What piques my interest in the film is the fact that we cannot see V’s face because he always has a mask on. An outside source that relate to this is the movie The Purge. In this movie, the use of masks is prevalent and the purpose of these masks is to hide the identity of individuals so that no one will know who they are. Either heroic or evil, masks are used, usually in television or movies, to escape from one’s identity. In V for Vendetta, V is never seen without a mask on because of all the violence and terror he is causing. Being referred to as a “terrorist”, V is hiding who he really is. Although, I feel as if his only use of the mask is to cause fear. I believe that if V were to be revealed, it would not matter to him because he still obtains the skills to kill and terrorize society. This adds to the understanding of the film because the film is meant to have a mysterious aspect and the mask perfects it by hiding who the terrorist is.
Sources of Violence by Keith Hebden explains the motivators of violence. Hebden brings up a theme of violence in the Old and New Testament. He states, “… Christian witness might lead us to believe that God’s violence is a moral and practical option”. In V for Vendetta, V believes his acts of violence are for a good cause. V kills people, and destroys things in the hope to gain control over the government. The government has taken away citizen’s freedom. I think V justifies his actions for being a moral and practical option, because it’s for a greater cause. On the other hand, the government also probably justifies their actions for being a moral and practical option, because they feel their actions are the only way to save the country. Hebden also says, “The prophets, to whom we turn for visions of justice, and mercy, are rarely any gentler than the Judges, Kings, and Psalmists.” Like God, prophets are seen as morally just figures. Hebden says God and prophets who are seen as religious figures who are looked up to have committed violent acts. The government and V are both doing violent acts for the same reason God and the prophets did. Well at least they justify their acts and reasons the same way. However citizens do not look up to the government, and I’m not sure what they think of V. Citizens are probably confused if V is a villain or a hero, because of his violent acts. The acts of violence peaks my interest in this film, because it makes it hard to interpret if V is a hero or not. This adds to the understanding of the motifs in this film.
ReplyDeleteCan you include a link to this?
Deletehttp://www.jesusradicals.com/sources-of-violence/
DeleteAnd Taylor, can you provide information on movie? A link to a synopsis or a trailer?
ReplyDeleteThe Purge movie trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA
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