Thursday, March 30, 2006

V for Vendetta



In Nz today V for Vendetta went on general release, the story of a masked 'everyman' - V and his desire to overthrow a fundmentalist tyranical government.
While it has a high level of violenece and soem great comic acting by Hugo Weaving, a really bad English accent from Natalie Portman it is a great story, echoing english history (Guy Fawkes), philosophy (the power of an idea - there bullet proof), and more importantly stories of rebellion in the face of oppression.
As usual fundamentalist Christianity takes a huge kicking from this movie - and i think rightly so. In oppresing the indivduals beliefs, sexuality, and personhood - fundamentalism too easily pushes people to wear masks, to give up their personhood. As a Christian this is soemthing I find a very difficult tension, desiring to see people come to know Christ, but not desiring to squash people inot a mold that is not them - not how they were created, but recognising to the place of sin - in that we are not as we were intended.
At the end of the day V's little rebellion offers nothing, he is the explosive, the firework, the monster, and as he comments to Evie it is up to her and the people to create a better world.
The religious overtones in this movie are in typical Wachowski style (matrix people). V is the type of messiah that I belive Judas would have desired Jesus to be, the world he was to create his understanding of the Kingdom. It is clearly wrong, founded on violence with no place for those who create it due to that violence. On the other hand the Kingdom that the fundamenlists desire is in human oppresing the individual.
Lots to chew over... and very much worth the price of admission

2 comments:

Paul and Alison Holmes said...

Hi Mike.
Haven’t seen the movie yet, but heard good reports (from guys). Doesn’t sound like one I can take Ali to.
Interesting thoughts on the whole "shaping" process for new Christians. Wouldn’t churches be interesting places if we let the new Christians make the rules and shape us to a mold, rather than the other way around?

Mich said...

Good to hear form you Paul, It would probably make it a more exciting place but quite chaotic and mybe that is the problem...
I don't happen to think chaos is always bad - it's about opportunity and potential and i think may leave us open to the Spirit of God that broods over the waters