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May 2, 2014 at 11:45 am
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It will become especially irrelevant if this survives as a protest symbol 20 years from now, when virtually everyone will have forgotten about the V For Vendetta movie.
Is someone producing bootlegs or these things, or are anarchists really shopping at the Warner Brothers store?
To Americans who think everything is about them, it must be puzzling, but to half the world it has inner meaning
The "anarchists" are, almost always, young people (under 25) wearing clothing and shoes made by the huge corporations they want to destroy. Yeah, that's real radical. It was hilarious to see so many of these protesters wearing Nike shoes. And those masks? Yes, each one that the "radicals" purchase earns money for Warner Bros.
Here are two credible sources regarding the mask:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/20…
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/techno…
The anarchist kids are just naive, uninformed idiots using violence as a tool. They are almost as bad as the anti-government groups of the far-right wing. Almost as bad - not quite.
Although, on the flip-side, exactly the same could be said of RW/TP types who proudly wear their Wal-Mart purchased "These Colors Don't Run!" 'Merkin flag t-shirts at Sarah Palin rallies - completely unaware of the fact they were made by indentured factory workers in Communist China.
The masks were adopted by the online vigilantes Anonymous some years ago. At the time they generally hung around 4Chan's /b/ message board (don't go there), and one of their mascots -- Epic Fail Guy, or EFG -- started wearing it, presumably after one of the nerds saw V for Vandetta.
The rest of Anonymous started wearing the masks when executing "RWAs", or Real World Actions, things like protesting the Westboro Baptist Church or the FCC, etc. It was a way to keep them anonymous while they were being Anonymous.
So it really doesn't have much to do with V for Vandetta at all, it's morphed well beyond that to become its own thing.
And now you know. the_more_you_know_dot_gif
Here are some more movies that didn't suck just because they were made by them after Time merged with Warner: GoodFellas, Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix, The Departed, The Dark Knight... and many more.
I like the masks, too. To me, they simply signify an anti-establishment perspective. And I choose to read no further into it. I choose not to let comic book/movie criticism or Guy Fawkes' biography muddle this simple message -- just as I wouldn't argue that the protesters wearing bandanas don't really understand the historical significance of the garment's use among bikers, gang members, or hipsters.
As for the anarchist kids, them I don't like.
But you make comments about this - as D'Toqueville did - and you wind up coming off as a French Aristocrat, which is to say a white wine, brie, latte and volvo liberal.
I do find it amusing that the movie may already be old enough that people don't remember the mask was from there.
Let's bring back the bloody happy face button.
And no, America, it's not all about you all the time.
And for those people saying V sucked ass, where's YOUR movie? What did YOU contribute?
`8-{>
Several commenters above are right, it was the Anonymous vs. Scientology campaign that gave it street-action currency.
But seriously, an anonymous human 'superhero' individual using pranks, humor and bombs to undermine a totalitarian state doesn't make sense to you as a protest icon? In this day and age?
You must be having a cranky week, Paul.
As for those who talk about Guy Fawkes Day, nobody seemed to mention that the British State encouraged that day to BURN AN EFFIGY of Guy Fawkes, and make him a permanent historical & cultural enemy of the state.
It's weird too, because it happens right near Halloween (a traditional Pagan holiday that isn't held in England), and involves a big bonfire, and has a really festive atmosphere, even though the subtext is horrific and very very political.
You will never, however, come to a satisfactory answer about why the more incoherent parts of the left remain incoherent and counterproductive.
I've seen a lot of photos of protestors in both Ukraine and Venezuela recently wearing them.
I don't think it means anything and it probably has nothing to do with either the movie or Guy Fawkes Day.
The scene that makes this movie work as a symbol of protest is where an army of masked people appear to fight the tyranny of the state.
You can see how this plays out so strongly among protesters - individuals have little or no power in our society. They can be gassed, beaten, and killed by authorities with little or no repercussion. The political system is broken. No one thinks abandoning net neutrality is a good idea, the state is doing so anyways. No one thinks our copyright system is good, but it too is moving in the wrong direction. And on and on it goes, the everyman has no power.
But... maybe, just maybe if every everyman were to fight...
and so you get a fairly trashy movie as a symbol of protest. There you go, I explained it, Taa Daaaa!
I thought those were images of Kurt Cobain
THIS is a Kurt Cobain. THIS is a Guy Fawkes. *shakes Dirtclustit vigorously by the shoulders* DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
You can Guy Fawkes yourself.