By Jamilah Hoffman
I have to admit that I walked
into the movie theater with a bias: I want to see society changed. I want to see and be a part of the
transformation where all of humanity benefits, and the buzz going into V for
Vendetta seemed to echo a society that was questioning the need for such
changes. However, the movie fails to
understand that in order to fundamentally change society, it will take the
strength of the people as a whole, rather than the action of one masked
avenger.
V, our anti-hero, destroys the
Old Bailey within the first fifteen minutes of the movie, which coincides with
the anniversary of Guy Fawkes Day. Guy
Fawkes was among a group of Catholics in November of 1605, who were determined
to blowup Parliament in the Gunpowder plot while King James I was still
inside. This was in a series of
unsuccessful plots and revolts that took place at that time.
Basically, the city of London, where the movie
takes place, is in the midst of a fascist theocracy. There are curfews and strict moral codes, and
V is determined to change all of this by blowing things up, with a little
personal vendetta thrown in along the way.
He ends up taking over state controlled television at one point and
speaks to all of London
about his plans to blow up Parliament next year, on the anniversary of Guy
Fawkes Day.
In the movie we can see that
the people are not in lock step with their government. For example, the government blamed the
blowing up of the Old Bailey on a planned demolition. However, some people who saw the explosion
with their own eyes, with all the fireworks and the music, did not believe them. We also see a little girl yell “bollocks,”
at the television indicating a growing sense on behalf of the people that
something is wrong and that something needs to be done. It seems that the
people have become so accustomed to the way things are that a great deal of
their inaction stems from a real fear of going against this fascist state.
What strikes me about all of
this is that the people are just sitting and waiting. They know something needs to be done, but
society has transformed to such a state that they cannot act unless someone
else acts first. So they wait for a
message from V. They wait for the next
Guy Fawkes Day. They have become so
demoralized that at one point in the movie, during a flashback, a young woman
whose girlfriend had been taken away to some unknown camp, sits in her living
room and waits for the authorities to come and take her away too.
I think this is a problem a
lot of people in this country face today.
They are afraid and they are waiting for someone or something. They’re waiting for the Democrats to do
something, or for some leader to come and jumpstart the movement. They wait for their neighbors or friends to
act before they will. Somehow, they
believe that they have no power at all to change things and to work to create
the society they want, one that can benefit all. This is where I find fault with the film in
that it shows that people have lost all hope until V comes and starts blowing
things up and even then, he is the one who primarily acts, the people just
watch.
However, it is important to
note that V’s strategy does appeal to the people and he does inspire people to
think and to act on an individual level.
A television host becomes more bold and actually satirizes their High
Chancellor, and a little girl spray paints a wall. While the people are breaking out of their
paralysis, there’s no concentrated effort to mobilize them, or to create a more
cohesive force that will protect and guide them and they get taken out one by
one.
With that said, I can’t help
but to compare this movie to The Battle of Algiers. Made in 1966, the film covers the events from
November 1954 to December 1960, in which revolutionary cells were beginning in
the Casbah, and there was growing conflicts between native Algerians and French
colonists. I think comparisons are valid
because in V for Vendetta, we see a people were passive and could only
act when told by a masked leader. In The
Battle of Algiers, we see people who realized that in order to be free from
their colonizers, they had to take matters into their own hands, put themselves
on the line, and take risks that included death to finally free
themselves. There was no one leader, no
savior who held all the strings and made all the decisions. It was a very organized effort on behalf of
the people that finally brought them freedom.
I ended up watching both movies within a week of each
other and I am more than certain that it must take a movement from below to
create the change in society that benefits all.
I still recommend seeing V for Vendetta because it causes the
audience to question whether direct action and civil disobedience can change
anything. The real life story of the
Algerian people, as shown in The Battle of Algiers, answers that question
in the freedom of the Algerian people from colonial rule.