For Neda

"The whole idea with this regime is that because they confiscated religion and turned it into an ideology, they deprived it of everything that makes religious humane... so this government in fact destroyed religion by claiming it and confiscating it."



It was perhaps not the best decision for me to watch this in the library because 1) because I was supposed to be writing my thesis, and 2) because it invoked such an intense emotional response (which I supposed I should have expected), but once I started it, I couldn't put it on pause.
Neda's life was extraordinary purely because of her inability to be anything but herself. Her sense of identity and the strength with which she approached her desire to express that identity was truly admirable. That type of courage is not praised nearly enough in the context of power and politics, so it was really electrifying to see this rather simple characteristic (that we in our bubble of protected rights don't have to consider) being the reason for and the foundation of this mass protest.
The way the documentary wove her personal story with her nation's struggles was incredibly poignant and effective in relaying the magnitude and mentality of the political fracas in 2009.
The documentary may be called "For Neda," but really it's for Iran, its people and their rights. Because with her death, Neda became much more than just Neda. She became a movement, a symbol, a martyr, an ideology. a reference point in time and history.
While I was listening to her family and friend describing her, I got this haunting feeling that maybe she had been too strong of a person to simply be wiped away by the murder of her physical body, and how tragically fitting it seemed for her to become this inspirational voice of reason.

"The objective of killing is to make you invisible. And if once you're dead you're still visible... the whole purpose of killing you is defeated."

Chillingly beautiful.