James Mcteigue's V For Vendetta

The film 'V for Vendetta' directed by James McTeigue addresses the idea of governmental authority and control in our society. One key scene where this is portrayed is in the opening, where Evey goes out to visit Gordon Deitrich after curfew. The futuristic landscape of a totalitarian England is displayed here, where the oppressive party in power have created a culture of fear to ensure the conformity of the citizens. However, in contrast, the final scene of the film where a crowd converges to watch Parliament blow up, illustrates a further idea. That when united, it is the people who have the power to change their society, through rebellion and political uprising.

V for Vendetta, associated with DC Comics, sets the film in England; during the Norsefire regime. During this oppressive regime ruled by Adam Sutler, people who were homosexual and practice religions other than Christianity were directed to concentration camps. V, being thrown in the concentration camp, was tortured and experimented. Consumed by his vengeance, V becomes an anarchist and believes that “the only verdict is vengeance.” By wearing the mask of Guy Fawkes, V seeks to get vengeance on those who have done him immoral and free England from the Norsefire regime to point out that, “people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people”.

In a totalitarian country, any ordinary citizen’s powers are limited, if at all possible. Although any individual is treated like a part of the society, he has no chances to play a vital role in it. A person is to follow officially dispersed propaganda and obey the rules, which intend to control everything. The totalitarian system uses any means including manipulation, intimidation and even the worst forms of repression just to achieve the main goal -  staying in power. George Orwell’s 1984 and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are very similar novels which describe two different societies being mainly focused on individuals opposing the existing systems. In Orwell’s novel, the

Of the many symbolic masks, the Guy Fawkes mask stands out as one of the most effective, often being used as a “masked identity” in order to make profound statements. Not only does this secret identity create more attention to the “masked one” but it also diverts attention to the cause rather than the identity. Literally using a mask, Fawkes was the main influence of the character “V”, in James McTeigue’s, V For Vendetta. V’s connections and motivations to Guy Fawkes, his attempt to justify himself as a terrorist, and V’s concealment of his true identity, collectively define the message that V conveys to his audience: to break parliament and take control of their own country.

The graphic novel V for Vendetta discusses the issues of totalitarianism in a dystopian version of a parallel England in the year 1997 following a nuclear war during the 1980s. Following the war, a fascist and white supremacist group took control and have been brutally controlling the English people ever since. In this age, the government controls everything, including censoring media and dictating personal behavior, setting a national curfew, and even sexual preference. There are secret police that do little more than torment the citizens. Those who do not follow along with the rules of this regime are sent to resettlement camps where they are exterminated. Dissenters, homosexuals, non-white people, and immigrants from other nations are all considered enemies of the state and are shipped off. After the government is overthrown the people respond by rioting and looting and it is unclear whether they will be better off in this new, free world.

A society ruled by a single commander who possesses all of the power can be an intimidating deliberation. Political philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ had this sort of thought though- a supreme leader was the best way to create absolute sovereign and remove civil war within society. Hobbes believed that if citizens created a social contract, it would be the ideal way for citizens to live within peace and adhere to the law of nature. Within the graphic novel V for Vendetta written by Allan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, the aspect of their totalitarian government, The Norsefire reflects Hobbes’ ideology of the social contract. V for Vendetta encompasses Thomas Hobbes’ social contract theory, illuminating what could happen is society

In Orwell’s novel he creates a fictional society in which the government rules all the people and holds complete power over everyone. The government is referred to as ‘The Party’ and they depict themselves and flawless, generous, and so very helpful to all of mankind. They feed the people lies and tell them that without them (The Party), the citizens would be hopeless and could not possibly survive. The government holds onto their widespread power by instilling fear upon all citizens. They openly let the people know that they have spies hidden everywhere, and they have various technological devices that will ensure that every person is acting exactly how the government wants them to. For example, the ‘telescreen’ was a device that was mandatory in every citizen’s house and was installed by the government. It was basically a video recorder that could watch a person’s every move, as well as read off important news from the government rulers. The main character in Orwell’s novel, Winston Smith, expresses his thoughts about the telescreen by realizing that “at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and,

In our society today, we have all these rights, but imagine if we did not. 1984, written by George Orwell, and V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue, both paint accurately scary descriptions about the government in the future and the dystopian society. 1984, written in 1949, was intended to be a portrayal of the future and V for Vendetta, made in 2005, shows Britain in power in 2038. Both of these pieces of literature were not far off from their description. As every single year passes by, our own society starts to reflect images from these books. When the government has this much power over the people, the people rebel, but can they be a success or not?

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

The film “V for Vendetta” directed by James McTeigue is set in Britain london . The director’s purpose in making this film is to explore the idea of dystopian where people live in terror and extremely bad conditions to live with and totalitarianism where people are in absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution. This idea has links to the theme of fascism and criticism where people are controlled by government which is led by a dictator. The director successfully explores this idea throughout the scene.

Literacy has been used in many forms throughout time and one of these forms is to revolt against unfair governments and totalitarian governments. These forms of literature often demonstrated another type of totalitarian government, the film ‘V for vendetta’ directed by James McTeigue and the novel ‘1984’ written by George Orwell are great examples of this. V for vendetta shows a totalitarian government in an alternative London and 1984 shows a totalitarian government in a fictional world.

In the graphic comic “V for Vendetta”, V is a masked anarchist fighting for justice by attacking the government and the people who have done him wrong in the past. He lures the fascist party out of the shadows and encourages citizens to take charge and change their way of life. This novel reveals many controversial themes: anarchy, revenge, power of symbols and freedom, the factors that make up a great comic.

In the graphic novel V for Vendetta written by David Lloyd and Alan Moore, there is a large dispute in regards to whether or not the protagonist of the novel is an actual terrorist, or if he is simply a freedom fighter. Many may believe that it varies according to one’s different experiences and their knowledge; however, the graphic novel reinforces the idea that a terrorist is someone who inflicts harm on innocent civilians and is determined to creates a sense of fear; meanwhile, a freedom fighter is someone who fights for the greater good. In the novel V for Vendetta, the character V seeks revenge and justice, however in doing so helps London recuperate from their corrupt government

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." V for Vendetta is an action packed thriller that involves lots of intense scenes and follows a great storyline. This film does an awesome job of keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. This movie is great in showing that the people are powerful and can be in charge, if they put their minds to it.

2a) Describe the differences between the fascist Norsefire government’s and V’s anarchist view of a “healthy country.” How do Norsefire and V define the role of the government and the role of the citizen differently?