?

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The above panel shows the innocence that I believe redeems Yummy as an individual. He has just shot into a crowd of people and hits who he thinks is his rival. It turns out that he has instead missed and killed a young girl named Sharon. The last panel on this page shows Yummy's wide eyes and really portrays his adolescence and naivety at what he has gotten himself into.

 

 

 

 

 

   This panel really made me feel for Yummy. He has been running and hiding on his own, but he finally breaks down and calls his granny to come pick him up. He reacts like any 11-year-old boy would. He says, "it weren't my fault," but his inability to grasp what he has done and his responsibility for it is just a product of his youth. Yummy just wants to feel safe again.

 

 

 

 

   

Robert Sandifer was just a boy. He was a boy who loved sweets and slept with a teddy bear. He was also a boy who wanted to be in with the cool kids. How many of us can say that we have not done something wrong in order to impress someone else? What Yummy did was wrong, and he deserved punishment. However, he did not deserve to be shot and killed like a hunted animal. In the end, Yummy's redeeming qualities were not enough to outweigh his detrimental qualities. Yummy's last gift to all young people is a warning to not live the "short, violent life" that he did.  

 



Persepolis: American Pop Culture in Iran

 

 

 

 

   In the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the influence of American pop culture and American ideas in general can be seen. In the above panel (p. 6) Marjane addresses the veil that Muslim women are required to wear. In this panel I feel she is expressing her view that the veil and religion are old-fashioned, but she and her family are "very modern and avant-garde." I believe that the continued use of American culture throughout this novel was another way for Marjane and her friends to feel like they had freedom. The veil, the ideas, the political unrest made Marjane and her friends feel trapped in Iran, but the rebellious use of American clothes, music, and sayings made them feel like individuals in a land of sameness.

   In the above panel, (p.132-133) Marjane is caught by the women's branch of the guardian's of the revolution. Their job was to arrest any women they saw that were improperly veiled. In the above sequence, not only is Marjane improperly veiled, she is wearing a jean jacket, singing "Kids in America," wearing tight jeans, and wearing a Michael Jackson button. Michael Jackson is declared by one of the women to be the "symbol of decadence." Marjane manages to get out of being taken away, and as soon as she gets home she cranks up her American music and starts dancing again.

   American culture was so important to Marjane and her friends because wearing American clothes or listening to American music was their way of resisting the regime that was trying to oppress them. In the United States there was religious freedom, economic freedom, and freedom of speech. The great effort that not only Marjane and her friends, but also Marjane's parents go to to bring in Western culture to Iran shows how important these freedoms were to them. In the book, Marjane's parents go on holiday and ask her what she wants them to bring back for her. Marjane wants punk rock posters to put up in her room, so Marjane's mother rips the lining out of her husband's jacket, places the posters inside, and sews the lining back in. They risked their own safety in order to promote American culture in their daughter's life. The simple act of singing a song by an American artist or looking at a poster of an American punk rock band made the hell that the Iranian people were living in a little more bearable.