Monochromatic Memoirs

Summary of Pedro & Me (by Judd Winick)

This graphic memoir chronicles the friendship between Pedro Zamora and Judd Winick, made possible by MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. Judd wrote this memoir to remember and honor Pedro, an openly gay HIV/AIDS activist. Pedro traveled around the country to spread AIDS awareness and ways to prevent the incurable disease from spreading. Judd found himself an unlikely roommate, Pedro in the MTV reality TV series. As they partake in their time together, Pedro opens Judd's eyes to see the significance in life. On some occasions, Judd visited Pedro during his lectures with the youth, and saw how greatly Pedro interacted with the audience and the positive responses from the crowd. As their friendship grows, Judd becomes emotionally attached to Pedro as Pedro's health deteriorates over the months. After Pedro loses his battle to AIDS, Judd sees Pedro's impact as a young AIDS activist and how many people he encouraged/impacted. After Pedro's death, Judd feels the responsibility in continuing Pedro's work in spreading AIDS awareness through lectures. (Winick)




Connections to Persepolis:

First off, both Persepolis and Pedro and Me stray away from the traditional composure of thoughts; their message is conveyed through the art of pictures. Typically, such a comic book would have an intended audience consisting of children, but in this case these books carry a much deeper meaning and complex form of reality. Both stories contain messages that have been ignored by the general public. And the general public often has preconceived biases toward the topics in both stories without any true knowledge or background of the controversial ideas presented.

Both Pedro and Marjane endure hardships and are struggling to win their own fights. But through all the negativity, they continue to present a positive attitude toward the situation. In Marjane's case, she revolts against the Shah, she doesn't let the problems outside her house affect her relationship with her parents, as they continue to play board games and hold parties (Satrapi 38, 106). Pedro also copes with his hardships by refusing to give in and let the disease overtake his life. Rather he insists on simply being a person living with AIDS as opposed to being a helpless AIDS patient (Winick 113).