This morning (Sunday morning) at around 3 am, I finished my first viewing of "V for Vendetta." If you haven’t seen it, I would certainly recommend doing so. Netflix added the film on April 1st, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find.
"V for Vendetta" is based on a graphic novel of the same name, written by Alan Moore. He also wrote "Watchmen," which was equally awesome, if not more so. The only thing you need to know about Alan Moore is that he’s a whack job. A certified kook and self-declared magician. And not the cute grandpa kind of magic. Actual magic. He thinks he’s a shaman. But I sure am glad he’s a good writer.
The film was written by the Wachowski siblings. They’ve also worked on films like "The Matrix" trilogy and "Cloud Atlas", as well as the current Netflix show "Sense8." I’ve seen all these programs and they’re all really great. But they require your attention. The Wachowskis are very heady individuals, but they do some pretty cool things.
Combining their talent for extraordinary things with Alan Moore’s source material, "V for Vendetta" has some pretty interesting thoughts on society.
The film is set in a slightly futuristic England. A fascist government is in power, responsible for massive censoring of the population, as well as many other oppressive actions. The two “good guys” of the story are V (The Guy Fawkes mask wearing guy that you’ve probably seen) and Evey (Natalie Portman). They, mostly V, promote rebellion and self-rule through acts of terrorism – blowing stuff up. The only other thing I’ll say without spoiling anything important is that V wears the Guy Fawkes mask for the duration of the movie.
One of the major themes for the movie that I picked up on was the importance of ideas and their ability to outrun or outlive people.
At the end of the movie Evey, talking about V, says that “He was Edmond Dantes. He was my father, and my mother, my brother, my friend. He was you, and me. He was all of us.”
This quote is a great representation of what I’m talking about. V represented more than an individual. He never takes off the mask because it is not about who is underneath. It’s about what the mask stands for. The idea of breaking out of oppression and standing up for individual rights resonates through everyone.
At another point in the movie Evey says “We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world.” This is perfect example of the theme. Ideas are capable of living well beyond the years of the people they come from. But, when the ideas are strong, we still remember the people.
There’s a reason we remember names like Plato or Aristotle. It’s not because of their actions. It’s because of their ideas. Society used to value things like that. But currently, we’ve gotten away from it. We don’t value ideas. We value entertainment, and we value being right.
We value sports stars and their talent on the field, usually regardless of their actions off the field. It’s the reason that domestic violence cases rarely result in an athlete losing his or her job. And if one team releases the player, another is usually willing to take the chance. Society doesn’t value the ideas of the person, as long as their sporting success can override every other aspect of their life.
It’s also why people don’t value debate anymore. It is really rare to find someone with different ideas or views who is willing to have a meaningful discussion without demeaning you for believing different ideas. Discussion is key to the development of ideas.
Yelling at someone and calling them stupid for what they believe isn’t a good way to go about things. Instead, have a good discussion. Take their idea and provide an alternate that you believe is more correct. To that, they may listen. What they won’t listen to is someone yelling and calling them stupid.
Our current society places an extreme amount of value on being entertaining and being right. But if you truly want to be remembered, take good care of your ideas.
