# Just got back from V for Vendetta... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-back-from-v-for-vendetta/348276 "2006-03-14T04:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-back-from-v-for-vendetta/348276/81 "2006-03-28T21:31:27Z")
I saw it last night, and was pretty impressed. Different from the comics in mostly the right ways, and appropriately updated (from Cold War/Thatcher/Reagan-era angst to a post-9-11 parable). Weaving and Portman both aced their parts. Making Porthero a Limbaugh-style blowhard was a stroke of genius, and the scene in which V takes on Creedy and a dozen of his goons was just… amazing. Love those twirling knives. About the only thing I really missed was Evey speculating on whose face was behind the mask - her dad, Valerie, and so on - rejecting the question, and accepting V as an Everyman. Or Everyanarchist. Or Everyrevolutionary. Whatever. Interesting that, in the snotty NYT review for which **jkirkman** supplied a link (post #68, above), there’s a picture in which you can see the face of the guy shaving Portman’s head. He’s identified as “Jeremy Woodhead, the stylist.” WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-back-from-v-for-vendetta/348276/82 "2006-03-28T22:19:29Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > What are you talking about? Those movie versions don’t exist, la la la la… _walks away with fingers in ears_ Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-back-from-v-for-vendetta/348276/83 "2006-03-28T23:09:17Z")
> [@Scupper](#): > > Not sure what qualifies as spoilers in this thread, so I’ll just err on the side of caution. > > \ > As far as Gordon’s seemingly foolish miscalculation about Suttler’s reaction, my impression was that he was already on the edge because of years of supressing his homosexuality and watching the nation fall into fascism. He was strongly affected by V’s televised speech, telling Evey that he’s “right.” V’s seeming invulnerability made the government seem weak in comparison and Gordon, caught up in the hope that change could actually be in the making, took a risk that, deep down, he knew might kill him, but he had to grab onto the possibility that V presented. His reassurances to Evey that he would only be required to make an apology were, I think, attempts to reassure himself as well. I agree to a certain extent with many of you on this issue (ie. Gordon), but I have a slightly different take on it: [spoiler]I don’t think Gordon really expected to be punished besides the “slap on the wrist”/public apology he mentioned. I think Gordon is meant to represent the general cluelessness of the population of an oppressive state. Even though he has to hide his sexuality and his contraband artifacts, he is also a successful TV star and so doesn’t necessarily feel ‘oppressed.’ Or more accurately, he has internalized his oppression as “that’s just the way things are.” Because the truth is so horrible, and he has been relatively sheltered from it, it doesn’t enter his thoughts that the government would go so far as to arrest him - much less, kill him - because he is a public figure, therefore his disappearance would have to be explained. It’s like that old [German poem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...) (not a spoiler) “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist…” and ends “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up.” (paraphrased). He hadn’t allowed himself to face the reality that there would be a time they would come for him. On the other hand, Evey’s experience with V, and his hiding of her, awoke something in him which allowed him to take more of a risk. On the one hand I believe he was in denial about the consequences, but in some small way knew that his action was more important than personal safety. He may not have envisioned himself a martyr, but he wanted to push the envelope and - perhaps naiively - thought he could get away with it. And perhaps before V appeared and made the government more touchy, he might have gotten away with the public apology. But V’s appearance not only helped motivate Gordon to do what he did, it also made the goverment crack down harder than ever. While black-bagging was probably a fairly abstract idea to Gordon, Evey had actually seen it happen, and so she has a more realistic idea of the consequences. I kept wondering why she stayed in his apartment after the show broadcast, knowing that the fingermen were almost certain to bust in.[/spoiler] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-back-from-v-for-vendetta/348276.md?page=4)