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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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V For Vendetta Rated R for violence and some language Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving Directed by James McTeigue V For Vendetta is critiqued in an alternate universe where every film is a metaphor for how evil President Bush is. However, V For Vendetta is set in an alternate universe which branched off the actual world at least 50 years ago, has absolutely nothing to do with President Bush, and is a thought-provoking film with complex characters that plays off the classic Orwell, Huxley, Rand, and Heinlein themes in a setting technologically parallel to our own. It’s more than a coincidence that Hollywood generally chooses to produce films critical of government during Republican administrations and films praising government during Democratic administrations, but applying that simplistic analysis to _V For Vendetta_ misses the point. V is the protagonist and a freedom fighter against a tyrannical government, which has performed medical experiments on him, outlawed at least some sexual activity, and taken control of the media. He is a complex character but has far more in common with Emmanuel Goldstein than with Osama Bin Laden. We empathize with his objectives, but we also cringe at some of his tactics. Hugo Weaving is effective as V, especially since we do not see his face, but we hear his voice reminding us of the cold, calculating Agent Smith (The Matrix), which reinforces the Marxist sub-theme that he is a force as much as a person—the antithesis that is the inevitable creation of the ruling power and a case of (forgive the tiresome cliché) the chickens coming home to roost. Some Christian viewers may find it at least misguided, if not objectionable, that the suppression of homosexuality is treated as one of the greatest evils of this government. And viewers uncomfortable with thinking about questions like “Where does V go right?” Where does he go wrong?” and “When do the ends justify the means?” should probably go rent Bambi 2 instead. But moviegoers who enjoy action films that provoke critical thought will do well to spend an afternoon watching and discussing V For Vendetta. Dan Singleton
4 tocks
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