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"V for Vendetta" - Seeds for Awakening
[From the ongoing Saturday series, "Art and Politics", examining the impact of Politics on Art, Art on Politics, and a few things in between.]
This film review is coming to you live from Santa Cruz, California, home of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Yes, THAT UC Santa Cruz.
We are still gasping for breath. Nikko and I just finished seeing "V for Vendetta", and the word that comes to our minds is simply:
"Awesome".
Not just because its topical, but it is. Not just because Islamic people, homosexuals, non-Christians are demonized in the society "V" exists in. But they are. And not because the analogies are literally word-for-word, event for event a cautionary tale of what a terror-based neo-dictatorship looks like in a republic like England or America. But it most certainly is.
It is that and its more.
"V for Vendetta" is a film that makes a hero out of a terrorist. This theme alone causes dyspepsia amongst neocons, but the deeper aspects as to WHY he became one is the heart of why you go to see this film. The parallel to Alexander Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo" is drawn to make a point about not judging V the terrorist so swiftly or superficially.
The madness driving V to commit acts of violence against the state is everyone's madness to a greater or lesser degree. The state's need to control free thought, individuality, expression and personhood created a society fed up with being spoonfed lies by a government-controlled media. People live under heightened security alerts, and the overarching presence of the dictator. Everyone living in this society is part of a seething, disgruntled yet dulled and powerless mass, needing an alarm to wake up. Need I say does this sound familiar?
"V" provides the alarm clock and more. Both in the society in which the plot is based, and for the audiences of this film in theaters across the country.
In Santa Cruz, CA, a university town always lively with anti-war activities since the early 70's and UCSC a subject of surveillance by the Pentagon for its anti-war activities, it came as no surprise to see the long lines form in front of the theater for this film. A sense of irony hit me as we were watching--I felt as though I was watching a film within a film--the movie theater a microcosm of what we see happening across the country: NSA, FISA, Patriot Act. And right outside on the streets of this small California town.
It was not a comfortable feeling.
But the heroes of "V" say something that made my heart full and I hope gives you heart when you go see the film. They talk about the power of ideas and the value of hope. And in those ideas, lie the seeds for awakening.
See this film and tell us what you think.
Good recom from 2 of my favorite film buffs.
What I did was go to a "Caribbean party" and talk to an ex-Marine who knew all about Carlyle, Halliburton & all the rest.
Quite enlightening, along with the Bob Marley, shrimp and
rum drinks.
DiAnne,
You lucky little duck you, living right there where progressive things are happening everywhere.
I am here tonight (well, I guess it's morning) to get attention. lol. Well, It's more than attention my dear comrades.
I was at my business meeting Friday and as we were all trying to "Wow" our new Director we broke for lunch for 40 minutes. Three of us decided to walk a couple of blocks to a hamburger joint called "Sparkys". On the exit out, my solf souled shoes (very soft flexible leather flats)made so much friction with the rubber mat in front of the door that they decided to give each other a hug and my shoes clung to the mat while my body propelled through the air, and I landed on, noneother that my scnozola. or, as I call it, a node. I hada get take to emergency where they clamped it shut (the cut) and told me I had a facial fracture.
Mainly want I want is cards and letter. Or money would even be better. Flowers too. Peeze be nice to me and baby me. No one else does.
Love and (hurry)
Truth Shall Prevail.
P.S., bring my blankee and my teddy bear and my paccee. (hurry)
Time for integrity on immigration
Mar. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
It's showdown week on immigration.
Senators can do their job. Or they can play this for personal political gain.
Their choice.
But it's the American people who will suffer the consequences if they act selfishly.
A promising comprehensive reform bill is up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's an amalgam by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., of several bills, including two by Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl.
Majority Leader Bill Frist says he'll bring his own enforcement-only bill to the Senate floor if the committee doesn't vote Specter's bill out by Monday, or if the committee vote doesn't include a majority of GOP supporters.
That would be a mistake because Specter's compromise deserves to be debated.
Frist's bill, like the House bill it mimics, is worse than nothing. It would let lawmakers crow about passing a bill while the real problem continued to fester. Frist, a presidential hopeful, will prove himself quite un-presidential if he puts his desire to woo his party's anti-immigration wing ahead of America's well-being.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid vows to filibuster Frist's bill if it comes to the floor, which would be a courageous move given the national clamoring for Congress to do something.
For years, The Arizona Republic has been pounding the drum for Congress to "do something" about illegal immigration.
We called for action as increasing numbers of migrants died each summer, turning Arizona's beautiful southern deserts into a place of agonizing death by dehydration.
We called for action before the Minutemen began using our national pain over immigration as a way to hype vigilantism.
We called for action as the numbers of undocumented immigrants living in this country climbed to an estimated 12 million.
We called for action as a problem that was perceived as a local issue became a crisis that Washington could no longer ignore.
We called for action as violence increased along the border and smugglers became so bold they had a shootout on Interstate 10.
We called for action as archaeological and cultural sites were trampled under the feet of migrants headed north, and sensitive environmental land was trashed.
But we never called for just any action.
We never asked Congress to play politics with an issue that touches our national values, economy, identity and ideals.
Never.
What the nation needs now is what it has needed for a long, long time: Comprehensive immigration reform that must include a guest-worker program.
It must provide a path, albeit a long and winding one, to eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here.
And it must impose a valid employee verification system that's accurate enough to allow tough sanctions against employers who continue to hire illegal immigrants.
It's showdown week in Congress.
Those who would demagogue immigration for political gain will prove their selfishness.
Those who have the best interests of this country at heart will show their integrity.
Mainly want I want is cards and letter. Or money would even be better. Flowers too. Peeze be nice to me and baby me. No one else does.
Love and (hurry)
Truth Shall Prevail.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at March 26, 2006 05:28 AM
There ya go folks. You heard her request. So send it here:
http://www.democracycellproject.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1047
This LTE (todays Az Republic) is from a friend of mine who funds college scholorships for Latino kids in the Nogales area. We built HfH homes together in southern AZ.
------------------------------------------------
Walls didn't work then, won't now
Mar. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
World history is crowded with instances of walls erected by city-states to curtail invasion by barbarians, and history also tells it was the unintended consequences of those walls that buckled city-states. Sen. Jon Kyl should study and learn from these historical accounts; it is a prerequisite for statesmanship.
Hadrian's Wall, built to repel blue-tattooed British tribes from Roman England, ultimately worked against the builders as their military forces integrated into the British tribal cultures.
The Great Wall of China was also a defensive failure and the unintended consequence was social and cultural containment of the Emperor's people, until they petrified and corrupted from within.
The wall in Berlin finally and fully exposed communism for the paper tiger it really was. Walled resistance is usually futile.
More walls, barricades or bunkers against Mexico will appease the insecure and continue to degrade everything we are.
Conversely, a supremely positive, intelligent and humane response to the illegal dilemma will bring higher order and bounty to this hemisphere.
Truth,
I assume workman's comp will take care of your injuries as you were at a business lunch.
The restaurent will give you lots of free stuff.
You need to wear a helmet when out and about...
Get well soon...your broken beak will heal soon.
Nicely said sparrow but the fools will probably
build it anyway.
Sanity is lonely.
Posted by: jomama at March 26, 2006 08:33 AM
Posted by: battlebob at March 26, 2006 08:17 AM
The wall in Isreal separating the Palestinians from the Isrealis (and even Palestinian's from Palestinians) AND a wall between the US and Mexico. This sounds like the same hawkish game plan.
But what other ideas are there. I've heard take care of Mexico and improve their standard of living, but when our own is sinking faster than the titanic how can we help others too?
This article makes me glad that I was able to homeschool my children. (Though I began while Clinton was still in office, I homeschooled until 2003.)
Under NCLB, students are only getting 2 subjects: math and reading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/education/26child.html?ex=1301029200&en=2ac2867806003319&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
My friend Bert has written an article on media coverage in Iraq with incredible graphic support & would appreciate comments/votes. I really like it.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/26/71346/4943
It is also posted at After Downing Street site
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/9756
See it also at our blog:
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/
Truth Shall Prevail
Sorry to hear about your fall! You're not blogging from the Emergency room, are you?!
"As we debate the immigration issue, we must remember there are hardworking individuals, doing jobs that Americans will not do, who are contributing to the economic vitality of our country," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.
What a friggin jerk. Jobs Amurikans won't do... but we must treat this debate with civility.
How insulting.
Mr. Uniter
battlebob:
Talk about a perfect "V for Vendetta" analogy.
I witnessed some anti-immigration reform rallies yesterday here in Watsonville, my hometown--there were hundreds of Mexican immigrants at a rally in front of the town church. It was inspiring. This is a conservative town and the migrant labor community normally stays low-key. Not yesterday.
Hundreds of thousands marched in Los Angeles against the bill, tens of thousands in Sacramento.
The Republicans are desperate to find a core issue with which to galvanize their voting bloc for the midterms. Immigration reform has all the makings of a perfect wedge issue: race-bassed, economy based, jobs-scarcity based--all the right ingredients for demonization which Rove is master of. It's the gay marriage issue of 2006.
But I think the sheer numbers showing up in force yesterday across the country is a healthy sign.
Latinos are not going to take this lying down. If Frist, Kyl and McCain (who has faced this isse for YEARS) want to make immigration the next 911, the Republicans truly are grasping for straws.
This is what democracy looks like!!!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/25/20334/2762
I stand corrected. It's not anti-immigration reform. Its immigration reform which is anti-immigrant.
Mornin DiAanne!
We're having a party at my sister's house today for Nikko's birthday. He's flying back up to school tomorrow.
Thanks for the kos diary. Totally inspiring.
Fe
Happy Birthday to Nikko!!!
On the immigration issue:
· We give green cards to only 5,000 unskilled workers every year.
· Family backlogs are so long that spouses and children of green card holders must wait in line for 7 years until they can apply for (not get) green cards.
· Temporary visas for professional visas are so backed up that this fiscal year (which began on October 1, 2005), the yearly quota had been filled by August of 2005, a couple of months before the visas were even available.
,Very few people are eligible for any process at all and those who are eligible may live without their families, including their small children, for years.
We need humane laws that foster a working economy for all those who live in America whether by accident of birth or by choice. We have to strike a balance between xenophobia and being a welfare state (which we are not).
Sunday morning, catching up on the blogs. TV is on in the background, Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in Stepmom. Susan's kids are performing in their school's Thanksgiving play. The kids start singing Woodie Guthrie's " This Land Is My Land" and I start crying. What's that about? I want my country back, that's what the tears are about. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And I want it back, dammit.
Georgia10 at Kos has written about Bush essentially vetoing the Patriot Act--at least the accountability part--at the same time as he signed it into law.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/26/111625/727
God, I LOVED this movie too! Very 1984-esque with the posters that said "Strength through Unity. Unity through Faith." And of course the villains were all crazy fundamentalists who hated Muslims, homosexuals, and freedom of expression... and I really liked one of V's messages that (to quote something from ANOTHER good movie...) "The fault lies not within our stars, but within ourselves." Finally, I loved the whole "an idea cannot die" thing!
I have to disagree about one thing, though. This move did not "make a hero out of a terrorist," though I certainly agree that it did force you to see the tragedy of WHY V became what he was before judging him. And that was the point I think-- to show that the torture and oppression of the government COULDN’T create a hero, it had to create, as Evey says, "a monster" who's only cause is vendetta. Evey is the hero who is able to fight for justice after V is gone. But V can't be a hero, which is part of the tragedy. Because "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." So the horrible crimes of the government created something equally horrible-- but opposite. V was GOOD, but he couldn’t be a HERO. okay, sorry, I'll stop now. :-P GREAT movie though! Go and see it!
Posted by: NativeTexan4Kerry at March 26, 2006 01:51 PM
Thanks NT4K.
These are great reviews and certainly inspire me to go see it.
A campaign suggestion.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/26/102536/758
NT4K:
I'm going to see this film again.
My heart was so full by the end of the film I was crying.
I enjoyed the movie, and thought that it was timely as well. There were a few people in the audience who applauded at the end. As far as movie making goes - it was Hollywood. But in terms of making a statement about today's issues, I think it missed the mark. Unfortunately we got little background as to why Britian became a fascist nation. We saw the results of that transformation. But I think that most people wont be able to put two and two together. They want it spelled out for them. We were told very little about what allowed for the creation of a fascist country. Concurrent with the plot, America is in chaos, fighting another civil war.
V's personal story is his main cause for pursuing the path he chooses. However he tries to generalize his vendetta to include all that has gone wrong in his country. Those problems are obvious even to the most poorly informed among us. What isn't obvious is how the people who seem ready to overthrow their government, let themselves become trapped. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the progression from "free" to "fascist" in this movie. That is where the real lesson lies.
We can't expect comic book characters to change America from becoming the fictional Britian we saw in that movie. It is up to real people like you and me.
Yes and the 1812 at the end just compounds the whole emotion!
Posted by: battlebob at March 26, 2006 08:23 AM
Dear BB,
Workman's comp does not cover this kind of injury because it was done on my lunch 40 minutes. I went flying through the air with the greates of care. Diagnosos:
Patient has multiple lacerations on face, hands, knees, and elbow. Facial contusion (?) whatever that is, and facial fracture.
I am okay after a couple of days on meds that make you feel real happy, but I still like lots of attention when I am hurt. LIke cards, flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, and money. Make that lots of money. LOL.
My sister, who goes by the email addy winddancerwoman, is calling me Princess graceful broken nose.
Over and out good buddy.
\
We can't expect comic book characters to change America from becoming the fictional Britian we saw in that movie. It is up to real people like you and me.
Posted by: oncall at March 26, 2006 06:22 PM
oncall:
Agreed. But there's also something to be said about the power of images, and what art does to the society's subconscious.
Unless its truly memorable, more people will remember a line from a film than a politician's speech. Its part of the construction of our society's psyche.
The individual has the ultimate responsibility for making the change or staying the same. What art can do is open the closed doors inside the mind and heart that keep someone from growing.
I think in valuing our roles as individuals, we should also account for the ideals, values and visions that are part of our environment. Art has a role to play in forming the individual, and therefore the society.
That includes film and books, as well as popular music and even television. None of these things solely will change the world on their own, but all are capable tools to help people come to their own consciousness and conclusions. This has been true since the dawn of civilization and the telling of the first story.