As many of you know, I am a geek, but I am not really a comic book geek.
I like superheroes (bite me DC and Marvel, if you think I am paying royalties for the word superhero), but I never got into the whole comic book scene. I tried, but 1 page of drawing for 17 pages of advertising is not my style, even as a 10 year old. But do not get me wrong, Superman, Batman, and Spiderman were staples for me except the first and last were animated characters (and Christopher Reeve) and the middle was Adam West which is essentially the same thing.
Why the boring insight on my pre-adolesence?
I never read V for Vendetta. I had no real preconceived notions of the movie other than the fact that Natalie Portman is very attractive, burgeoning on hot, Hugo Weaving is a great actor, and I think the Wachowski Bros. try to make their movies interesting.
When I left the movie, I wanted to go blow up Congress. Ok, I think Congress should be blown up as a matter of principle, but V for Vendetta truly appealed to me on several levels. As a guy going to a comic-based actions movie with plot it was really, really good. It was not all action, but the plot moved well and the story points were well presented. The action was exciting and visually interesting. The dialogue was both thoughtful and dramatic and V's introductory speech was just shy of laugh out loud funny.
But the big selling point for me was the socio-political message the movie was presenting. I do not claim to know the details of the Gunpowder Treason. I knew the basics before the movie, Guy Fawkes, Parliament, etc..., but I can not swear that I would have agreed with Fawkes the person or his ideals. His message, however, I agree with wholeheartedly.
That does not mean that I specifically advocate the unplanned demolition of government buildings, but the fact that the people have resigned themselves to the role of child to the government's parental figure. We ask the government to protect us from the words drugs, guns, terrorists, violence, hate, disease, poverty, oppression, racism, sexism, pornography, and whatever scary thing that led the news last night.
That is the behavior of children. "Mommy, don't let the bad man get me." "Daddy, Billy was mean to me on the playground today. Make him stop." "Hey, Government. I want you to make me believe I live in a Utopia. Protect me from racists. Protect me fom violence. Make the bad men stop."
The government, on the other hand and depending on your point of view, is either the overprotective parent or plays that role to advance the corrupt agendas of those that dwell within it. They assist in manufacturing the level of fear and then make their bold moves in the "how" of the solution.
If you want the racists/sexists to go away, they establish laws and quotas. Rather than the proper solution of allowing society to adjust to its own changing make up. We ask them to force us to learn to play well together. All that does is increase the animosity between groups. Forcing a racist of any color to face to work with the objects of his hate will only increase the anger.
You want to stop violence, they make the legal process surrounding firearms rather than punish the violent offenders. The rich and famous are found carrying unlicensed firearms and we trash them in the media for a day, followed by a small fine and some community service. I do subscribe to the NRA mantra that we are making it harder for people who already follow the law to get a gun. Those who would shoot a man for his wallet are not concerned with whether their gun is licensed. More the point, they prefer it not be licensed. In our demand for protection they set laws to guarantee jailtime until it is our friend or relative facing that time and then we demand leniency and social understanding of a person who made a mistake.
Now we constantly hear the rhetoric of terrorism after decades of thumbing our noses at the Middle East and other known regions of high terrorist sympathy. We dared the terrorists to strike our soil. Once they did, people scrambled to toss their civil rights and freedoms into the fire so that Father Government would protect us from the evil terrorists. Those outsiders. Those ragheads. Where was our concern for racism? Where was our concern for tolerance? Now we have a president (embarassment) who stands before us, calling us liberators and damning the people, who whether you agree with them or not, feel they are defending their homeland from invaders. Are they being manipulated just as we are?
It has spun out of control.
So how does this relate to a movie about a comic book character?
It can be summed up in a simple line from the movie.
It is not the people who should be afraid of their government, but the government that should be afraid of its people.
Our government does not fear us. The vast majority of people want the soldiers brought home. Yet they stay in Iraq. The government tells us that we should give up our rights so it can protect us from outside forces. Yet it sells our ports to outside companies. Everytime a real concern arises in the government, they push some less relevant hot-button issue to distract the masses. Abortion. Immigration. Racism. Or some other socially dividing issue so that we can fight amongst ourselves at the kiddie table, while the parents discuss the important topics.
What was the message of V for Vendetta? That we would all be very sexy in Guy Fawkes masks and large knives?
No.
Perhaps it was that Natalie is still pretty good looking with her head shaved?
No. But that is a good point.
It is the fact that until "We the people" get our acts together and realize that we hold the key to every social issue that faces us and that we do not need the government to "help" us decide the right stance on these issues, the individuals in power will continue to do as they please to help their chief supporters, both domestic and abroad, and leave us to pay their bills. It is very easy to be rich, when you are not paying your own way. We squabble over the small picture, while the big picture is moving on.
The message of the picture was unity. If we would put aside our personal issues and focus on the government's misdeeds, it would crumble before the sheer force of the masses. It may not be the sexy, explosive finale of V for Vendetta, but the country "of the people, by they people, and for the people" will not perish from the earth.
