V for Vendetta Theme

1. V for Vendetta Theme

2. Thoughts from the makers • Producer Joel Silver: "V For Vendetta is a multi-layered film. It can be enjoyed as a dynamic action picture, or audiences can go deeper into the complex issues and ideas it explores, about the individual's responsibility for the power they entrust to their government…” • Graphic novelist David Lloyd: The principal message of the original is that every individual has the right to be an individual, and the right – and duty – to resist being forced into conformism.

3. Thoughts about the theme? • Take time now to talk to the people around you about what you think the theme of this film may be. • 5 minutes and then we will feedback to the class

4. Political Ideas – V for Vendetta as Dystopian Fiction • The film depicts a struggle between freedom and the state • Is strongly influenced by 1984, • Uses the Gunpowder Plot as V’s historical inspiration, contributing to V's choice of timing, language and appearance. Fawkes’ motive was political protest, as is V’s.  • Parallels with Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo: draws direct comparisons between V and Edmond Dantés. • Is explicit in portraying V as the embodiment of an idea rather than an individual through V's dialogue and by depicting him without a past, identity or face.

5. Political Ideas cont. • Specifically creates a society in which individual rights and freedoms are subsumed by the idea of collective security – which includes a clearing out from society of anyone who does not fit the accepted norm. • Offers two scenarios for undermining a regime: V's violence and Gordon's satire • Director James McTeigue: We felt the novel was very prescient to how the political climate is at the moment. It really showed what can happen when society is ruled by government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people. I don't think it’s such a big leap to say that things like that can happen when leaders stop listening to the people.

6. Criticisms of the Political Ideas • The Los Angeles Times: "With a wealth of new, real-life parallels to draw from in the areas of government surveillance, torture, fear-mongering and media manipulation, not to mention corporate corruption and religious hypocrisy, you can't really blame the filmmakers for having a field day referencing current events." • Religion: In the United States, several conservative Christian groups were critical of the film's negative portrayal of Christianity and sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality and Islam.

7. Truth and Lies • 'By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.' • the film questions the honesty of the news; suggests TV's main role is to distract the population from the real problems • the Sutler government created and used a lie to gain power – with clear parallels to 'weapons of mass destruction' used to take a country into a war they can't win • V has lost his past and creates himself anew as Evey is created anew in the cells. • Evey creates a lie – her promise to help – so she can escape V

8. Truth and Lies cont. • V creates a lie to show Evey the truth: “Artists use lies to tell the truth. Politicians use them to cover it up.” • Valerie is an actress • Gordon is on TV: his show about Sutler creates 'lies' for entertainment purposes. • Finch finds the truth via an error – he assumes Evey is part of V's plan because of her background, but it was a coincidence that they met. Yet in the end he is right – she is "in deep".

9. Masks and Identity • V's use of the Guy Fawkes mask and persona functions on both practical and symbolic levels. • Evey puts on a brave face to go out to supper with Gordon – her 'mask'; explicitly linked to V's mask by juxtaposition • Gordon wears a mask to hide his sexual orientation, and points to an issue the film addresses: You wear a mask so long you forget who you were beneath it. • Valerie and Ruth did not hide the truth about themselves – and died. • Finch wears a 'mask' to hide his growing concern about the integrity of the regime

10. Masks and Identity cont. • Creedy, Sutler, Prothero, Lilliman and Surridge all hide their real selves beneath public 'masks' • Many of the people of London may also be wearing symbolic masks. It does not take much for them to remember that they used to think for themselves.

11. Story-telling • Valerie's story is instrumental in politicising both V and Evey. • She refers to the need to tell her story: My name is Valerie. I don't think I'll live much longer, and I wanted to tell someone about my life. This is the only autobiography that I will ever write… • Finch comes to an understanding of the truth through uncovering the past, helped by the stories of Delia and 'Rookwood'. What you want – what you really need – is a story. It is stories that link the facts so they make sense.

12. Story-telling cont. • Evey says V will understand her when he knows her story; Finch uncovers her story and that of her family, revealing the treatment of dissidents and protestors • Delia's story reveals the horror hidden behind the government's façade. • In V's address to the nation he explicitly refers to the power of words: …words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. • This very important theme is one shared by a number of dystopic works, including 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale.

13. Essay Writing- theme Analyse how the text influenced the audience to think differently about an idea or issue