V For Vendetta

Last night, one of the channels on my cable system was carrying V For Vendetta.

What a great film! I first saw it a couple years ago while living in Thames Ditton. A friend of mine there lent me the film to watch. It's dark and creepy. A thriller about a vigilante who holds a corrupt government to task for the illegal acts they have perpetrated to keep themselves in power.

The story is set in a fictional England which has been taken over by a nationalist party. They rule though fear. They keep their power by manufacturing panic among their population. The tag line is amazingly apt: "People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments. Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People."

It is also a story about their undoing at the hands of the populace.

Not that a government would ever try to control their people through fear! That's just nuts! Who would ever believe such a thing!? If you get the chance to see it, make sure you do. It is quite a good film and fitting for our times. The Guy Fawkes Day rhyme is most fitting for politicians in the US this year:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot to surrender,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Of course, on the fifth of November, assuming we miss the "Florida 2000" type incidents, we will have a new president elect. Now that is something to be afraid of! (Potentially at least!)

Wherever you are today, I hope that your government fears you more than you fear it!

Don Bergquist - September 16, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA