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Political themes in v for vendetta
Political themes in v for vendetta
Thesis statement for v for vendetta film
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Fictions are often used to examine more complex societal concerns as scene in the graphic novel and popular film “V for Vendetta”. “V for Vendetta” asks the question what exactly is the expectations of society? This topic is explored by using a fictional world to show the known and possible aspects that make up society and its ideologies. Humans have a strong desire to explore how one can better society. Because of this desire, “science fiction works, ‘V for Vendetta’ is often a strong indicator of how humanity may progress as well as how it relates to current political, religious, and social ideologies” (Alsford). Even though the film and the graphic novel are set in different time periods with different societal concerns, I believe that overall they both show the same goal of questioning common systems and their impact on the future of humanity.
The Contextual Makeup of “V for Vendetta
“V for Vendetta” was originally a short comic book written by Alan Moore in 1982. It was reportedly greatly impacted by the social and political concerns of the early 1980’s. Moore’s world was set in hypothetical United Kingdom in early 1980’s. Moore drew upon Margret Thatcher’s conservative political tactics and the issue of disarming nuclear weapons.
The story revolves around a masked figure V, and his relationship with the young Evey Hammond. She is fed stories by the government claiming that societal out casts such as homosexuals, extremists, and immigrants were behind the vicious nuclear attacks. Evey, herself is a victim of this social environment, as her father is taken from her and placed in a concentration camp. The story parallels to World War II and the government tactics are similar to the Hitler’s regimen. History remains an impo...
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...ndetta. New York: Vertigo/DC Comics, 2005. Print.
Oberschall, Anthony. Social movements: ideologies, interests, and identities. New Brunswick (U.S.A.): Transaction, 1993. Print.
Works Cited:
Alsford, M. "The Primal Question: What are We." What If? Religious Themes in Science Fiction. London: Logmann and Todd, 2000. 26-48. Print.
Althusser L. "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.". 1970. La Pensee.
Gramsci A. “Prison letters”. 1996. Pluto Press.
Horkheim M., Adorno T. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” Original copywrite 1944
Moore, Alan, David Lloyd, Steve Whitaker, Siobhan Dodds, Jeannie Connor, Steve Craddock, Elitta Fell, and Tony Weare. V for vendetta. New York: Vertigo/DC Comics, 2005. Print.
Oberschall, Anthony. Social movements: ideologies, interests, and identities. New Brunswick (U.S.A.): Transaction, 1993. Print.
Imagine a world where civil liberties have been stripped away, a bare façade of civilization left behind. This is a world that is inhabited by people who were once free-willed and strong-minded. These people have become weak and obedient, easily bent to the will of their oppressive government. The world that these words have conjured up in your mind is the same existence that the characters occupy in Edwidge Danticat’s “A Wall of Fire Rising” and Alan Moore’s “V” for Vendetta. Danticat’s story is about a small family living in present-day Haiti with their small, ambitious son. The country is a mish-mash of people amassing obscene fortune while the rest scrape at the bottom of the proverbial barrel just to make ends meet; the class gap is seemingly far apart. In Danticat’s story, the husband spends his days either working at the sugarcane mill or searching for work elsewhere. Each day the husband watches the mill owner’s son take a hot air balloon up into the sky, and each day becomes more envious of the freedom attached to that action. After complaining to his wife about his exhaustion with their current situation he claims that he wants to take the hot air balloon for himself and leave Haiti for a far-away and better place. The following day, the husband makes good on his word, abandons his family, and takes the hot air balloon up into the sky. In James McTeigue’s version of “’V’ for Vendetta”, the country is a futuristic and dystopian London. Corrupt politicians control every aspect of the country and the citizens within. The main character, a masked vigilante by the name of V, grows tired of his country’s lack of freedom and decides to destroy an historic courthouse at midnight on the morning of November the 5th. The building i...
V for Vendetta is a great movie to watch in Civics class. It is a perfect film to discuss issues related to civics as it talks about citizen’s duty to overthrow corruption and more. As it is set against the ‘futuristic landscape of a totalitarian Britain’, this story focuses on a young working-class woman named Evey. In the event of being in a life-death situation, she meets V who rescues her. V makes her realize that she has the potential to do anything she desires and discovers the truth about herself as well as V. This movie is covered with various relations to Civics.
The book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and the movie V for Vendetta both take place in a dystopian future. Each one very different, but similar dystopian societies with many similar aspects such as luring citizens into false happiness, censoring citizens from different forms of literature, and characters who can really see behind the government’s façade and tell what is wrong with society. Similarity between the two ranges from meek things such as a similar setting with both societies residing in London, or more intricate things like similarities between the governments. Since the beginning of mankind humans have long since craved for a feeling of belonging and to be a part of something. Over the long history of mankind this same feeling has led to the growth of civilizations and societies. Eventually leading up to modern day societies with governments such as republics, dictatorships, and democracies. Each with its own different ways of
... studying these four texts based around Survival of Society in Post-apolitical Environments, I have found significant connections between these texts. These connections have been very beneficial to study as each illustrates a different aspect of this topic, which can all be related to society. These films show us as the audience that often scarifies have to be made for the better of another and the will to survive in humans can encourage morally wrong/unethical actions. We can learn from these connections as in every day life we can make the small sacrifices that will make a big difference. Also, they make us think twice about when we make decision in our society as morally wrong unethical Act are punished for accordingly. We can use this knowledge to better us as a society in our daily lives. This startling idea appeals to the audience of these films thrill of post-
Conclusively, dystopian texts are written to provide a warning about future times. Authors and directors use a variety of techniques to put their idea forward and have an impact of the audience. Rules that the chosen texts exhibit include that citizens have a fear of the outside world and all citizens adhere to a strict set of rules, but there is a main protagonist who scrutinises the governments or society’s nature. The rules that authors and directors use to put forward their messages of the moral issues human cloning and relying too much on technology and instinctively perusing traditions are evident throughout all three texts.
The purpose of any text is to convey the criticisms of society, with V for Vendetta and Animal Farm being chief examples of this statement. Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation, they portray many of society's flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that role's ability to motivate and inspire change.
In this day in age, it is very common to find films adapted from books. Many of those films do a very well in their adaptations, but some fall short. Since it was finished, and even before its release date, the V for Vendetta film has gained some controversy from its own author. But, although the film did not end up how Alan Moore, the author, would have wanted it, he did not contribute to the project, even so, the filmography very clearly kept with the original work and showed itself as a product of the time.
In their graphic novel Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons establish their story during the Cold War period, when a group of superheroes tackle the task to save humanity from a potential World War III caused by tensions among governmental powers. Managed by the intelligence of Adrian Veidt, the worst was avoided after the attack of alien forces causes the death of millions of New Yorkers that leads to a temporary world peace. The representations of the Watchmen superheroes of Moore and Gibbons, particularly Rorschach, display the concept of heroism being a part of the real world, among the regular public of our society.
Watchmen is not just a graphic novel, but also a unique representation of American idealism as expressed through character image. Although the characters are portrayed as "superheroes," each is psychologically complex in that they become symbols for the flaws of American culture. Together, the characters of Watchmen reflect an unflattering image of American identity. We sacrifice morals to defend principles, rather than saving people. We sacrifice ourselves for commercial gain and for the fame that comes from the worship of strangers.
Throughout Watchmen by Alan Moore we are presented with the theme of breaking down the effectiveness of super heroes. Showing the world that super heroes, who are depicted as bearers of all things good and true, would not be feasible. These heroes are given authority over common mortals while remaining unwatched, which can have far more detrimental affects on society than a society without “super heroes”. Even the most prized person in spandex would too, like common mortals, present moral lapse and cognitive dissonance between what society wants them to do and personal ambition. Alan Moore shows this dubious morality of the most divine character in this graphic novel. Dr. Manhattan, a man turned into an omniscient being shows disconnect between the world and himself. Within the short essay entitled Dr.Manhattan: Super-powers and the superpowers, we see the flaws in allowing heroes to remain unwatched; to do as they please without the consequence of your average human. This helps exemplify the deconstruction of the political superhero. These flaws include dehumanizing of Dr. Manhattan in making him the United States of America’s nuclear deterrent, that Dr.Manhattan is not the Vitruvian Man; a perfect specimen, as society makes him out to be, and the fact that a “God Exists and he’s American” (Dr.Manhattan: Super-powers and the superpowers.II). This essay amplifies the theme of breaking down the effectiveness of super heroes, just as Moore sought to do.
One of the most interesting parts of the film, in relation to Marxist thought, is the growth of Evey, the female protagonist, and her battle with her own false consciousness. She begins as a proletariat who, when caught on the street after curfew by police, honestly believes she has done wrong. Later, after meeting V and having his message stir something within her, Evey defends him by attacking a policeman during V’s takeover of the government-run television station. Yet, when she awakens at V’s hideout, her false consciousness takes hold and she wonders, “God, what have I done? I maced a detective. Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have done it. I must’ve been out of my mind!” To which V responds, “Is that what you really think, or what they would have wanted you to think?” suggesting the existence of her false
The model, Evey Hammond, assists the creation of an improved society only after undergoing activation and her own transformation. At the beginning of the graphic novel, the death of her violators rescues her from death and oppression. This, just like the destruction of corrupt institutions, creates the space for freedom. V not only creates this space for both Evey and society, but also calls them out of their passivity. Particularly, he challenges Evey to be stronger than her past because “[it] can't hurt [her] anymore, not unless [she] allows it” (Moore 29). By executing her father and enslaving her to child labour, the government turned her into a “victim” and a “statistic,” but she has the power to free herself from the regime's ideology and exploitation (29). It is Evey's responsibility to find such power within her past and identity to “become transfigured... forever” (172).
Geertz defines religion as ‘(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.’ In this essay, I will focus on the Geertz’s idea, and Asad’s subsequent critique, of symbols. (Geertz, Clifford, and Michael Banton. "Religion as a cultural system." (1966).)
Barbour, Ian G. Religion in an Age of Science. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Print. (BL 240.2 .B368 1990)
Explore the characters. Are they believable and round, or flat and one-dimensional? Does the major character ( the protagonist) change? What causes the change?