The film V for Vendetta provides a controversial message that is still enduring. [1] It is set in a dystopian future Britain ruled by a fascist government that came to power by blaming religious extremists for acts of bioterrorism. [2] The main character, V, acts as a freedom fighter seeking to liberate people from fear and totalitarian control through symbolic acts of destruction. [3] While some critics argue the film glorifies terrorism, others see it as a timely critique of governments that abuse power and limit civil liberties in the name of national security.

1. A controversial film with
an enduring message
Mourkas Dimitris

2. The “sinister” Guy Fawkes
 Fawkes was a member of the Gun power plot which on 1604 tried to blow up the parliament in London and kill the catholic
King James. After the disclosure of the plot and the execution of Fawkes Londoners celebrated every year the “plot night”
with fireworks and by throwing Fawkes dummy into the fire. Fawkes in England was considered the embodiment of treason.

3. The context of the Film
• United states had unleash a full scale war against terrorism were due to the polarized
atmosphere the “good” and the “evil” were regarded as the only option. Bush’s
administration in order to justify the “crusade” that under-took on that time invested on
creating fear to the citizens by establishing a set of stereotypes that in many cases were
completely irrelevant to the war against terrorism. Conservatism became the dominant
ideology resulting thus in a non tolerable attitude towards minorities, sex orientation and
political activism. The fear made the people willing to give up part of their political
freedoms and their humanitarian values. Tortures collateral casualties and the
discrimination of people according to their religion (Muslims) was regarded as a normal
monitor procedure of National security.
• Andrew Soap on his book “Terror and American Pop Culture” negotiates the manipulation of
fear by artifacts that are used to perpetuate the simplification of the use of “good” and “evil”
into the American popular culture. According to Soap V for Vendetta a movie is
unconventional since the distinction of good and bad is not that clear. What is clear in the
movie was the confirmation of the difficulty of distinction between a freedom fighter and a
terrorist.

4. The Movie
• The plot: Based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta is set in Britain in 2020, when liberal
democracy has given way to a fascist totalitarian society led by ‘Chancellor’ Adam Subtler of the ‘Norse
fire’ regime. Due to apparent acts of bioterrorism, which have caused tens of thousands of casualties, the
Norse fire party has gained power by election, by blaming religious extremists for the terror.
• Individual liberty is severely curtailed. Censorship, curfews and paternalism have changed an open society
into a closed one, resembling the world of George Orwell’s 1984 just as all totalitarian societies resemble
each other. Technology and the media are used to control the actions and thoughts of the citizens, to
make the public into a obedient, thoughtless crowd who don’t even see that there’s anything wrong in the
way they live. Big Brother is still watching – and not only watching, Big Brother uses violence as well, in
many ways.
• The bioterrorist attacks in the movie turn out to have been perpetrated by people from Norse fire itself,
who deliberately created a lethal virus, using humans for their experiments, then became rich and
powerful by selling the antidote. In some ways Bush may indeed resemble Chancellor Subtler, in limiting
individual freedoms and promoting and abusing nationalism.. The resemblance is a matter of degree: in
the movie there is hardly any individual freedom, whereas the present-day US and UK governments limit
individual freedom somewhat, but it’s still there.
• The movie was launched n 17 March 2006 Warner Brothers released a feature-film adaptation of V for
Vendetta, directed by James Mac Teigue(first assistant director on The Matrix films) from a screenplay by
the Wachowski Brothers. Natalie Portman stars as Evey Hammond and Hugo Weaving as V, together with
Stephen Rea John Hurt Stephen Hurt.. Originally slated for a 4 November 2005 release, a day before the
Guy Fawkes Night and the 400th anniversary of the Gun Power Plot, it was postponed until March 17,
2006, possibly due to, although producers denied this was the reason.

5. V vs. Batman (Sorry Niko)
• V is not an unquestionable hero since • Batman is the vigilante that
he is a villain and a victim. dedicated him self to the war
• V has as a goal to liberate people against crime.
from their fear which is considered
• In Batman people are incapable
the main enemy. V requires the
involvement of the people to the
of saving themselves and they
higher cause. need the strong hero to
• Adoption of Bakunin's view that an
intervene.
act of destruction can be creative (L. • Batman is struggling to protect
Call 2008) the iconic imaginary Gotham City.
• V embodies every person. • Batman is the embodiment of the
• For V “order” is the reason that American culture. Masculine rich
humanity has immersed into the and famous uses his “gadgets” to
chaos. beat the bad guys.
• Anarchy
• Batman is the last reserve of
restoring order in Gotham City.
• Conformity

6. Controversy of the Film
• David Lemby: “V for Vendetta,” a dunderheaded pop fantasia that celebrates terrorism and
destruction, is perhaps the ultimate example of how a project with modest origins becomes a
media monster. And for people driven mad by the ineptitude and folly of the Bush
Administration this film may seem like a brazen romp. Only the West could have made a
movie in which blowing up civic temples is a “provocative” media statement. The country
“doesn’t need a building,” V says. “It needs an idea.” Yes, but “Vendetta” doesn’t have any
ideas, except for misbegotten belief in cleansing acts of violence.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/03/20/060320crci_cinema#ixzz1tc7hcPC3
• Richard Corliss on the other hand argues that “These days, with many millions around the
world seeing every evil in Bush and Cheney, a film like Vendetta is, at least, timely. And if the
villains are the big guys, the hero can be a terrorist--or should we call V an insurgent?
://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1169916,00.html#ixzz1tcB1dMaa

7. Post modernity
In the postmodern world, all things are subject
to reconsideration . And that is how one can
look at postmodernism: a reconsideration of
the central constellation of ideas in the
arts, economics, politics, philosophy, and
sociology and history.

8. Post Structuralism
The symbol can be just arbitrary as the sign. The decomposition of the symbols used by all meta
narration, give the opportunity not only to attack their symbols but also to use them in way that would
generate new meanings new metaphors and new narrations.
“This country needs more than a building right now”.

11. “Move from the continuity of history, to "history from below“
Human actions continue to generate history, even if no one really knows where it is
going or can honestly claim to control it.

12. Thank you