Let me say from the outset that "Persepolis" is not a great animated movie. No, it is much more than that, it is simply a great movie.

It is a stunning story about a young girl (Marjane) coming of age in Iran during the last quarter of the twentieth century. This movie provides an evocative history lesson about life in Tehran from the fall of Shah to the repressive, fanatical, religious regime of today. In so doing, it also reveals the complicity of the West in visiting this nightmare on the Iranian people.

Marjane and her darling family want what we all desire, namely a chance to define ourselves while remaining true to our core principles. While her family's initial hopes for a freer society following the fall of the Shah are left crushed in the aftermath of their country's lengthy war with Iraq, not too mention the repressive theocratic regime that followed, they never give up or give in.

Marjane's relationship with her family, particularly with her loving mother (voiced by the legendary Catherine Deneuve) and her spirited, profanely inspiring grandmother, is wondrous. You can make Marjane wear an Abaya in public, but you can't stop her from wearing a blouse underneath it that says "Punk is not ded."

The police can chastise her for running to school because "it makes her butt move in a suggestive way", but they can't stop her from playing the air guitar to Metallica in the privacy of her own room. Just because the Mullahs that run Iran can ban partying does not mean they can stop Marjane from partying.

Who would have thought that the most humane movies of the year would have been "Juno" and an animated film? Who would have thought that the most inspirational characters to appear on screen during that same year would have been a pregnant 16-year-old girl and a drawing of her Iranian soul sister? Who would have thought that these same two films would have been the most socially relevant movies of this past year?

As many of you know who occasionally read my reviews, my wife and I have an exchange student from Saudi Arabia in our home for the second consecutive year. We have come to learn firsthand that these kids are no different from American teenagers. Like Marjane, Thamer and Aziz reflect the cultural taste, hopes and aspirations that bind all human beings together.

Simply put, the future of our planet depends on our ability to tap into the universal spirit of these young people. Repressive regimes can no longer isolate their teenagers from American culture. The Internet is a far more effective way of spreading freedom throughout the world than trying to bomb societies into embracing democracy. The sooner we learn that, the better off the world will be.

Finally, I am now forced to qualify my pick of "Ratatouille" as the best animated film of the year. While I still think it will win the Oscar, I am now rooting for "Persepolis." But whether it wins or not, this glowing testament to the shared values of young people worldwide deserves to be seen. For those lucky few who do, you can't help but leave the theater with a sense of optimism and a spirit of incandescent hope for the future of mankind.