V for Vendetta

I’m thrilled. I was afraid they’d ruin it, but they did quite well. I’d heard that some reviewers felt that only the first half hour and last half hour were worth watching. I suppose that if you buy your tickets only to see blood and explosions, and you are incapable of grasping the prose, symbols, and grace of the film… well then, yes. Ignore the middle. The middle involves a little thought, and perhaps that is not for everyone.

I’m not saying it was complex or particularly lofty. The questions it raises, and artfully so, are perhaps most projected towards the average Joe, as the average Joe is the mass to the movement of mankind across time. They are the water to the flow of history. Usually, the Joes of the world are tossed about like mindless mulch, slaves to every whim of wind, rain, or rat that decides to define their places. Plenty of people tell the Joes what to do. Sometimes they obey, sometimes not. Generally the only deciding factor is the charisma of the speaker and the flash of the bribe. But, I think what I love about a work like this is that it slaps people across the face and out of their comfortable haze, asks some hefty questions, and then instead of telling the Joes what their answer should be, it demands they actually think of their own. Perhaps that is, after all the most important first answer, that people start to step back and think for themselves more, and accept the scripted answers less.

Do I think the main character was right? I think the whole work is perfectly wrong and right and beautiful and brutal. It shows how easily our accepted ideals break down when examined from another angle. I’m not lauding V’s destructive acts as some sort of heroism. There was probably a better way to do what needed doing. There usually is. But what is it? Was what he did any worse than our wars, that many cheer and rally behind? I have more respect for his acts than that of the war-makers. I admire the strength of one, to stand against whatever fate and do what that one knows is right. I admire the strength of many, when they chose to stand up against oppression. I am against violence. I am, however, for the integrity to stand up for what you believe, regardless of what anyone else says or does. How I find balance among those things in my life and my choices… well, I wont tell you. Make your own answers.

Is inciting chaos a viable method of restructuring a nation? I suppose the idea is that, when the little wood chips are scattered in so desperate a position, and the gardeners too self-involved to care, all you can do is toss them all in the air… see where the chips may fall and hope they fall where they choose too, not wherever the wind blows, and that they choose wisely. We are, after all, men and women with minds, not mere pulp… aren’t we?
What am I rambling on about, anyway? I loved the movie. I guess that’s all. To some, maybe it’s just another comic-book made into a flick, plus a weird guy in a mask who talks too much but had a couple neat action scenes. I’m pleased, though. I’ve waited many months for this to come out and I was not disappointed.