The Media
“My father was a writer… he used to say, ‘artists used lies to tell the truth while politicians used them [lies] to cover the truth up.” – Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta (Bittner-Rosser, 2005)
Adapted from a comic book series, V for Vendetta is a literary piece portraying political thought not just through print but also in film. Fictional as it may be; with a fictional hero, and set in a fictional England, the gems of truth embedded within are useful four dimensional representations of political science concepts.
In this article, I for one will highlight the following political phenomena as can be gleaned from the film’s plot: a) state-society relations, b) political institutions, and c) political culture. For these are all embedded within the story behind a masked vigilante, along with the violence of armed civil conflict, the horrors of political incarceration and torture, plus the intrigue of a complex plan to topple the government.
The Review
State-Society Relations and the Strong State
In the film “V”, the masked vigilante tells Evey Hammond that, “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people (Bittner-Rosser, 2005).” It succinctly expresses a theme within the story that has been continually emphasized in various scenes. In the dichotomy of state-society relations comes the question how strong should the state become? A strong state as defined by Rotberg (2003) as having 1) full dominion over all its’ territory and 2) it provides both high quantity and high quality political goods to every citizen within its dominion.
For someone who has not read the graphic novel, the film portrays its fictional English government as one which satisfies the first part of the definition. However, the second part is somewhat suspect. Mindful that suspect and lacking are two different situations. It is suspect since the film displays a social environment that seems to flourish, but observing deeper, one notices certain scars on society’s seemingly healthy exterior. There are strict curfews at night, abusive government “goons”, “black-baggers” who make enemies of the state “disappear”, and there were also surveillance of private communications even within the homes of citizens. Moreover, a scene worth noting is the conversation between “V” and Evey over breakfast. Evey tastes real butter in her toast. A small thing, but their conversation leads to the knowledge that Evey hasn’t tasted real butter since she was a little girl. For at that present time, “V” had to steal such a small economic good from a supply train meant only for the Chief Executive of their land – High Chancellor Sutler. This implies the government enjoying high quality goods over their people. Thus was that fictional England really strong? or is it in truth fragile?
Misuse of Political Institutions
This paper’s opening quote differentiated the artist from the politician. In the Ivory Tower of academia, Political Science’s goal is not to train politicians, for the very essence of Political Science is to study state and government – thus to build the state. The practice of politics however, is not just to wield power; rather it is to wield power in a limited manner.
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Movie Still 1 - A crowd of citizens mobilized against one of the misused institutions in the form of "Fingermen" (From the movie “V for Vendetta”, 2005) |
In the film, the fictional government used its’ institutions as a means of abusive power over it’s’ citizens. These include the media (which has reports the lies concocted by the government), a variety of uses of force (police, fingermen, “black-baggers”, the military), and even the medical institutions which were used to create biological weapons (to be used not just against foreign enemies but also over the citizens).
A Sleeping Political Culture
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Movie Still 2 - Citizens take up mask and costume of "V" in a mimick of people power (from the movie “V for vendetta”, 2005) |
When they first met, “V” answers Evey’s query of who “V” was by quite a long alliteration of self-descriptions which include “a vestige of the vox populi [trans. From latin ‘voice of the people’.” For the people’s voices have already been stilled either out of fear of the government or of simple acceptance of their current situations – that they cannot fight nor change the government anymore. This is an example of one of the political cultures studied by Almond and Verba (1989). Both political scientists studied five nations and discovered three basic political cultures – subject, parochial, and civic. Whereas civic cultures have knowledge of their government and believe that they can influence it; the subject culture on the other hand have little knowledge of their government and simply consent to be herded by it. The parochial culture interacts only with their immediate local government and seldom has knowledge of and interactions with the national government.
Conclusions
Using the fiction of literature and film, V for Vendetta was able to help exemplify that strength isn’t true strength in a fragile state. It is a structure with the potential for tension, and eventual entropy from within. More so, using a values approach, one observes that sources of tension can come from abuses by the government, and that at times, a corrupt government can retain power with the appropriate set of corrupt institutions. The solution to this, I caution though, is not simply violence. For insight points out that such a situation can easily be solved, if the people shifts from a parochial or subject culture into a civic culture – which interacts bravely with their state in order to champion rights, justice and freedom.
Works Cited
Almond, G., & Verba, S. (1989). The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. London: Sage Publications.
Bittner-Rosser, M. (Director). (2005). V for Vendetta [Motion Picture].
Rotberg, R. I. (2003). Nation-State Failure¨A Recurring Phenomenon? Montgomery, Alabama: United States Air Force, Air University.
