(Cross posted on my blog, VoxMia.com)
Go see "V for Vendetta." There are some that am sure will charge that the movie is too this, too that... that it is heavy handed... that it is not faithful in some way to the original vision, etc., etc., etc... However, "V for Vendetta" is worth seeing because it unabashedly addresses the concerns of our times and it asks us to take some part in the blame for letting it all happen -- simply because we were afraid. (Of course, many in this community, especially in this beautifully Liberal community, stopped being afraid a long time ago... but not all of our fellow citizens have managed to shed the fear.)
(Of course there's more...)
I simply loved this line from Vendetta: People shouldn't be afraid of their government, governments should be afraid of their people. Now, no one, of course, is advocating violence in any form, but symbolically, the dark hero of this movie is right on... for far too long we've been afraid of what we'll be charged with: un-American, un-Patriotic, an opportunist merely seeking to position oneself for a presidential run in 2008 -- think Feingold, and the shit with which his courageous and CORRECT stand has been met with by some that are still afraid. At any rate, here we have a movie that comes dangerously close, given our times and the paranoia that still lingers in some circles, to advocating a storming of the castle, en masse... err, should I say, a Crashing of the Gates, as it were (and, frankly, it suggests that we, The People, do a lot more than just batting down some gates).
Now, aside from open advocacy uring an up rise against an oppressive and un-representative government, bent on moralizing and hoarding power while those that hold key government posts profit from the failures of their own government; V for Vendetta also offers some provocative moments and more than a couple of touching performances by Natalie Portman (whom looks great with short hair or even wearing a baby doll outfit (see the movie)).
Of course, as with any work dealing with a dystopia, at moments the movie falls short; but, I believe, specially if one puts the movie in today's political context, there's a lot in V for Vendetta that's provocative and well worth the $10+ bucks that many of us will pay now days to go see a movie.
PS. I just saw this post, which covers some of the more substantive issues that V for Vendetta raises.