Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

V for Vendetta is a frontrunner of the dystopian genre, reaching the levels of Orwell and Huxley in terms of sheer notoriety. It adds much into the conversation, with plenty of strong points, albeit one very heavy weakness (which I’ll get into later).

It originates from a DC comic of the same name, where England has fallen under a far-right dictatorship following a worldwide pandemic.

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*nervous half-laughter*

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Anyways, it centers around V, a revolutionary who idolizes Guy Fawkes, and seeks to overthrow the tyrannical government. Yet it’s primarily told through the eyes of Evey, a newsworker and daughter of a political author, who joins V; as well as Finch, a detective tasked with finding V, while instead discovering something else: the truth.

The story knows what it wants to be, making a dictatorship that is threatening but not invulnerable. It knows how to be philosophical and even fun in its presentation. The pacing has plenty of turns, but it rounds itself out well.

Hugo Weaving, despite being in a mask, still gives a great performance with V’s voice and movements. Natalie Portman also does well in representing Evey’s conflicted nature of the grand scale unfolding around her.

The film does a great job at demonstrating propaganda. There are overt instances, like a media anchor immediately thinking of how he can spin an anti-government attack, or how they show the news station shooting. But, some of them are more subtle, like a popular TV show being Storm Saxon, about a white nationalist who battles stereotyped Muslims (who face genocide in this cruel regime). It demonstrates how media can create an image in the public’s mind used to continue discrimination. Including rewriting history, by blaming them for the disease.

Speaking of rewriting history, this leads me to my main issue with the film: the veneration of Guy Fawkes as a symbol for liberty.

Guy Fawkes was an English conspirator who sought to blow up the Parliament building to kill King James, as well as many of the royal line, judges, and Parliament representatives (the latter of whom being the closest thing to democracy and a check on the king’s power); all to set up an absolute monarchy under Catholic rule, and target Protestants. As Alastair Bellany, history professor at Rutgers said, “[Guy Fawkes] may have wanted religious freedom, but it’s unlikely that if he was in a position of power, he would have extended that freedom to his religious enemies.”

In other words, Guy Fawkes wanted to eliminate a democratically elected legislature to begin a campaign of total government power and religious persecution.

You know. Like the evil government in V for Vendetta.

Either V or the creators did not do their homework. Worse yet, the people in real-life who use an absolute monarchist as a symbol against tyranny. If V actually knew that Guy Fawkes wanted to install a monarchy in England with even more power than the last, cementing a dictatorship, he would not support him. Period.

But even as he praises a man who goes against everything he stands for, V still is true to his own values. His own backstory is weaved in well, and the reasons behind his actions are clear. It still gives a great amount of ambiguity to his morality (ex Evey’s repulsion to his assassinating officials, or how he inspires civilians to dress in his costume, resulting in them being gunned down).

Of course, even while trying to be like Guy Fawkes, his plan to complete the destruction of Parliament makes little sense. Seeing how that was the symbol of democracy, and thereby should be something he would seek to protect.

Unless it has to do with the Norsefire Party winning by getting an overwhelming majority in Parliament, and thereby he would view it as a threat… yeah, that makes the most sense.

In any case, the effects of the dictatorship are never minimized. When Gordon does the comedy sketch mocking Chancellor Sutler, it is funny, but the audience knows how much trouble it will put him in. The mere ability to belittle and satirize our leadership is something we take for granted, yet is over so essential to our liberty. The brutality of Creedy, the Fingermen, the concentration camp lab–all based the cruelties inflicted by multiple dictatorships across history.

V for Vendetta tells a great tale of standing up to tyranny. The wit and cultural knowledge is fantastic. I consider it one of the last great dystopian stories, before YA Lit took it over.

Plot: 3/4
Characters: 3/4
World-building: 3/4
Details: 4/4
Misc: 4/4
Total: 17/20

What do you think of this movie? What are some of your favorite dystopian tales?

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