When it came out, I loved the movie V for Vendetta.
When the Hacktivist group Anonymous co-opted the Guy Fawkes mask I applauded. Then Hacktivism and Wikileaks and all that showed that even ideas as pure as Truth can become difficult, I kinda turned away. The political scene everywhere is such a dumpster fire, let's just skip this whole part and say that...
Lost in all of it was the movie itself.
I love this movie. It's such a beautiful comic book for us. I don't mean that as a put-down- the writers on this are amazing. Just the use of The Count of Monte Cristo, with Edmund Dantes serving as a foil for V, is more than enough literary device to get an A from the teacher, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. The film is well acted, well written, beautiful to watch, and its style so amazing that it spawned the iconic Fawkes Mask.
I think the biggest crime here is that in all the fuss over the mask, we lose sight of the statement the film makes on behalf of the spectrum of human sexuality. Valerie's story, the words she wrote are so beautiful that they make me cry just to think of them- she was locked up for being a lesbian, and Evey's friend Gordon was closeted because of the oppressive regime.
Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us. But within that inch, we are free.
I wanted to celebrate the film, I wanted to remember the 5th of November not as a threat of insurrection or a cry against an oppressive government, but rather, as V says his gift will be near the end of the film, hope.
I'm writing this on Nov 4th and in this country right now we don't know who our president will be for the next four years. It seems fitting to send a message of hope in this uncertainty, and at the same time pay homage to a film about how love can truly conquer all.
I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish... Except one. An inch. It is small and fragile and it's the only thing in the world that's worth having. We must never lose it or sell it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I don't know who you are but I hope you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and things get better and that one day people have roses again. I don't know who you are but I love you. I love you.
