When I saw V for Vendetta this weekend I knew it was about the rise of a fascist Christian state that persecuted gays and lesbians. I also knew openly gay Stephen Fry played a gay character. What I didn't know was how brave his character was or that a lesbian relationship forms the very heart of the movie. I'm so used to seeing gays used as punchlines in movies that is was shocking to seem them portrayed as the best and the bravest. This
review really sums up how remarkable the movie is for gays and lesbians. From the review:
The year is 2020, and a once-chaotic England is now ruled by a Christian totalitarian government controlled by a dictator known as the Chancellor (John Hurt). The British people themselves are docile, submitting to unrelenting censorship, curfews, and willing to look the other way as gays, Muslims, and anyone else who challenges authority are "bagged" and made to disappear.
V, played by Hugo Weaving, is a masked revolutionary driven by a mysterious past to try to bring down this corrupt government. Brilliant, slightly mad, and always enigmatic, V joins a long list of cinematic loners out to change the world. In typical action movie fashion, Vendetta opens as V rescues Evey (Natalie Portman) from attack, changing the course of a life which until now had been lived in terror and without purpose.
But what drives V? What gives him his courage and conviction? This is where Vendetta, a movie about revolution, itself becomes revolutionary.
Every GLBT person is used to seeing homosexuality portrayed cinematically as shorthand for evil, weakness, and immorality. Does the villain in your summer action blockbuster need a heightened sense of menace? Then have Cillian Murphy play the mad psychologist in Batman Begins as prissy and mincing. Is the psychopath in your thriller not quite immoral enough? Then take a cue from Basic Instinct and make her a man-hating bisexual. Or perhaps you just want to convey that your film's setting is one of loose morals and debauchery. Then look to Cabaret where the acceptance of homosexuality cues the audience into 1930 Berlin's decadence.
The rest is over at AfterElton.com