i watched v for vendetta again. folks pooh pooh the movie as a conspiracy theory and propaganda against the neo con regime but to me- it is overtly symbolic. v, himself, said that you can’t kill an idea. what stuck with me too- they can pick us off one by one- but they can’t stand up to large numbers of us.
what was the biggest single reason for the totalitarian regime in v for vendetta? fear. the reason that we, the people, are allowing our civil liberties to be taken away? fear. what are we afraid of? our way of life being taken away? our actual lives being taken away? evey confronted her fear of death with her integrity intact. can we say the same? who are our enemies? illegal immigrants? gays? other americans? i found it interesting that the people who were rounded up first in the ‘reclamation’ were gays and protesters. they were the ones that were experimented on first with the virus. c-dell had an interesting post about a law that bans saggy pants. does that mean that the young people who predominantly wear them are our enemies? are we brave enough to crawl back up the slippery slope that we are on?
the last section of the movie when the crowd starts taking off their masks and you see them one by one- and you recognize the people who gave their lives trying to save freedom and civil liberties- that was powerful. so, yeah, the movie was obvious. the movie has been dismissed for all sorts of reasons- for being based on a comic, for being anti-conservative, etc. but it shouldn’t be.
it should open people’s minds to the fact that it only takes one person to plant the seeds of dissent. it only takes a few people standing up for more to follow. you can kill a man or a woman but you can’t kill ideas. ‘ as long as one person knows the constitution- it will still be here.’ my mom said that. it isn’t about us as people- we will eventually die. it isn’t about our white picket fences or our suvs- they won’t last either.
it is about the idea of freedom. the idea that all men are created equal. the idea that there is a place that welcomes the world’s poor, tired and hungry with open arms because it is a land of plenty and the people are generous. we have to carry that idea and pass it on because even if we die- someone out there will know the idea. someone will pass it on. someone will keep it alive.
“We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
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Wow, Sagefever watched the movie this week too and blogged about it earlier in the week. It is a fantastic movie which we can draw sadly too many similarities about our current state of affairs here isn’t it?
Great minds think alike
I just watched “Children of Men” today and it is a must see in my opinion. It is set in the not so distant future…and sure makes a person think of what is happening today…or very nearly. Clive Owen is the star…and not bad to look at either. If we aren’t careful…and soon…we’ll find ourselves in some of the situations these people go through. I seriously think it could happen.
About eleven years ago, Rabbi Michael Lerner founded a group called The Politics of Meaning. The premise was that the far right had co-opted the language of compassion and twisted it to make people afraid. The far right was telling their base that “THEY” were taking away “YOUR” fair share – “THEY” being (Gays, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Muslims, Intellectuals, Liberals) anyone different than “YOU” (White, Christian, Blue Collar, Undereducated, Untravelled). The Politics of Meaning was an attempt to get the Liberals, Progressives, and Left to take back the language that fit the programs that would actually be in the best interest of the majority of hard-working people.
So, one example: single-payer health care, universal health coverage, in the hands of the far right, becomes stigmatized with the words “Socialized Medicine”, harkening back to Communism. That means that “THEY” would be getting the health care that “YOU” actually deserve.
Health care might be where the ship of fear actually sinks.
Oh, and I forgot – I really think V for Vendetta is a great film.
I posted a list on our forum sight of some should see’s and a few just for fun movies..Children of Men is a great film! Clive Owen just needs to talk, and move a tad…yumm. i am going to buy v because it is on many levels one of the best films ever made.