V for Vendetta and the decline of civility

[erudito]

Finally got around to seeing the film V for Vendetta on Wednesday night at Rohan/Vandel's place. Considered purely as a film, it is a very fine achievement, excellent in every department.

As per normal with comic book films, I have not read the original comic book. Looking up the Wikipedia(tm) entry on the original comic, I am struck by how the

Comments

Historical context

[tcpip]

The comic book, iirc, was written and published in the early-mid 1980s. This was a period where, at least from a British perspective, the idea of a dictatorial government married upon fundamentalist version Christianity was speculative, but within the realms of plausibility. Basically, it was "what if" the National Front attained power.

Re: Historical context

[erudito]

Yes, I got that from the Wikipedia(tm) entry. And it is not as if clerico-fascism is not a real historical phenomenon (hello Monsignor Tiso). See contemporary Islam's problems with extremism

Re: Historical context

[tcpip]

Yes, I got that from the Wikipedia(tm) entry.

Ahh my deductive speculation was correct!

What I object is to turning what was Norsefire (not an obviously Christian name,

Well, Nazism did do a sort of crossover with Nordic paganism and imperialist Christianity at the same time.

.. but we can let that pass) into a wing of the Conservative Party.

And if Enoch Powell achieved power?

This said it probably would be an even better story if there were redeemable conservatives within the system...

Re: Historical context

[catsidhe]

V for Vendetta is not about libertarian vs conservative, tory vs whig.

V for Vendetta is about Tyranny vs Everyone Else. It doesn't care what your political philosophy is, just so long as it isn't about totalitarian dictatorship. And if it is, then you are The Enemy. Just as, if you are a totalitarian dictator, your enemy is everyone else.

It's not about conservatives per se, it's about a totalitarian dictatorship using conservative messages to impose that dictatorship, over liberals and conservatives alike. A story with many antecedents, as you've noted.