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In a near future the world takes a complete turnaround. Full with disease, war, and an economic meltdown a repressive totalitarian government starts to take over Great Britain. But, there is one man who will not let this happen. “V” a man who escapes unjust captivity vows to take revenge on all those who tortured him. V becomes a “terrorist” to help open the eyes of his country. While on his way to perform his first terroristic attack; V saves the life of Evey, who is about to be raped by undercover policemen better known as fingermen.
He asks her to accompany him to hear some music although reluctant she agrees and follows him.
As they are standing on top of a building music starts to play. Evey gets very excited to hear the song over the speakers as Norsefire had outlawed most things after curfew. While on top of the building they watch the destruction of Old Bailey on the anniversary of Guy Fawkes Day which is November 5. V uses this to get an uproar from the people with not much success.
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Norsefire uses the media to explain the incident as an "emergency demolition" of a structurally unsound building.
Meanwhile the chancellor is getting angry that they are not able to capture V. The government uses all their resources in capturing him, like listening in on their residents’ conversations. Even with the government controlling everything V takes over the television broadcasts to claim responsibility of the destruction of the Old Bailey.
He urges the people of Britain to rise up against their government and meet him in one year, on November 5, outside the House of Parliament, which he promises to destroy.
Throughout the year he fulfills his own promise of taking vengeance on all of those who were present at Larkhill Camp, a camp meant for undesirables. V with some help from Evey, and the detective is able to get his final message across to all the people by destroying the house of Parliament just as he promised. The people finally decide to go against their government and show up even with the threat of death to anyone who disobeys the chancellor’s laws. At the end we see that V’s vision of standing up to the government take place.
Analysis: In the movie V for Vendetta we get a view as to how life would be like in a totalitarian government. Norsfire “exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life… and cultural expression is suppressed. ”(Free Dictionary) Living in a democracy I know have an idea as to how horrible and boring life would be like in a fascist country. Throughout the first half of the movie we get the sense of repression and fear. Norsefire has the people of England under control by implementing a curfew for everyone.
We see how the fingermen who are supposed to be helping and protecting taking advantage of their power by trying to assault Evey. Just for the simple fact that she was not at home by curfew. As V put it “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people. ” (V for Vendetta) V tries to get the people to stand up to their government when he takes over BTN which was the station responsible for getting all the news that was approved to the people.
Norsfire tried to keep everyone in line by having people ‘black-bagged’ and making them disappear just because, they spoke up against them and decided to protest . The movie shows that the less the people know of the truth, the better off the government is at keeping everyone quiet and under control. We see just how cruel the chancellor was when guest starred in Gordon’s show. He was very upset that he was ridiculed on T. V. for all of England to see. That same night he had Gordon black bagged and executed. We get to see exactly how much power he has against his own people.
In America Gordon would’ve been protected under the first amendment in the Bill of Rights which “Protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press, as well as the right to assemble and petition the government”. (List of Amendments) In the United States of America we are lucky to have the Bill Of Rights which helps protect the people from the government. Here we have a democracy which is a form of government in which all the citizens vote and have an equal say in matters concerning how their government will be run.
Whereas totalitarianism is a “political system wherein a single person bestowed with all powers recognizes no limit to his powers” (Aaron). Totalitarianism regulates everything from what goes on T. V. , what books people can read, the music they can hear all the way to controlling what they can see on the internet. In our current events the U. S. A is currently fighting a war on terrorism. When V for vendetta was released it was a great controversy because people where stating that V was a terrorist and not a freedom fighter.
To an extent he is because of the way he goes about getting the people to hear his idea. But the way he does his acts it is easy to disagree that he was a terrorist. V does blow up buildings, but they’re usually empty and he does it after the curfew as to not hurt innocent people. When he does kill policemen it was because they attacked him first or they were hurting someone else. In my opinion in V for Vendetta the chancellor and all his helpers are the actual terrorists. They are the ones that frighten everyone in their country so they can keep being at the top.
The media in this movie also played a big role as BTN was the only allowed station to broadcast government approved messages. When V blew up Old Bailey the government used the media and its strong influence on it to report to the people that the government was behind the explosion. They let the people know that it was time to rebuild a new one to represent the current time they are living in. And that the fireworks were a surprise for everyone. The government lied and brought fear onto everyone.
They reported that they were looking for a cure for the virus they spread at St. Mary’s. The people were so happy that Norsefire found a cure that they elected them into office. In order to keep their people from getting worried or going on V’s side the news reported that V’s “organization” had spread the virus that claimed the life of many. Because of the extreme censorship all programs were taped and approved before being put on T. V. All political, sexual, and or religious, views not in line with the rules were banned. Anyone who protested against it was usually captured during the night by finger men taken in for interrogation and tortured until they died.
The government also kept a “black list”, for all music that could never be played or listened to as the Chancellor did not like it. Everything V did was to get the people to wake up and fight the government that was not doing them any good. As Evey tells V “My father was a writer. You would've liked him. He used to say that artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up. ” (V for Vendetta) Opinion: V for Vendetta is a thought provoking movie. At the beginning, I couldn't figure out if V was the villain or the hero?
Was he just a brainwasher who was seeking revenge to those who wronged him? I don't think Evey knew either but, she still heard what he had to say and even then it wasn’t until V tortured her that I feel she truly understood what he was trying to accomplish. V was just preaching freedom; he wanted a government that's there to help and support not to strict bluntly with no cause. A government should protect the people not oppress them. I believe this movie shows us an exaggerated version of what we see today. The media has a great impact and can manipulate one’s opinion with just pure speculation and lies.
For example in the death of Trayvon Martin the media cut out pieces of the 911 call so they could sell an even bigger story. ” NBC finally concluded what many outside critics already stated: That it made a serious mistake in editing audio from a 911 call by the man accused of murdering an unarmed 17-year-old youth in Florida. ” (Eric Deggans) Even though V for vendetta was a very controversial movie, it really makes you double think on everything you see and hear. This movie proves how a man can become corrupt with absolute power and do anything he can to keep it as so.
V for Vendetta Analysis. (2016, Sep 11). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/v-for-vendetta-analysis-essay
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