“V” Makes A Mark In DC

[Guest echtrae]

Anybody seen this?

[Guest Adara]

Wow, I never thought I'd get to see a demonstration like that. I like it though. I gets attention and drives in the point. (I'm sure the movie reps like it too because this will of course make people who haven't seen the movie go see it.)

[Guest Big Samurai]

Hahaha, that receives many points for coolness and being à propos. After that election, I guess it was only a matter of time 'til V made his presence known.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Oh my... That is awesome, AND on my birthday! Rocks the socks.

[Nanaea]

... They waited about one hour for a representative of President Bush to approach them with some response to the Petitions. 

As has been his wont, the President did not respond....

... directly facing the main Treasury Building where they waited a half hour for a representative of Treasury Secretary Paulson to respond to the Petitions for Redress.... 

As has been its custom, Treasury did not respond....

... The “Vs” then marched down 15th Street and Constitution Avenue to the Department of Justice, where they waited for a half hour, with banner and signs for the Attorney General to respond to the Petitions for Redress.

As has been its tradition, the Department of Justice did not respond....

...The “Vs” then marched to the Reflecting Pool and faced the Capitol as they waited for representatives of the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader to respond to the Petitions for Redress.

Habituated, Congress did not respond....

Does anyone else see an alarming pattern here?

[Guest echtrae]

There is a decided recurring motif to the response, or lack thereof, that was witnessed.

[Iggy_lovechild]

Woooww...they didn't ever release the hounds and stop the protests by force. How depressing.

It's official: The rich,white men in charge are so not threatened by the people that they're ignoring protesters dressed as a violent (albiet fictional) revolutionary. Well...most of the American people have been brainwashed. Maybe they were just surprised to see it on their front porch rather than in some far flung place like California.

[StoryJunkie]

I don't know. Just goes to show how much influence even a bad movie can have...(I don't really want to say "on the weak-minded", but it was on the tip of my tongue). That is Sooo what's the word? Kind of like "poser". I don't think anyone in their right minds can take these people seriously.

Let the debate begin....

[Guest Helluin]

It's myth.

The trouble is we're living in a culture now where we don't all share the same myth -- it was so much easier when we were all Protestant, or living in India under a traditional caste system, or Native Americans quite used to getting news bulletins from crows and coyotes!

Now, everyone doesn't have the same myth, so other people's "mythical actions" seem ludicrous and silly. And we long for myth.

V for Vendetta was a fairly crappy movie with a certain visual appeal that hit people down deep, like good myths do. Tolkien's world does that too. So does the myth of "An Army of One", or the myths of love, romance, and marriage in highly predictable (affair -- high-profile marriage -- affair -- divorce -- angst) patterns we see on the front of magazines and tabloids in the supermarket checkout aisle. Stupid. Yet they touch something down in our psyche that tends to propagate them.

Using the myth of V to promote citizen protest in a highly visible fashion is extremely effective, on the one hand, because it has instant recognition. A large enough body of the population have seen the film to know just what it means when they see a bunch of people dressed up as V standing in front of the White House. The message is delivered with a sharp kick to the same part of our psyche that understands the knight in shining armor, UFOs hanging in the sky over our heads, or "the dark side of the force". The V-image is something we remember and understand, unlike the colored blobs used by many companies as their logos.

On the other hand, using the myth of V is problematic because it's also going to engender a reaction like Storyjunkies: "What kind of losers dress up in a fringe movie costume to promote responsible government? How nerdy!" That's the not-my-myth problem, the problem that fantasy, in our culture, is stigmatized as unrealistic and childish.

I am thinking specifically of an interview with Joseph Campbell by a combatative radio host in which the host kept saying "A myth is a lie!" and Campbell kept trying to explain to him, "No, it's a metaphor."

Some people are comfortable communicating through metaphor. Others deride it as fantasy and falsehood and do not see that meaning can be conveyed through fiction.

[AmyMcClair]

I think it is great that people were inspired by the movie to do something useful. However, I think it would have been more a propos to have the initial statement delivered on 5 November instead of 6 November.

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November." - That was the whole point to "V," was it not?

[quamp]

The reason why they don't listen is very simple:

These people don't contribute to campaign reelection funds.

They only give one vote come election time.

I've strongly advocated limiting how much a candidate can spend on an election. Unfotunately, I'm in the minority on that.

[Guest echtrae]

No, you're not alone in that thought Quamp, but as you pointed out. You only have one vote and you don't contribute thousands of dollars to the politicos' campaign fund.

[AmyMcClair]

I wanted to point out that I am quite glad that these protesters weren't harmed in the making of this protest. Afterall, Guy Fawkes and V (the two persons, whose images were used in this protest) were technically terrorists.

I wonder if the lack of harm is because this went un-noticed.

[Guest echtrae]

I think ignored would be a more accurate word.

[dazzledfirestar]

I wanted to point out that I am quite glad that these protesters weren't harmed in the making of this protest. Afterall, Guy Fawkes and V (the two persons, whose images were used in this protest) were technically terrorists.

I wonder if the lack of harm is because this went un-noticed.

Ahhh the word "terrorist". Its one of those words that people accept as evil and move on. What about the French Underground during WWII? To the Nazis they were terrorists. And the IRA? I don't see Bush and his cronies wagging war against the Irish. And what about the Americans themselves? Don't you think the Brits saw them as terrorists during the war of Independence? Terrorist to one group, is a freedom fighter to another. Funny how so many seemed to have forgotten that over the last five or six years.

Anyway, it's good to see that there are people still willing to stand up for what they believe in.

Oh and for those of you who haven't, read the original graphic novel "V for Vendetta". Trust me, it kicks that movie versions ass.

[AmyMcClair]

I know what you mean about the meaning of terrorist. I guess that was the wrong word to use. What I mean is that if one chooses to protest in a non-violent sort of way, he/she should refrain from choosing a character known for attempting to blow up the government with tons of explosives as his/her "spokesperson."

It seems a little counter-productive to me.

[Guest echtrae]

Perhaps the intention is to simple give notice to those in power, that the people have had enough and they better mend their ways. Another possibility would be that it was selected simply on the possible recognizable aspect of it.

[Guest Agaib]

I'm going to take a great big truckload of shit like the person in that other story and dump it on the white house lawn. Freedom of expression right? That might get them to respond somehow, though perhaps not with a representative.

[Guest echtrae]

V has made another appearance in Washington DC.

'V' Visits The White House

[foeofthelance]

Ok, I admit. What exactly are they protesting again?

Let's see...no answers no taxes. What was the question again? If it's simply what they are for, that's rather a matter of public record isn't it? We have C-SPAN1, C-SPAN2, the internet, the local library, the local post office, city hall, etc. Have they asked there first?

Obey the Constitution...ok, which bit? As far as I can see no one, one either side of the aisles, has been playing fairly lately. The Bush administration apparently suffers from communications issues, and has unfortunately been the first administration to really deal with a world of mass media. (Clinton sort of had to deal with it at the end of his second term, but the Bush administration had to deal with it from the election days.) Meanwhile the Democrats have been throwing the word Crisis around like they work for DC comics. And fortunately they have the power to interpret the constitution, so they also get to decided if they are obeying it. Perhaps some complaint there...if it wasn't what politicians had been doing since the time of Grant's presidency.

Constitution or Tyranny...well, the consitution is most definitely not a tyrant, it's a piece of paper dedicated to the creation of a democratic republic. Ok, that's must me having a bit of fun being literal. Bush? A tyrant eh? Geh, I knew trying to build an American version of the gulag in the middle of Nebraska was a bad idea! Next thing you know, we'll no longer be allowed to arrest bloggers on trumped up charges! Oh wait I minute. That was Stalin and Egypt respectively. Maybe Bush should stop having his political naysayers arrested...oh wait, he doesn't. Oh sure there's Guatanamo Bay, but I can't help but wonder what people would say if we simply shot everyone accused of threatening to kill/wound Americans, rather then remove them from a combat zone, feed them three square meals a day, question them, and then release the ones we determine to be non-threatening.

Ah well. I guess if you can't protest in America, then you can't protest anywhere.

[Guest Big Samurai]

It was cool the first time, and, IMO, it's still cool. Bush is like Macbeth in that he needs every conceivable reminder that -- remember, I'm dead opposed to the administration, and I won't apologize for it -- he's a usurper and illegitimately in possession of the office. Who better to make that point than V?