An interesting message in V for Vendetta (spoilers)

[burythehatchet]

I saw it in the theater when it was released, and purchased the DVD this week. As I watched it again I saw many little things that added to the texture of the film, making it much better the second time. But there is one specific element that I found very interesting and encouraging.

V is an anarchist. One of the nagging feelings I had after watching it the first time was my strong identification with V...was I also an anarchist? This had me thinking and a little worried. But something clicked in subsequent viewings. At the end, when the thousands of common citizens march to the parliament you will notice that their march is orderly. There is no violence, no killing, no destruction, just an orderly but determined march. You will notice that they even stay in line and formation. To me, this was the point where order was being borm out of chaos. V's objective was to create chaos and then, more importantly, to convince the people of the IDEA of change. Through Evie he accomplished this. His death was the symbolic passing of the idea to the people. The people then embraced the idea of chaos but then through the principle of self-organization, actually brought order and humanity back. This was symbolized by the lifting of their own masks.

Anyhow, this concept really struck me and I felt better thinking that in order to have see a terminally ill society reborn, it must happen through destruction/anarchy.

[ChicagoRonin]

1. Check out the graphic novel

Even though the above scene (the marchers in the masks) does not occur in the original Alan Moore graphic novel, the concept you detailed is practically spelled out by V himself in one passage when he is explaining his motives.

[CJCRANE]

2. V is the first domino...nt

[merwin]

3. V for Vendetta reminded me of 1984 with a happy ending.

There were a LOT of similar themes in it.

I do agree with you that a society gone amuck must be torn down and rebuilt. Patching problems will only temporarily solve the larger problem.

[Sinti]

4. You really do have to tear down the imaginary wall of protection

to have a healthy society. You have to realize that it doesn't make you safer, it just traps you - like the Berlin Wall. They build the monsters, and then wave their guns and badges promising to protect you from the beast of their own making... as long as you're afraid of dying you never truly allow yourself to live.

[treestar]

5. Sort of parallel with organized crime

They make the threat and you have to pay them for "protection."

[Sinti]

7. Yup, they're nothing more than thugs and gangsters IMO :) n/t

[burythehatchet]

9. That was a very powerful message in the film

the abduction of Evie by V. She could only carry the mission forward when she had no fear.

[cigsandcoffee]

6. I haven't seen it yet. Did he kill people to achieve his goals?

I've heard it was kind of violent.

[burythehatchet]

8. Yes he does.

There is violence and disturbing imagery.

[cigsandcoffee]

10. Well, I guess sometimes people need to be killed....

...in order to foment change. It's disturbing but true that nonviolence isn't always the answer.

I'm making myself a note to get a copy and check it out.

[Sinti]

11. It's an awesome flick - the graphic novel addressed Thatcher-Reagan

juggernaut of the '80s, but it's even more appropriate today.

[ThomWV]

14. Or, As A Friend Used To Say "Some People Just Need Killin'" nt

[burythehatchet]

17. I own only 4 DVD's

Gladiator
The Star Wars set
Napolean Dynamite
and V.

In other words, I seem attracted to films wherein the theme is overcoming a corrupt regime, something that Gladiator, Star Wars and V share. Napolean Dynamite just cracks my ass up.

[chat_noir]

20. cigs, V killed the "Bill O'Reilly" character

"V for Vendetta" reviews - references to O'Reilly

If there's any question about the film's political targets, Vendetta opens with a ridiculously racist and homophobic screed by Prothero, the Bill O'Reilly-like "Voice of London" who speaks on what appears to be the country's only television channel. "The former United States is the world's biggest leper colony," he spits. "And it wasn't because of the immigrants, the Muslims or the homosexuals, or the war that they started. No," he says. "It's because they're Godless!"... - The Tyee

The “Voice of London” character is a brutish lout, comparable to conservative bully Bill O’Reilly, and the government, like the Fox-TV network, skews, screens, and even creates the news stories that litter the airwaves. V’s terrorist attacks are spun positively for damage control, and the stories create a “culture of fear” (even specifically mentioning the Avian flu) that is supposed to keep the citizens docile and scared, lest they ask too many questions. - Scene Stealers

The setting is the near future, in a totalitarian Great Britain, and V has enemies of many stripes, including assorted government flunkies, Bill O'Reilly-style TV broadcasters, slimy men of the cloth and doctors guilty of performing unethical tests on internment-camp prisoners. - Salon

The station has its own Bill O'Reilly figure in the blowhard Prothero (Roger Allam). And the chancellor has his own Dick Cheney in Creedy (Tim Pigott-Smith), who aims his buckshot at Deitrich (Stephen Fry), a closet gay who mocks the chancellor in a TV comedy skit. - Rolling Stone

Prothero is an exaggeratedly animated Bill O'Reilly type (though much more extreme) who ends his nightly broadcasts with the sign off, "England prevails!" - Intergalactic Medicine Show

Other forms of social control include a snarling Bill O'Reilly type known as the Voice of London. – Village Voice

This film will be offensive to some as it takes shots at the Iraq War and at conservative television personalities types such as Bill O’Reilly. – KATU 2 Portland

Citizens are covered in hoods and subjected to torture (Abu Ghraib, anyone?), and if that doesn't sound overheated enough, there's a priest with a taste for young flesh, a popular bushy-browed TV demagogue who's like Bill O'Reilly crossed with Nixon… – people|Entertainment Weekly

Propaganda is dispensed via television, largely through the government network's shill who looks like Christopher Hitchens and brays like Bill O'Reilly. – New City Chicago

After a brief prologue about 17th-century Gunpowder Plot conspirator Guy Fawkes, we meet Evey (Natalie Portman) – the character also narrates – who works at the government TV network, where commentator Lewis Prothero (Roger Allam) – seemingly channeling Bill O’Reilly – covers up government misdeeds and stirs fear over Sutler’s strawman threat du jour. – LA City Beat

V for Vendetta has its own cast of resident demagogues--most of them homophobic, Muslim-fearing, Bible-beating conservative caricatures. There is England's new overlord, Chancellor Arthur Sutler (John Hurt), who looks a little like a decrepit hybrid of Saddam Hussein and Hitler, backed up by a Bill O'Reilly-style talk show tyrant (Roger Allam) and a scheming secret police chief (Tim Pigott-Smith). Such monstrosities channel the worst creations of Animal Farm, although the lesson here is more that after a certain point, all hated governments start to look alike. - Johns Hopkins Newsletter

A Bill O'Reilly-esque evil cable talk show host/wicked pharmaceutical billionaire/heinous military officer combo rolled into one character. - Debbie Schlussel (r/w b*tch)

Contrôle de l’information, surveillance constante des citoyens au nom de leur sécurité, tête dirigeante liée aux institutions d’extrême droite, tout y est. Incluant un animateur vedette, commentateur de l’actualité qui est un amalgame de Rush Limbaugh et Bill O’Reilly. - En Primeur

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x1449

[ThomWV]

12. Not Me. I Just Wanted To Rip Someone A New Asshole After 2nd Viewing

Particularly when listening to Sympathy for the Devil while the credits were playing.

[enlightenment]

13. This past spring, a couple of my student's used this film

to fulfill their "watch a movie about an historical topic and write a review" assignment for my US History 1 class. I haven't seen it -- and questioned their choice, but they did a pretty good job of arguing that the film is an allegory for the American Revolution.

Would you agree with their assessment?

[ccpup]

15. Absolutely!

This should be required viewing for anyone coming up to the age where they can vote. Or just anyone in particular! The film -- and the graphic novels that preceded it -- is eerily, uncomfortably reminiscent of what we hear almost on a daily basis from our own government/media eg. something being done "for the sake of national security", we're doing this to "protect the people". Even the poster on EV's friend Gordon's wall with the swastika and the words "Coalition of the Willing"!

Watch it and then be proud that you've got some pretty smart, socially aware students.

[enlightenment]

18. I gave my students the credit for the argument, although I suspect

they may have "borrowed" the debate, just a wee bit. Since I forced them to restate and re-support, I'm comfortable (and yes, proud) that they could make good connections.

I offer the movie review option because I want them to think critically about what they see -- not just what they read or hear. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "historical" film; haven't seen but a couple (maybe) that didn't cause me to pull out my hair. I'm all for creative license, but don't present it as history ("Braveheart" is a prime example - shudder).

For my own viewing, I'd prefer to be amused or at least intrigued. I don't need to have a message crammed down my throat, or have to sit through 2 hours of gratuitous violence/sex/profanity. Obviously, I don't go to many movies!

Still, I suppose I'd better watch this one, since it seems get folks' attention. I appreciate your "required viewing" comment, although I have to say that a decent grasp of history will promote a similar understanding of the world and our nation.


:)

[burythehatchet]

16. I would hestitate to use the Revolution as an analogy

The difference being that the war for independence was a war for liberation for an external power. Whereas the message here is that the greater enemy is the one that lurks within, slowly eroding our freedom and, more importantly, our hope to be free. It is as an accurate a depiction of the future we can expect as I can imagine. Although the novel was written years ago, it could easily have been written based on current events.

[enlightenment]

19. Hmm. Actually, an argument could be made for the

concept of an "enemy within" in regards to the American Revolution. The arguments for separation weren't just external -- liberty and freedom were internalized concepts grounded in the "rights of the free Englishman" established over four centuries of English history.

Oh, shucks. Guess I'll have to watch the film!

[Protagoras]

21. The American Revolution would be a stretch.

But it is very directly a reproach of the social changes that really became evident during the Thatcher administration. Moore writes extensively about it in the graphic novel. He's addressing Fascism and Fear...and there are plenty of historical parallels for that. Any time people give up their freedom due to fear perpetuated by the government.

I'd read the graphic novel yourself (only a couple hours of your time) and then teach them about the McCarthy era and more recent parallels if it wouldn't get you in trouble with the parents and the district.

V for Vendetta might be a great double feature with Good Night and Good Luck. Different approaches to similar problems.