V for Vendetta Movie Review

V for Vendetta is a satirical movie depicting a post-war Britain under a fascist government regime.  The premise of the film is that a masked anarchist, referred to only as V, is blowing up symbolic British government buildings in protest of the current fascist rule.  After saving a media employee from corrupt police officers, V decides to take the young woman under his wing.  In the process he divulges to her his grand plot, and as partners they collude to destroy the British Parliament building in hopes of overthrowing the government.  The satirical elements of the movie are the circumstances under which the autocracy seized control. The movie drew parallels to the post-9/11 political landscape wherein government response to terrorism involved the Iraq War and increased government surveillance.  The issue the movie poses is, does the global political response to terrorism have comparative qualities to the fear-driven rise of fascism described in this movie?

 

The issue presented in this 2005 film remains relevant today because of the serious discussion of terrorism that still persists.  It is a compelling issue because of the vast impact it has had on society’s outlook in response to government action on terrorism.  For example, the Patriot Act was signed following 9/11 during the Bush administration.  The bill has allowed the National Security Agency to amass large quantities of data without the public’s consent in the name of national security interests.  These kinds of actions are consistent with the actions taken by the tyrannical government in the movie.  However, the government is not responsible for overstepping the boundaries of freedom; rather it is the public’s fear that drives fascist government action.  In the movie V says, “if you are looking for someone to blame, you may only take a look into a mirror.”  The government cultivates the public’s fear of terrorism as grounds to prevent terrorism by any means necessary.  In most cases, this can only be achieved by increasing government surveillance and sacrificing  individual liberties.

 

Since the movie’s release in 2005, the number of global terror attacks has increased.  In addition, the looming threat of terrorism has continued to reshape politics in the Western hemisphere.  Most recently, the ideological differences in handling terrorism has been influential in giving political support to conservative factions in the U.S.and across Western Europe.  Conservatives typically supports an aggressive “by any means necessary” anti-terror stance.  For example, the increase in terror attacks certainly helped conservative leader Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election.  In addition, the British conservative party recently voted to exit from the the European Union.  The European Union has taken a more liberal approach to refugees from Muslim-majority areas.  Most notably, France and Germany have been proponents of taking in more refugees, though both countries have received strong opposition from conservative factions after recent terror attacks.

 

There is still much I hope to learn on this topic because the issue of the fear-driven politics is of current relevance, but it hard to say how much impact terrorism has had on government action.  I hope to find out by tracing government action in the Western world, though I will mainly focus on the United States.  Obviously, the global governmental response to terrorism can’t be equated to autocracy, but specific actions of governments have raised concern.  It is an incredibly complex issue, but I hope to at least gain a mild understanding of how this current political landscape pertains to the a dystopian depiction expressed in this movie.

 

The ‘Guy Fawkes’ mask that the main character, V, wears symbolizes protest.