Dystopian Society, V for Vendetta

History has a tendency to repeat itself. One of humanity’s most popular ways of getting its point across is through violence. When words are no longer enough to argue a point, human casualties not only directly solve the problem, but symbolically send a message to all those affected as well. Just as the American colonies fought against the British for Freedom when their voice was no longer heard, and just as the Islamic extremists used terrorism to send an evil message to America, both V and Chancellor Sutler used violence to gain a voice in a world of chaos.

In the film V for Vendetta the viewer is welcomed to a dystopia in which the government not only controls its citizens, but removes their privacy, civil rights, general freedoms, and even regulates what types of foods, jobs, and materials one is allowed. As the plot moves along, Chancellors Sutler’s actions to reach this dystopia are revealed. His use of biological warfare against the “weak” minorities of England was not only violent, but cruel, heartless, and sickening.

His intentions were not for the well being of his country, but for his own selfish greed and control. Chancellor Sutler was able to take advantage of the chaos, uncertainty, and fear within the world and manipulate the lives of his people with lies and a nonexistent hope. On the other hand, V took the fear that still existed in peoples’ minds, but helped them to realize they shouldn’t be afraid. In his plot to regain control on November Fifth he did made what could be his most important move.

He gave a nationally broadcasted speech to the citizens of his country, exposing and reminding the citizens of England what their government was doing to them. He helped them to recover the fact that this new life, this life that they had become accustomed to, had considered normal, was not in fact a country in which “England would prevail,” but rather a country which needed a face, and an idea. V slowly created a chaos, but not a chaos for the people, one for the government. V was able to turn the tables and remind those of popular sovereignty, power in numbers.

These actions were all peaceful, although V did find it necessary to directly take hold of the source of the countries disguised turmoil. His murders and assassinations of the people responsible sent not another message of fear, but a message of true hope, and a change for the better. Although both V’s and Sutler’s intentions of harm and hope were total opposites, it’s hard to deny the fact that their actions were similar. While V targets the government and Chancellor Sutler destroys the nation’s security, both use violence to let those uninformed hear what couldn’t be heard before.

Many argue that two wrongs don’t make a right, and killing for killing is unethical. So in order to fully understand the plot of the movie, you have to take a front seat to the hypocrisy of it all, and understand that whatever force is exerted, another force of equal value is created. It’s the balancing act of life. V may have disrupted the ideals that we as humans are given to believe, but he was only fighting the fight that was inevitably going to be fought.

The movie not only gives us a glimpse to the potential evil and manipulative people of the world, but also helps us to understand that sometimes violence is necessary. When actions are so terrible, so negative, and so extreme that people lose sight of right and wrong, and learn to accept the unacceptable, death is the only real verdict for some. V let England know that people like this would not be tolerated. Although violence was used, the ideas and symbolism were the true importance, and ideas are bulletproof.

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Film Techniques Used to Emphasize Themes in V for Vendetta

In the film V for Vendetta, the director, James McTeigue uses symbolism, costume and dialogue to emphasise the idea of everybody having a right to individuality, and the right – and duty – to resist forced conformism. James McTeigue uses symbolism in the film V for Vendetta to juxtapose the idea of individuality and the resistance of forced conformity. The first important symbol used in the film is V’s mask.

This symbol is shown in all of the scenes V appears in and again in the very last scene. In this scene thousands of citizens gather wearing the masks and remove them. Masks often symbolize a character hiding their identity. This final scene when the citizens remove their masks is important for emphasising the theme. The citizens show that they are no longer willing to allow themselves to be forced into conforming, that instead they will resist.

The other important symbol used by the director is mirrors; at the beginning of the film we are introduced to the characters of Evey and V as they put on their masks for the evening in their mirrors. V is also seen reflected in Delia’s eyes during the fire at Lark Hill. Mirrors often symbolise an unknown identity or not seeing yourself for who you really are. McTeigue uses both of these symbols to juxtapose the right to individuality and the right- and duty – to resist forced conformism.

He shows the characters in the film doing the opposite of this to emphasise why the viewers need to fight to preserve their own individuality. When speaking in an interview with Ryan Lambie on March 2nd 2012, McTeigue was asked how he feels about people using the masks for political protests and other such activities, McTeigue replied “I think the mask is a good way for people to feel free to do things they might not normally do” this statement shows McTeigue’s desire for the public to fight for their individuality and resist conforming to the wishes of the government.

The second visual feature used by the director in this film is costume. McTeigue shows a change in costume in the character Evey from the beginning to the end of the film, in order to emphasise Evey’s resistance to forced conformism and her journey to find her own individuality. At the beginning of the film, Evey dresses to blend in with the crowds; she wears light colours, nothing that stands out. However towards the end of the film, V helps Evey to lose her fear and discover who she is.

He shaves her head. After this point in the film Evey begins to wear darker coloured clothing such as blacks and greys, and wears her bald head with pride. She does not cover it with wigs or hats. This is similar to the costume changes shown in the film the Matrix, which James McTeigue helped direct. While in the Matrix the characters wear darker clothes, these colours show a change in attitude and the characters’ desires to resist being controlled and forced into conformity by the Machines.

This change in costume is similar to that of V for Vendetta, which shows Evey’s new-found confidence in her identity, and her willingness to resist conforming to the totalitarian society she lives in. In doing this, the director urges viewers to try to find their own individuality and resist the conformism in their own lives. He uses this film to warn viewers of the dangers of not resisting forced conformism, through the lack of change in costume in the other characters.

In 2011 an article was posted on Enotes which reads “V’s legacy for change is embodied in Evey, which is reflective of how individuals have to make a conscious choice to embody dissent and resistance… The end desire for anarchy is nothing more than a realization of individuality and individual choice… individuality and personal notions of identity are the opposing forces to totalitarianism… the need for individuality is seen as the antidote to a realm where political control is contingent on silence and a lack of individuality.

Plainly put the author means that V for Vendetta shows that in order to avoid totalitarianism the public must protect their individuality and resist forced conformity. One of the most important verbal techniques used by James McTeigue is dialogue. The director shows the characters’ lack of individuality and resistance to conformity through verbal speech. During the second act of the film V for Vendetta, Gordon states “When you wear a mask for so long, you begin to forget who you were beneath it”.

This statement not only emphasises the symbolism in the film but also shows Gordon’s lack of resistance to forced conformity. McTeigue chooses this line of dialogue to state the need to prevent putting on the mask to begin with. He wants viewers to believe that their individuality is important and they shouldn’t allow society to remove it from them. When asked by Evey to remove his mask near the end of the film V states “Evey, please . . . there is a face beneath this mask, but it’s not me.

I’m no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it, or the bones beneath them. ” By which he means that his identity is not based on the person beneath his mask, he is who he chooses to be. McTeigue uses this line of dialogue to show viewers that their identity is not decided by how they look, that they can choose their own identity by fighting for their individuality. James McTeigue uses symbolism, costume, and dialogue to emphasise the right to individuality and the right – and duty – to resist forced conformity in the film V for Vendetta.

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Politics in Modern Film (V for Vendetta)

The film I focused on for this essay, V for Vendetta, was filmed and produced in 2006 by Warner Brothers. The plot of the film circulates around a mysterious and charismatic masked freedom fighter being hunted down by the totalitarian British government in the near future.

Although his full identity is kept a mystery throughout the film, audiences learn he was a victim of a cruel scientific experiment involving “unwanted” British citizens and hormonal drugs.He spends decades planning out his revenge on those involved. While making preparations for both his revenge and a nation-wide revolution, the character known only as V has a run-in with a young woman working for the broadcasting station he later taking hostage. The day he takes the station hostage, the woman named Evey recognizes him as the same man who rescued her one night from crooked British patrolmen prowling the streets. Evey comes to his aid as V is almost caught and she is knocked unconscious in the process.The rest of the film leads audiences into the ever-thickening plot as a detective investigates and attempts to track down the “terrorist” only to discover an even more sinister power behind the deaths of thousands of British citizens: their own government. Putting this film into a category based on its intended audience was a challenge.

The film expresses values both of the mass and subgroup categories. The values shown are ones that indirectly praise American government for its constitutional rights of religion, press and speech, but it also promotes ideas of anarchy.Although both views have their strong arguing points in the film, I believe this film expressed more mass values. This is because the criteria for subgroup values demands that the public must be largely portrayed as being stupid and counter-active to the goal at hand. However, in this film, V must rely solely on the public‘s participation in order to carry through his vision of freedom. In a televised speech to the populace, V makes claims that have resounding similarities to our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Fairness, justice and freedom are more than words.

They are prospectives. ” He says. This is, in my mind, one of the most profound quotes in the film, behind his other statement that ”people should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people. ” The timing of the film and its statements on war point directly to America’s involvement in the war on terror and to President George Bush. The movie was filmed in 2005, only two years after the official war in Iraq was launched.The High Chancellor in the film, Adam Suttler, is described as being an ultra-conservative man with no understanding of political process. This parallel seems to encourage a commonly debated political theme pointed out in the White House by Americans opposed to the invasion and the war overseas.

The film even makes a blatant statement about America being in an on-going war that deprived it of its wealth and resources. A line reads: “They were a country who had everything, absolutely everything; and now, 20 years later is what?The world’s biggest leaper colony. ” There are still many Americans today who have strong aversion to the presence of American military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The Voice of England”, the a man revered as the biggest spokesperson in the English broadcasting sector, delivers a line in the film as he goes down the list of people unwanted and banished from the country’s boarders. This list, in addition to teens with sexually transmitted diseases and homosexuals, names Muslims specifically.In 2005, there was still unease in America about Muslim-Americans and risks they might pose to national security, much like the unrest about American-Japanese citizens that marked the time after the onset of World War II. Detective Finch, the detective working the V case to track him down before the revolutionary date, has a discussion with his partner after unearthing facts about the government.

“If your government was responsible for the deaths of almost a hundred thousand people, would you really want to know? This observation has striking similarity to theories voiced by a small portion of society who claim the attacks on the World Trade Center were carried out by our own government. The number 5 is a common theme in the film: the number of V’s cell in the concentration camp, the fifth of November being the date of the revolution, and the number of branches to the British government [they call the branches the nose, eyes, finger, ear and mouth]. This is also the number of branches of our military: The Army, the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air force and Homeland Security Coast Guard.Whether or not this parallel is intentional, it is one I noticed. A blacklist is also mentioned in the film after Chancellor Suttler demands the 1812 Overture, which played during the Old Bailey Statue’s explosion, be added to the back list so he may “never hear it again. ” This is the only Cold War reference in the film which tells me is was intended to be a more general statement about government censorship and control of information made available to the public.One political, or even social, statement made in the film that I agree with is Finch’s statement about how this ”terrorist” still has human emotions, shown by his taking and protection of Evey after she rescues him.

I believe one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter and people will always be at odds with each other. It is important to remember that even the most violent people do have passions and concerns. When one fights that hard for something, it obviously means a great deal to them. People are quick to forget about the humanity element in wars.During the investigation, Finch and his partner watch V on a video monitor as he stands over Evey’s unconscious body. Finch’s partner says, “He’s a terrorist. You can’t expect him to act like you or me.

” Finch, who sees that V took the girl to protect her out of compassion, responds with “some part of him is human”. Another statement made that I agreed with was one that also amused me. Detective Finch is searching for records of the concentration camp that supposedly imprisoned V years ago, but has little luck finding any.He says, “One thing is true of all governments; the most reliable records are tax records. ” Isn’t that true? This movie used many effective avenues of media to reach its audience. It included and alluded to several other pieces of literature and music within the film itself, which was a very clever device used to influence audience members to explore those hints individually. Literature seen in the film like “The Count of Mote Cristo” and the theatrical play “Faust” may also hold clues to political statements made even more subliminally in the film if evaluated within the context.

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V for Vendetta(Graphic Novels)

Graphic Novel “V for Vendetta” Close to the novel 1984 Which colors are associated to the 3 main characters? V: red white black Evey: Orange Finch: grey Themes: vendetta freedom the man behind the mask. Is V good? There is no good and bad in this story, it just right and wrong. How is terrorism […]

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V for Vendetta

Brainwashed or Truly Embraced? V for Vendetta By Alan Moore and David Lloyd “16. Was Evey brainwashed by V or did she truly embrace V’s ideals” A teenage girl saved by V while she became involved with a gang of London’s secrete police while looking for a way to escape her social, economical and emotional […]

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Criticism of V for Vendetta

Criticism on V for Vendetta “Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot” is the sentence that begins the film. “V for Vendetta” is a story of vengeance against the government in England. V is a man that was […]

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