V for Vilify

"After reading the script, Moore remarked that his comic had been "turned into a Bush-era parable by people too timid to set a political satire in their own country.... [This film] is a thwarted and frustrated and largely impotent American liberal fantasy of someone with American liberal values standing up against a state run by neoconservatives — which is not what [the comic] 'V for Vendetta' was about. It was about fascism, it was about anarchy, it was about [England]." He later adds that if the Wachowskis had wanted to protest what was going on in America, then they should have used a political narrative that spoke directly at America's issues, similar to what Moore had done before with Britain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta




There's something just not right about a movie that tries to make a political statement about the US using a fictional British fascist government. As a movie, I liked V for Vendetta for its sci-fi action quality. What I didn't like was its liberal overtones and equating a fascist government with our present Republican-run system. Anyone who has any good knowledge of history will not make such an inaccurate comparison. But, what do you expect from Hollywood, anyway? That's the one advantage movie-makers have - they can sway people's thinking just by entertaining them. It doesn't take much thought to compare the character Lewis Prothero, the Voice of London, to Rush Limbaugh, oft misunderstood controversial conservative. I'm glad the movie wasn't a hit. It definitely left much to be desired.

I'm sure not many people saw the movie because it sucked that much. But maybe they didn't make much of a raucous about it because many already think that they live in an almost-fascist government. What we have in America is nothing compared to a real fascist government. And liberal-minded people think (erroneously) that a Democrat-run America would solve many of today's problems. Or that any party other than conservatives would help to solve today's problems. No, not at all. What liberals don't understand is that government causes many problems. Conservatives want less power given to the government. When Kerry came out with his phrase "A Stronger America," it only made conservatives shudder because, from our perspective, we read "stronger government control over America." We would end up with the very fascist government that no one wants.

Too many of today's generation do not know their history well enough and I'm not about to give history courses on this blog. I used to be more socialist when I was a teenager, but that was because the history I learned in school was very socialist influenced and I was even sympathetic to Communist ideals. When I studied history for myself and had a broader and better understanding of US history in particular (apart from what I learned in college), I realized how much in error I was in supporting socialist ideas. But it took a little effort on my part to learn the truth. I can only hope the same for the next generation.