Yesterday, I watched "V for Vendetta" for the third time in less than a year. I plan to watch it again this Wednesday. The reason for this is simple; after watching the movie for the first time last summer, I resolved that I would watch it again each year on the fifth of November, the anniversary of Guy Fawkes's arrest in 1605 on charges of treason. On watching the movie again, Nov. 5, 2007, I decided to do a bit of research on the old Guy and added the dates of Jan. 31, the anniversary of his execution in 1606, and April 13 and 16, the dates of his birth and christening in 1570.

For those who don't know the history, Guy Fawkes was rebaptised as a Catholic when he was very young, following the early death of his father and his mother's remarriage to a Catholic husband. When King James VI of Scotland was crowned as James I of England and his Parliament passed laws considered to be biased against Catholics, a group of Catholic noblemen formed a plot to blow up Parliament on the first day of its session, when the King and many prominent Protestant noblemen would be in attendance. They hoped to destroy the Protestant government and put a Catholic princess on the throne. The plot was discovered, Fawkes was arrested on Nov. 5 in the cellars of the Parliament building with many barrels of gunpowder and a set of fuses. He was tried for and convicted of treason against the crown and about three months later executed by hanging.

This man became a controversial figure whose arrest on Nov. 5 is still celebrated in England (last I heard) as a holiday with fireworks and bonfires and burnings in effigy. I believe the phrase, "Spare a penny for the guy?", typically heard around this time, began with children soliciting donations for the construction of a Guy Fawkes effigy to be burned on the evening of Nov. 5. The fireworks presumably come from the tale of the gunpowder meant to blow up Parliament. Some consider Fawkes a terrorist, some think of him as a champion of religious freedom; the truth is probably somewhere between the extremes. I tend to think of him as a champion of religious freedom for Catholics anyway and give him credit for being a champion of freedom in any case. He is now a symbol having several different interpretations, depending on who you ask.

For those who haven't seen the movie: it is a tale of a man living in the not-too-distant future, in a world where the USA has collapsed as a world power and England has become a fascist dictatorship headed by the "High Chancellor" a Cromwellian despot named Sutler, who rules with an iron hand on the pretext of protecting England against terrorist, foreigners, homosexuals and other such "undesirables". He has adopted the slogans, "Strength through unity, unity through faith," and "England prevails,' reflecting the Christianoid nature of his rule. The phony Christians always seem to love dictators who will outlaw things that the phony Christians don't approve of, like freedom, justice, love, compassion and forgiveness.

Into this situation comes a man who has been preparing for decades to foment a revolution that will topple this increasingly savage despot and bring England to a rebirth of freedom. Known only as "V", he is played by the great Hugo Weaving and always wears a Guy Fawkes mask, so his features are never seen. He was horribly wronged by the High Chancellor's government and intends to gain vengeance for these wrongs. His revolution is a strange one, primarily a campaign to awaken the public conscience and consciousness to the crimes of their government. Americans in the age of Bloody Bush, the Torture President. will recognize many of these themes with ease. The movie is based on a graphic novel that was published in England during the administration of Margaret Thatcher to protest the abuses of her government and has been moved up into the future by the movie in order to make it relevant to America in the Bush administration. Natalie Portman, in a break out role, plays Evie Hammond, V's intitially unwilling accomplice and the one person who actually comes to love him, though they have no future as a couple in the brave new world V hopes to make possible.

I won't reveal too much of the plot for those who have yet to see the film, except to say that the campaign begins on No. 5, Guy Fawkes Day, with the blowing up of the Old Bailey, an old prison that has become an historic landmark in London; the scene is exciting, exuberant, ecstatic and other words beginning with "e", exhibited to the strains of the "1812 Overture" and enhanced by fireworks mingled with the explosives. There follows his temporary capture of the government television station which he uses to address the public in a style that should appeal to admirers of Ayn Rand as it will suggest John Galt's epic public radio address in "Atlas Shrugged." In this speech, "V" points out the abuses that afflict England and invites all citizens of London to assemble outside Parliament on Nov. 5 of the next year to watch the building go up in flames, smoke and powerful explosions. The rest of the movie covers the progress of his plot over the following year leading up to the climactic confrontation between the terrorist and the government he opposes.

From the interviews in the bonus features: "Remember that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter."

From the movie dialog: "People should not be afraid of their government; governments should be afraid of their people."
"A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having."
"There is something terribly wrong with this country."

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."


I don't know whether watching a movie will ever do much to bring an end to the wave of tyranny that has drowned this nation in misery for the last seven years or more, but I hope that watching it on a regular basis will remind people of what they have given up when they let career politicians shred our Constitution for their convenience and to swell the coffers of the wealthy and the corporate interests. I hope that making a practice of watching the movie will eventually motivate people to action in defense of their civil liberties. So in that hope, I invite anyone who is interested in the cause of freedom to make a practice of watching "V for Vendetta" at least once a year on Guy Fawkes Day, Nov. 5. For those who lean more to fanaticism like me, the choice is available to watch it on Jan. 31 as well and even on Apr. 13 and16 if you feel so motivated. It's an exciting movie anyway, so it's not like a chore to watch it, and it may inspire someone to direct action, like organizing a march or a demonstration in Washington on Nov. 5 to protest the abuses and injustices of this administration and in future years as a reminder to future governments that the people will hold them to account for their style of government and their loyalty to the ideals of a nation pledged to "liberty and justice for all."

Maybe we in the USA should adopt Guy Fawkes Day from the British to serve as a patriotic reminder every year (and around the time for national elections at that) that freedom is a value worth defending and that it is easy to let it slip away in return for promises of protection offered by those who do not have the best interests of the nation in mind.

What do you say, folks? "Penny for the guy?"


With love under will,

Spartacus,
The Wizzard of Jacksonville