V for Vendetta

This is not a review of the movie, that would be two and a half years too late. It was enjoyable yes, but this is not why I wish to discuss it.

Rather, I'm interested in its message.

(May contain spoilers)

V for Vendetta was a story which took place within about 20 - 30 years in the future. It occurs in England, which has become a fascist police state, lead by one Adam Sutler (John Hurt), much like Airstrip 1 in Orwell's 1984.

In the name of security, Chancellor Sutler becomes a dictator in charge of England. His whims are laws and the citizens of England are oppressed. The USA has somehow (civil war and plague are implied) has been removed as a world power and England had just recovered from some sort of apocalyptic event involving a viral outbreak which allowed Sutler to take power.

Through all of this a strange man in a Guy Fawkes mask makes a few bold terrorist acts for the sake of freedom. He goes only by the name of V (Hugo Weaving).

The movie is rather important for several reasons.

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot. - V

In this speech, which V declares on TV, V speaks to the Londoners who willingly gave up civil liberties for security. It is a remarkable speech, one which people need to remember, as America faces crises now and in the future. We American citizens need to remain vigilant and watchful of our government and ensure that freedoms are never forsaken for security, even in a time of crisis.

After 9-11, the Bush Administration was quick to put out the Patriot Act. They were quick to detain suspects without charges, without appointing lawyers, for an indefinite amount of time. They were quick to wiretap us and listen in on our phone lines.

This was done for the sake of security and this is not acceptable. We should not be so cowardly as to give up freedoms for security, for this is the path to tyranny.

Our story begins, as these stories often do, with a young up-and-coming politician [Sutler]. He's a deeply religious man and a member of the conservative party. He is completely single-minded convictions and has no regard for the political process. Eventually, his party launches a special project in the name of 'national security'. At first, it is believed to be a search for biological weapons and it is pursued regardless of its cost. However, the true goal of the project is power, complete and total hegemonic domination. The project, however, ends violently... but the efforts of those involved are not in vain, for a new ability to wage war is born from the blood of one of their victims. Imagine a virus - the most terrifying virus you can, and then imagine that you and you alone have the cure. But if your ultimate goal is power, how best to use such a weapon? It is at this point in our story that along comes a spider. He is a man seemingly without a conscience; for whom the ends always justify the means and it is he who suggests that their target should not be an enemy of the country but rather the country itself. Three targets are chosen to maximize the effect of the attack: a school, a tube station, and a water-treatment plant. Several hundred die within the first few weeks. Until at last the true goal comes into view. Before the St. Mary's crisis, no one would have predicted the outcome of the elections. No one. But after the election, lo and behold, a miracle. Some believed that it was the work of God himself, but it was a pharmaceutical company controlled by certain party members made them all obscenely rich. But the true genius of the plan was the fear. A year later, several extremists are tried, found guilty, and executed while a memorial is built, erected to canonize their victims. Fear became the ultimate tool of this government. And through it our politician was ultimately appointed to the newly created position of High Chancellor. The rest, as they say, is history. -William Rookwood

A main point in V for Vendetta was the use of fear. Another quote in particular is when Adam Sutler snarls on TV, "I want *everyone* to *remember*, why they *need* us!" Fear mongering brought Sutler into power. Fear and the promise of order out of chaos. Sutler created fear when he engineered a biological attack on England and then, after gaining power, released the cure, and shifted the blame to radical extremists. This is also seen in 1984, as Big Brother and the Party bomb London themselves to make the locals believe they are still at war.

Fear. As Americans, we need to be wary of fear mongering politicians. The eight years since 9-11, we have been taught to be afraid that yet another terror attack may occur. Security tightened at airports, the Patriot Act was declared, two wars in the Middle East began. We were told that the government was protecting us and bringing us security, while these things occurred. Now obviously, we did not become a fascist state. But the threat does exist. We must watch our government and ensure that while they protect us, they do not go too far and strip civil liberties.

America right now is under two threats, one from terror, another from economic collapse. I doubt that Obama will declare himself "High Chancellor" anytime soon, but we citizens should remain on guard, for as long as this nation exists, to ensure that we do not become victims of fear mongering and that we never sacrifice freedom for security.

(SPOILER) Near the end of the movie, before Parliament blows up, the soldiers guarding are overrun by thousands of Londoners wearing Guy Fawkes masks. This is a symbol to show that we have strength as a people, a strength to act. The citizens, united, can be a powerful voice and we should never forget this. Should this nation somehow fall to totalitarianism, it is up to us, the citizens to fight it.


Did you like that? USA... Ulcered Sphincter of Ass-erica, I mean what else can you say? Here was a country that had everything, absolutely everything. And now, 20 years later, is what? The world's biggest leper colony. Why? Godlessness. Let me say that again... Godlessness. It wasn't the war they started. It wasn't the plague they created. It was Judgement. No one escapes their past. No one escapes Judgement. You think he's not up there? You think he's not watching over this country? How else can you explain it? He tested us, but we came through. We did what we had to do. Islington. Enfield. I was there, I saw it all. Immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals, terrorists. Disease-ridden degenerates. They had to go. Strength through unity. Unity through faith. I'm a God-fearing Englishman and I'm goddamn proud of it! -Lewis Prothero

As I already said, something had happened to America. Prothero (Roger Allam), a prominent Party man who spews propaganda, blames the downfall of the US on godlessness. Using God, he justified the "cleansing" of England which occured, in which undesirables were removed. Prothero was the Joseph Goebbels of the Party, spewing propaganda and hate for the enemy, whoever it was.

And here we have a perfect example of why the media must be unbiased and independent of government. It is too powerful of a tool for a government to control. Goebbels once said, ""If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it," which is all the more possible when the government can control and censor media.

We need to seek more unbiased sources of media and guard against all forms of censorship, even if censorship comes in a pretty package, example, for the sake of the children. Censorship, bias, propaganda, we cannot have this. What we need is an unbiased information source, giving us pertinent news, not propaganda and hate.

Last, the girl in the movie, Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) undergoes a transformation when she is captured by the secret police, in which she learns to have no fear. This brings me to the final point, if, god forbid, the worst does happen, we need to have strength to fight it or we will lose everything.

In the end, what we take from the movie is a whole host of messages. 1. Do not give in to fear. For absolutely no reason shall freedom be given up. 2. Do not fall for incessant fear mongering. No, you won't die in a terror attack (extremely low probability anyways) so there is no need to give up freedom for security. 3. We the people are strength, not the government. 4. Be wary of propaganda and biased media. 5. If the time does ever come, have the strength to fight it, even when it means death.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. - V

J Kuhl Signing Off