Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

I recently watched the film "V for Vendetta" for the second time, partially because I loved it the first time and also because many of my movie choices this semester have been adaptations of comic books and/or graphic novels, for reasons that should be obvious. While the movie itself is not about Judaism, I remembered that during my first viewing I had often been reminded of the Holocaust, and I decided this time to watch it with the intent of picking out these themes.

The movie is set in England in the not too distant future and the totalitarian regime that is in place is very resonate of Nazi Germany for many reasons. Perhaps it is most similar in its effective and extensive use of propaganda to instill fear in the general population and that, as stated in the movie, "different is dangerous." Thereby giving credence to their actions against "undesirables" and minority groups through the perpetuation of this fear, they use coercion and force to subdue any counter-culture from arising in opposition. These minority groups were targeted for medical experimentation and kept it detention facilities that while more modern in appearance are not all that unlike Nazi concentration camps, mass grave sites and all. All of these things certainly invoke images of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Even something as small as the shaving of Evey's (Natalie Portman) head during her staged imprisonment by V, during which she is also tortured, invokes images of female prisoners at the concentration camps.

All of these little reminders to events in our history add depth to the movie and I think were a conscious choice. There are very serious themes in this film, themes that are not only relevant but important as well, at least for many people; powerful governments, terrorism, discrimination, etc. The use of fear as a tactic against its people by their government is a powerful weapon. Invoking such images as those of Nazi Germany, I feel, is an effective way to emphasize this power and its destructiveness.

On a side note, the second viewing was just as wonderful as the first and I am sure it will not be the last. This is definitely one of my favorite films and it has me wanting to pick up and re-read Orwell's, 1984 and Bradbury's, Fahrenheit 451 again. I think I might also look into acquiring the 10 volumes of the comic book series of V for Vendetta and giving them a shot as well. Perhaps they are available in a compilation? I'm going broke this semester, as my graphic novel collection has gone from well, 0 to about 20?, in the past few months. Thank goodness for Half Priced Books.