"Remember, Remember, the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot...."
Yes, folks we should jolly well remember Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder treason! I think Quincy is about ready to send a little gunpowder treason toward podbean.com because of all the technical trouble we've been having with the site!!!
Now is good time to dust off your V for Vendetta DVD....or better yet, read the bloody book!
As per usual, the book is a superior vehicle for telling the story. It's certainly more in depth psychologically with the characters, and avoids the farcical Hollywood romance that the Wachowski Bros. stuffed into the story for no apparent reason.
Did anybody REALLY think that jamming an ill-fitting love story inside an examination of violence and anarchy is going to bring in the Sex & The City crowd? Leave that crap on the cutting room floor, folks. V was just fine the way it was, thank you very much.
Having said that, I thought the film represented the spirit of the original text in a satisfying way. Sure, it traded in the cold war themes of the 80s for some good old fashioned post-911 paranoia, but to me, that was a laudable update. Although I would have been fine with a more literal translation of the text as well, because the cold war is near to my heart as well. I'm an old man, and that's fine.
The point is...it's the 5th of November. Get a little "V" into your life, shake things up, let the bastards know you're still alive, for crying out loud! (for the record, I'm advocating righteous indignation and mischief, not actual violence, which is a tool for the desperate and unclever for the most part. We are clever people!)
- Ryan
