V for Vendetta thoughts (some spoilers) [View All]

[The Witch]

I just came back from seeing V for Vendetta. I had read a few articles about how this would be the watershed movie, the film that inspired the US to rise up against the Chimperor and his minions. And yes indeed, the film portrayed a society gripped by fear and ruled by talking heads, where the quiet, complacent annoyance at the government expressed in living rooms across the nation finally boiled up and over into a popular uprising that led the country to one night of great destruction, with the promise of a new morning to come. It was very inspiring.

But more than anything, the film inspired me to think, "I sure as hell hope it doesn't come to that here."

In the world of film, the heroic acts of a man can inspire a world and topple a dictatorship. The people will always rise up and conquer, but what of that morning after? Who clears away the rubble and starts again after that? We must ask it of ourselves if we are to ask it of our leaders: What would our exit strategy be for such a revolution?

There are a lot of rumbles here about civil disobedience, about standing up to the government, about what it would take to get these guys out of power and into jail where they belong. And we have to remember sometimes that we are confusing our fears with our hopes.

I fear that someday a police action will end up with the death of one of the leaders we look up to, that there will be rioting in the streets which begets martial law which begets a popular uprising and thus a new era is born.

But I hope that the people disapprove and that their representatives do their job in faithfully bringing that disapproval to the halls of power and that the people in power concede some of their agenda for the sake of serving the people they are sworn to serve.

And I pray that cooler heads prevail.