Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium Münster-Hiltrup
Schuljahr 2011/12
LK Englisch Q1 (Frau Lätzel)
Can the movie „V For Vendetta“ be
called a dystopian movie?
Facharbeit von Alyssa Boertz
Münster
März 2012
Table of contents
1. Introduction………………………………………...………………3
2. The genre „Dystopia” – a detailed definition………………………3
3. A summary of the movie “V For Vendetta”……………………….4
4. Key scene “V’s Television Speech”………………………………7
5. In what way is the scene typical dystopia? ....................................10
6. Conclusion………………………………………………………...11
7. Appendages
7.1 List of references………………………………………………...12
7.2 Appendage……………………………………………………….13
2
1. Introduction
“There aren’t many cheeky, cheery characters in V FOR VENDETTA either; and it’s for
people who don’t switch off the news.”1 For me this was the most memorable sentence of
David Lloyd’s introduction to the graphic novel “V For Vendetta” and in my opinion it was
also the most fitting sentence. Even though it was marketed as a superhero story when it was
first published in 1982, it definitely had more to offer. It dealt with much grimmer topics than
graphic novels at that time used to deal with, such as terrorism, totalitarian governments and
anarchy. Soon “V For Vendetta” had established a large fan base, which might have been one
of the reasons why, in 2006, a movie adaptation was made. Before the movie was released
people thought of it as yet another superhero movie based on an old graphic novel. It was
marketed more as a superhero action movie and not as a political movie. Although it does
have action elements, I would describe “V For Vendetta” as a typical dystopian movie.
Can the movie “V For Vendetta” be called a dystopian movie? This is the question I will be
dealing with. First, I will give a definition of the movie genre “Dystopia”, including the name
and typical attributes of the genre. After that I will summarize the movie. In order to answer
the main question I will analyze the nine minute long key scene “V’s Television speech”. I
will then compare the key scene to the genre definition and come to a conclusion whether or
not the movie “V for Vendetta” can be called a dystopian movie.
2. The genre “Dystopia” – a detailed definition
The term “Dystopia” has Greek roots. “dys“ comes from the Greek word for “bad” or “hard”
and “topia” originates in the Greek word for “place”, therefore dystopia means “bad place”. A
dystopia is the antithesis of the utopian society. Ever since Sir Thomas More released a book
called “Utopia” in 1516, utopian novels have been released. A utopia is a non-existing, ideal
state, with highest living standards and perfect medical conditions such as the cure of cancer
or the absence of death. A dystopia on the other hand, is the exact opposite. While the utopian
story tells the audience what the ideal future could be, a dystopia, as a reaction to the
optimism of the genre “Utopia”, tells the audience what the worst possible future could be,
which functions as a moral or political warning to the audience. In a dystopian society there
have been events in the past, such as war, revolution, rebellion or overpopulation, which have
led to the dystopian climate. In a political dystopia, there is usually a totalitarian form of
government, which oppresses the public. In the majority of cases the oppressive government
is a result of the dramatic events of the past, meaning that out of fear, the government turns
into a totalitarian system in order to prevent the dramatic events of the past from repeating
themselves. This leads to a ruling class living in luxury and a poor standard of living among
the lower classes of society and even though things are at such an inhumane state in the
dystopian society, it is solely the protagonist of the story, who realizes that something is
1
David Lloyd, V For Vendetta, DC Comics 2005, p.5
3
terribly wrong. Dystopian storylines often end in a total disaster which underlines the warning
it is trying to make.
3. A summary of the movie
The movie “V For Vendetta” starts with the words: “Remember, remember the fifth of
November”2, spoken by one of the protagonists Evey Hammond. She tells the audience
something about Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the year
1605 and the power of ideas. After the monologue, the real storyline begins.
The story begins with Evey, who is on her way to meet Gordon Dietrich, with whom she
works at the BTN Tower, but since it is 11 o’clock in the evening, a curfew is in order, which
makes her being outside illegal. Eventually she stumbles across two so-called “Fingermen”.
The Fingermen work for the government and have the right to arrest anybody suspicious.
They threaten Evey, but before they are able to harm her, a man dressed up as Guy Fawkes
appears. He fights off the Fingermen and saves Evey. He introduces himself as a “humble
vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This
visage, no mere veneer of vanity is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished.
However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to
vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently
vicious and voracious violation of volition.”3 He is V, the main character of the movie. V
invites Evey to an orchestra but once she accepts, he leads her on top of a building, with view
on the Old Bailey, instead. Evey realizes that there are no instruments, when suddenly a
classical song, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, can be heard coming from the speakers on the
street. The people of London start walking onto the street out of curiosity, ignoring the
curfew, when the Old Bailey explodes, the first domino in a chain of events.
After the attack on the Old Bailey, the heads of the government meet to discuss the event. In
this scene the audience is introduced to the third protagonist called Eric Finch, an inspector,
whose job is to hunt V. Soon after the meeting, V breaks into the BTN building, in order to
broadcast a speech on television, in which he speaks directly to the people of London. After
that he has to fight his way out of the building. When confronted with Eric Finch’s colleague
Dominic, Evey, who works at the BTN building, helps V. She is knocked out by Dominic,
which leads to V being forced to take Evey with him.
He takes her to his home, which he calls “The Shadow Gallery”. It’s a place somewhere
underground, filled with books, paintings and all sorts of other pieces of art that have been
banned by the government. V tells Evey that he has planned to overthrow the government
until the next 5th of November and that she has to stay in the Shadow Gallery for one year.
But V isn’t only a revolutionist. He also has a personal vendetta with certain party members.
The first one he kills is Lewis Prothero, who owns a propaganda show called “The Voice of
2
3
00:40 – 00:43, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
06:57 – 07:21, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
4
London”. In the meantime Eric Finch is trying to find out more about V. While researching he
finds out that Prothero had something to do with a so-called “detention facility” called
Larkhill. He thinks that Larkhill might be the connection between V and Prothero.
Back in the Shadow Gallery, Evey tells V her story. She says that her younger brother was
one of the victims of the “St. Mary’s Crisis”, an epidemic that took many victims at a school
called “St. Mary’s”. After the death of her brother, her parents became political activists who
criticized Norsefire, the party that would later become the new government. Once the party
rose to power, Evey’s parents were detained and Evey never saw them again. After telling V
her story, she asks him if there is any way she can help him and V accepts her offer. He uses
Evey in order to reach Father Lilliman, a bishop, who used to be a priest at Larkhill. Evey
does manage to lure Father Lilliman into a room, but before V enters that room, Evey tries to
warn Father Lilliman. Once V arrives, she apologizes to him, but runs away. V kills Father
Lilliman, which calls Eric Finch to investigate again.
Evey doesn’t know where else to go, but to Gordon Dietrich, who hosts a Satire Show at the
BTN. She was on her way to meet him in the opening scene of the movie, when she came
across the Fingermen. This time though, she manages to reach Gordon unnoticed. He takes
her in and lets her stay at his house.
The next scene is the first appearance of Delia Surridge, a coroner. She does the autopsy of
father Lilliman and talks with Eric Finch about the roses that V leaves at the crime scenes.
She tells Eric Finch that the type of rose is called Scarlet Carson and that it is known to be
extinct. She takes the rose home with her. Once Delia arrives home, she opens a safe in her
bedroom floor. She takes out a journal and places it onto her bedroom table. Meanwhile Eric
Finch and Dominic are trying to find out the identity of people involved in Larkhill. They find
out that everyone seems to be dead or missing, except a woman. They wait for the results and
soon find out that Delia is the missing woman. They try to phone her, but the phone line is
dead, which leads them to the conclusion that V is with her, so they head there. Delia, who
had been in bed, suddenly wakes up to find out, that V is in her bedroom. She tells him that
she wishes him to understand why she did what she did. At the end of the conversation she
apologizes for what she did to him. Then she asks him, if he will now kill her. He answers
that he already killed her while she was sleeping. He then hands her a rose and leaves. Eric
Finch and Dominic arrive too late, but they find her journal.
Back at Gordon Dietrich’s Home, Evey and Gordon are sitting together watching Gordon’s
newest show, which Gordon calls the best show he ever made. He ignored the censor and had
an imitator of Adam Sutler, the high chancellor of England, make fun of himself and the
propaganda that claims that V was killed. Evey is concerned about it, but Gordon assures her
that nothing will happen. He is mistaken because it doesn’t take long until Creedy and his
men arrive to arrest Gordon. While they take him away, Evey tries to escape by climbing out
of the window. Just as it seems that she will be able to escape, she is grabbed and a black bag
is put over her head. She finds herself in an interrogation room, where she is accused of
murder and terrorist activities. The man interrogating her offers to clear her of all charges, if
she can provide him with information about V. She refuses and is therefore put into a cell, her
hair is shaved and she is tortured for information. While being imprisoned, Evey discovers a
5
note written on toilet paper in a hole in the wall of her cell. It was written by a certain Valerie,
who wanted to write her story down, knowing that she would die soon. She was a woman who
had starred in a movie called “The Salt Flats”. Once Norsefire took over government, she was
detained for being a lesbian. At the end of her letter she says that she loves whoever is reading
the letter. This gives Evey the strength to not give in to the torture. Very soon she is
interrogated again. The man tells her that if she still refuses to give him information on V, she
will be executed. Evey still refuses and prepares to die, but instead of taking her behind the
chemical shades to get shot, the man tells her that she is free and disappears. At first Evey
doesn’t believe what happened, but as soon as she leaves the cell, she finds herself in the
Shadow Gallery, with V facing her. Evey realizes that her stay at the, what she thought had
been a prison, hadn’t been real and that V had been the one who tortured her. He claims he
only did that to free her from the fear she had been living in, by doing with her what the
people at Larkhill did to him. Even though Evey forgives V, she decides to leave the Shadow
Gallery. Before leaving she promises V to return one time before the 5th of November.
Chancellor Sutler tells the BTN to report all sorts of made-up news about diseases and
terrorist threats in order to scare the public, but it seems that the people of London don’t
believe what the BTN reports anymore. In the meantime William Rookwood, one of the
missing people that had worked at Larkhill, contacts Eric Finch. They arrange a meeting.
Rookwood finally reveals the secrets of Larkhill. Larkhill was a detention center, where
biological experiments were made on human test subjects in order to create a biological
weapon. All of the victims died except for one. The blood of that victim held the key to a
biological weapon, a deadly virus to which only the government had the cure. The partyleader Creedy suggested to the Chancellor to use the virus on the people of Britain and so a
school, an underground station and a water-treatment plant were infected with the virus that
claimed several hundred lives, including Evey’s younger brother, which was later known as
the “St. Mary’s Crises”. As soon as Norsefire began to sell the cure, the party gained complete
power over the people, which turned England into a totalitarian state. Rookwood refuses to be
taken into protective custody, unless Eric Finch puts Creedy under surveillance.
V seeks out Creedy in his greenhouse and makes a deal with him. In order for Creedy to stop
V, he needs to bring him Sutler. If Creedy agrees he should put a white X on his front door.
In the meantime Eric Finch gets a call from a colleague that William Rookwood has been
dead for twenty years. He figures out that it wasn’t Rookwood who had been revealing the
secrets of Larkhill to him, but none other than V, the man he was hunting.
In the following scene, all of V’s dominos are being set. V sends Guy Fawkes costumes to the
people of London, which leads to chaotic events and riots in London. The people stop being
the sheep of the oppressive government and start supporting V. Creedy writes the X on his
door. Finally it’s the 4th of November and Evey returns to the Shadow Gallery one last time.
V tells Evey that he needs to give her something and leads her to the underground station. The
underground had been shut down in the past and V had been working about 10 years to clear
the tracks. His train is full of dynamite that shall drive to Parliament and, as V promised, blow
up the Houses of Parliament. He leaves the choice to pull the lever that will activate the train
6
to Evey. He has his personal vendetta to take care of and is aware of the fact that he will die
that day. So he leaves Evey and makes his way to meet Creedy.
Creedy and his men are waiting for V in another old tube station. When V arrives they hand
out Adam Sutler to V. V gives him a Scarlet Carson and Creedy shoots Sutler. Eric Finch,
who is still trying to find V somewhere in the underground, hears the shot and makes his way
towards where it came from. Creedy wants V to take off his mask and once V refuses, a fight
breaks out. V is pierced by several bullets, but somehow still manages to fight off all of
Creedy’s men. He finally kills Creedy and therefore ends his vendetta, but he is badly
wounded. He heads back towards Evey, but as soon as he reaches her, he dies, leaving his
legacy to her.
At Trafalgar Square the people of London, all dressed up as Guy Fawkes, head towards the
houses of Parliament, ready to face the military force waiting for them. Inspector Finch finds
Evey just as she is about the pull the lever. At first he tries to stop her, but once she refuses,
he gives in. The military force, which doesn’t receive any orders from Creedy or Sutler, lower
their weapons and allow the people of London to gather in front of the houses of parliament.
Evey pulls the lever, steps out of the train to Eric Finch and the train starts moving towards
Parliament. Just in time for the first minute of the 5th of November, Tchaikovsky’s 1812
Overture can be heard from the speakers once again and the Houses of Parliament explode,
marking the end of the Norsefire-Regime, the end of V’s personal vendetta and the end of the
movie.
4. Key scene “V’s Television Speech”
There are three key scenes in the movie, one of them is “V’s Television Speech”. The scene
starts at 12:36 and goes until 21:00, making it about nine minutes long. I will be using this
scene to find out whether or not the movie can be called a dystopian movie.
The scene opens with a shot of the BTN Tower. The BTN (British Television Network) is the
only television station in England. It is used for news casting, a satire show and a propaganda
show. Inside the BTN Tower, a news broadcast is about to air. Dascomb, the head of the BTN
is standing near the studio, watching the two news reporters getting ready for the show. A
woman asks him, if he believes the people will believe what they are about to broadcast.
Dascomb answers: “Our job is to report the news, not fabricate it. That’s the government’s
job”4. This shows that the government dictates the BTN what to broadcast. It means that news
reports aren’t objective, but fabricated. The next camera shot shows the news report. The
reporters say that the Old Bailey hadn’t been blown up by V, but had been planned to be
demolished for some time and that the crew who had been responsible for the demolition had
been the ones who set off the music and the fireworks that evening. This goes one step further
than Dascomb’s statement, because it shows that not only does the government dictate what is
allowed to be broadcast, it dictates the BTN to report things that are straight out false.
4
12:47-12:52, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
7
In another room, Evey and a colleague of hers are watching the report. The colleague says
that she had seen the Old Bailey the night before and that there hadn’t been a demolition. She
asks if Evey had seen the Old Bailey, but then remembers that Evey had gone to see Gordon
Dietrich the last evening. Their conversation is cut off by Evey’s boss Patricia, who sends
Evey out to fetch some coffee and to give Gordon Dietrich his tea.
The camera cuts to Eric Finch and Dominic, who are looking at security camera shots of V.
Dominic says that he doesn’t understand why V dresses as Guy Fawkes and blows up the Old
Bailey instead of the houses of Parliament. Eric Finch answers that perhaps V is planning on
blowing up the houses of Parliament that day. The phone rings and Dominic answers. He says
that they just received a lead on the girl, meaning Evey Hammond.
Evey enters Gordon Dietrich’s room and places his tea on a table. Gordon is on the phone
with a co-worker. He tells him that he likes the idea of the co-worker about a cow being
crucified, but that they will never be allowed to broadcast it and they have to re-write the
show. This shows that the government censors TV shows and in a way it also shows that there
is no freedom of speech anymore. Evey tells him that she had been on her way to meet him
the last evening, but that there had been Fingermen and so she had went home. In the
meantime Eric Finch and Dominic break into Evey’s apartment and find her ID. This makes
them head to the BTN Tower to arrest her. Not knowing about her being hunted by the police,
Evey continues her work. A large amount of packages just arrived and Evey needs to have
them signed by the security officer called Fred. Fred, who is watching a show called “Storm
Saxon”, is too lazy to check what’s inside and therefore signs without looking inside. Evey
brings the packages to the dressing room, but the woman working there doesn’t know what
it’s for. She believes it’s for the show “The Voice of London”. She complains that Prothero
thinks he can do whatever he wants, while opening one of the packages. Inside is a Guy
Fawkes costume that looks exactly like V’s costume. Evey is shocked, but doesn’t say
anything.
On their way towards the BTN Tower, Eric Finch and Dominic check up on Evey’s records.
They find out that her parents had been political activists who had been detained when she
was only 12 years old. Eric Finch says: “I want a chance to talk to her before she disappears
into one of Creedy’s black bags.”5 This shows that Creedy is taking the right to make people
who are a nuisance to him disappear without giving them a fair trial.
Back at the BTN Tower, suddenly all screens go out. The front doors open and V appears. He
has dynamite strapped to his body and a detonator in his hand, with which he gains access to
the Tower. He forces Fred to lead him to the studio. In the meantime Eric Finch and Dominic
arrive to arrest Evey, but they don’t get far because V blocks the elevators. Eric Finch spots
Evey, but she manages to hide from them. All screens turn black.
The camera cuts to various places in London, two family homes, a bar, a home for the elderly
and Piccadilly Circus. In the studio, V forces the personnel to play a CD he recorded, and
broadcast it on the emergency channel.
5
15.39 – 15.44, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
8
Suddenly, on all screens of London, V’s speech can be heard. First V apologizes to break the
daily repetition of the Londoners. He then continues with a request to celebrate the 5th of
November by sitting together and talking, meaning that he wants them to listen to what he has
to say.
Then he says that “there are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. […] I expect even
now orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way.”6
By this he means the government. First he directly addresses the oppression and the denial of
free speech. To underline that statement, he then evokes a familiar picture in the minds of the
people of London. Every citizen knows about the so-called black-baggers, or Fingermen, who
have detained countless people in the past. The public is also aware of the military force of
the government, as they are reminded of it every day by propaganda shows such as “The
Voice of London”. By talking particularly about the orders that are being shouted into
telephones and the men with guns, he creates an atmosphere of fear towards the government.
But then V says that the reason why the government is censoring the media is because they
are afraid of the power of words, because words are “the enunciation of truth”7 and the reason
why the government doesn’t want the truth to be told, is because they know that “there is
something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there?”8. This sentence is a typical
characteristic of a protagonist of a dystopian movie. V continues his speech by defining what
is wrong with the country: “Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where
once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors
and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.”9 V
then tells the people of London that, even though some people are far more responsible than
other people for the terrible condition the state is in, every single person of London is guilty
for allowing Norsefire to rise to power. He sympathizes with them though, telling them that
he can understand why they supported the party: “War, terror, disease. There were a myriad
of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear
got the best of you and in your panic you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler.”10
With that statement he hints in the direction of the secret of Larkhill, although he knows that
the people of London won’t understand that hint. But then V tells more about Norsefire. He
says that Adam Sutler “promised you order, he promised you peace and all he demanded in
return was you silent, obedient consent.”11 By that he criticizes the people of London for
having turned into sheep of the government, the silence being a symbol for obedience. He
then uses the same metaphor addressing the destruction of the Old Bailey: “Last night I
sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of
what it has forgotten.”12 He wants the people to remember the 5th of November because of
Guy Fawkes, who, in V’s opinion, was a freedom fighter who stood up against injustice.
That’s why V dresses up as Guy Fawkes and that’s why V makes his announcement on the 5th
of November.
6
18.39 – 18.49, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
19.03 – 19.04, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
8
19.05 – 19.09, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
9
19.11 – 19.26, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
10
19.45 – 19.59, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
11
20.00 – 20.06, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
12
20.06 – 20.15, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
7
9
In the last part of V’s speech, he offers the people of London a chance to stand up against
their government. V says: “So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain
unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the 5th of November to pass unmarked.
But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you
to stand beside me, one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament and together we
shall give them a 5th of November that shall never, ever be forgot.”13 With those words V
starts his revolution. He doesn’t demand the people of London to do anything, but to wait for
one year and then to walk to the gates of Parliament, where he shall end what Guy Fawkes
started in 1605: He will blow up the Houses of Parliament, a symbol of the people
overcoming oppression and injustice.
5. In what way is the scene typical Dystopia?
Now I am going to compare the scene “V’s Television speech” to the definition of dystopia.
The key scene has several elements of a typical dystopian scene. The first thing one would
recognize is that the whole movie is set in the future, a typical dystopian theme. One of the
most important characteristics of a dystopian movie is that it functions as a moral and/or
political warning. Can this be said about “V for Vendetta”? I would answer the question with
yes. “V For Vendetta” focuses on the political climate. The rest of the movie establishes a
back story explaining why England became a totalitarian state. In a political dystopia there
have been grim events in the past that have led to the terrible condition the state is in. In “V
for Vendetta” there has been a terrible virus, so therefore the events of the past are another
thing that makes “V for Vendetta” a dystopian movie. In “V’s television speech” that is only
mentioned briefly. V, being one of the victims of Larkhill, the place where the biological
weapon was made, deals with the people responsible for the “St. Mary’s Crisis” through his
personal Vendetta. His speech however is aimed at the people of London, who don’t even
know that the virus came from their own government. That is why he talks very thoroughly
about the wrongs of the government. An oppressive government is a typical characteristic for
a dystopian movie and in the scene there are several bits of dialogue that reveal the political
climate of the Norsefire-controlled England. It starts with the fact that the media is heavily
censored and fabricated. Dascomb’s statement about the government fabricating the news14 is
supporting that fact, as well as Gordon’s conversation with his co-worker about the cow being
crucified15. In a dystopian society the ruling class lives in luxury and the lower classes of
society have a rather poor standard of living. In “V’s Television speech” Evey has a small
conversation with the woman in the dressing room. The woman complains about Lewis
Prothero, the host of the propaganda show “The Voice of London”, who believes he can do
whatever he wants. This shows that people who publicly support the government have more
rights than other people, again typical dystopia. In a dystopian storyline, it usually is only the
protagonist who realizes that something is terribly wrong. In “V For Vendetta” things are a bit
13
20.30 - 21.00, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
12:47 - 12:52, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
15
13:52 - 13:59, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
14
10
different. The people of London know that things in their country are in an unjust state, but
they are so scared of authorities such as the black-baggers or the military force, that they don’t
dare turn against the government. Of course there are always people who support the party,
such as Prothero, but the majority only obeys their government out of fear. Through V
though, things don’t stay that way. The whole purpose of his speech is to make the people of
London stand up against Norsefire and the scene constantly shows the reactions of the
audience. The look on Gordon’s face when he watches V’s speech16 for example shows, that
he agrees with what V is saying. This is not something typical for a dystopian movie, but it is
necessary for the political message of the movie. The whole movie is about the power of ideas
and V is the embodiment of this message. He is the exact opposite of Norsefire, because he
doesn’t want to oppress the people, but make them start using their own voice to rid
themselves from the oppression of the government. If the movie would have had a typical
dystopian ending, a complete disaster, then the message of the movie would contradict itself.
The message is about morals overcoming oppression. In his speech V says: “fairness, justice
and freedom are more than words. They are perspectives.”17 This underlines the message of
the movie. Basically the message is that if the former sheep of the government stand up
against injustice and oppression, they are able to make a change for good. It is a moral and a
political message and is typical for a dystopian movie, even if the way it is shown in the end
is not typical dystopia.
6. Conclusion
Now that I have compared the scene to the definition of dystopia, I will answer my main
question. Can the movie be called a dystopian movie? “V For Vendetta” differs from other
dystopian movies. There are two aspects of the definition of dystopia that the movie does not
follow. One of them is that the people of London believe what the protagonist says and the
other is that the ending of the movie is very bright. Does this mean the movie is not a
dystopian movie? Throughout the entire movie “V For Vendetta” focuses on the portrayal of
the oppressive government. The movie is set in a grim future, there have been terrible events
in the past, there is advanced biological knowledge, the protagonist doesn’t fit into society
and all the time the audience is reminded of the oppressive government. All of these aspects
of the movie serve to deliver a political and a moral warning to the audience. These are all
typical aspects of a dystopian movie and even though “V For Vendetta” has some differences
from a normal dystopian movie, the similarities overpower those differences and that’s why I
believe the movie “V For Vendetta” can be called a dystopian movie. Just like David Lloyd
said about the graphic novel, I can say that there definitely aren’t many cheeky, cheery
characters in the movie “V For Vendetta” and it’s for people who don’t switch off the news,
not for people who want to watch a superhero action movie.
16
17
18.51 – 18.54, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
20.24 – 20.29, V For Vendetta (DVD), 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment
11
7.1 List of references
Primary sources:
Moore, Alan / Lloyd, David : V For Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005
V For Vendetta (2006). James McTeigue (direction) / The Wachowski brothers (screenplay).
DVD, 128 min, Hamburg: Warner Home Video Germany, a division of Warner Bros.
Entertainment GmbH.
Secondary sources:
Gaede, Peter-Matthias u.a. : GEO Themenlexikon. Band 30. Literatur. Schriftsteller, Werke,
Epochen. Pers-Z. GEO, Gruner + Jahr AG & Co KG / Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim,
2008
12
7.2 Appendage
The government
Quote
„Our job is to report the news, not
fabricate it. That’s the government’s
job.” (Dascomb 12:47)
“Look don’t get me wrong, I love it. A
cow getting crucified. It’s hysterical.
But you’ll never get it approved.
You’ve got to rewrite it, okay?”
(Dietrich 13:52)
“I was on my way last night, but there
were Fingermen and I got scared and
went home.” (Evey 14:12)
“Sadly, after last night, I think our
curfew will only get worse.” (Dietrich
14:17)
“All that been x-rayed?” (Fred 14:42)
“Her parents were political activists.
They were detained when she was
12.” (Finch 15:28)
“I want a chance to talk to her before
she disappears into one of Creedy’s
black bags.” (Finch 15:41)
“I’ll tell you what I know. I’ll tell you
what I know. I’ll tell you what I know:
England prevails.” (Prothero in TV )
What it reveals about the
government
The news are fabricated by the
government.
TV shows are censored. There is no
freedom of the press.
The people are afraid of the
authorities.
There is a curfew
Everything being sent by post is being
looked through first.
People with a certain ideology are
persecuted. There is no freedom of
speech.
Suspects are arrested and never seen
again.
There is a propaganda show, which
tells the public what to think. The
catchphrase “England prevails” is an
allusion to the Nazi-Regime.
The government doesn’t want it’s
people to have free thoughts.
The authority of the government is
based on armed forces.
“There are of course those who do
not want us to speak.” (V)
“I expect even now, orders are being
shouted into telephones and men
with guns will soon be on their way.”
(V)
“Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and Again, the oppressive government
13
oppression. And where once you had
the freedom the object, to think and
speak as you saw fit, you now have
censors and systems of surveillance
coercing your conformity and
soliciting your submission.” (V)
Sidenote: While Evey talks to Fred, he is watching the television Show called
“Storm Saxon”. This shows that the only program on TV besides propaganda is
one-dimensional entertainment shows.
Dystopia
“A dystopia is an imaginary society whose evil qualities are meant to serve as a moral or
political warning. In the 19th century, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells described dystopias in their
science-fiction novels. Examples of dystopian novels in the 20th century are George Orwell’s
“1984”, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange.” From
a worksheet I received in class
14