Monday, 14 October 2013

V for Vendetta, in depth analysis

What significant examples are there of gender roles (mother, father, strength/power) in the characters?
- Sutler resembles a father figure in to the people of London: When he's voted as chancellor, Sutler leads the people into a new era which involves/leads to fascist ideas. He enforces his ideas, legislations and discipline to society and his Norsefire flag/symbol is in every household, building and posters of his quotes are plastered all over the city. Sutler is both metaphorically and physically the head of every household. A curfew is given to the people of London by Chancellor Sutler, just as a concerned parent would set boundaries for their children. If his orders or rules are disobeyed by any persons, they are black-bagged which is Sutler's extreme version of "punishment".
-V is portrayed as a father figure to Evey: Since rescuing her from being raped by Fingermen, V has protected Evey and sheltered her. Throughout the film he is determined to teach Evey his views and ideologies on how the world should be. He tries to convince her to do what's "right" ie going against the government and embracing her individuality. Although V tortured her in the mock-prison he created, he only did those things for her benefit and because he cared about her; taking on characteristics of being a father figure by teaching her how to "open her eyes".
-Delia (the coroner) is a mother figure to V: At Larkhill detention center, Delia was the main participant in V's re-birth and is held accountable for his outcome. In a way, she created and nurtured him until it was his time to leave the detention center which was his surrogate home. With her being the only visible female participant in V's creation, Delia is burdened with being a motherly figure to V.
-Evey becomes a mother figure to society: When Evey pulls the lever that releases the bombs into parliament, she instantaneously stimulates the dawn of a new era and leads the people into freedom. As the old, fascist, and immoral ideas are being blown up, a sense of individuality and freedom are being restored. Also, the train going into the tunnel can be interpreted as phallic/yonic imagery which creates a more visual effect of Evey stimulating the re-birth of this generation.

Do the characters use or challenge Stock Characters of the genre and how does it create meaning/symbolism?
-Evey's stock character is the "girl next door" which is a role she fulfills for the majority of the film. She starts off as an attractive, naive, vulnerable female which contributes to the stereotype of her genre and stock character. But as she is captured,  put in the mock-prison and has her hair shaved, she no longer conforms to the delicate stereotype of a female. She becomes empowered, stronger, fearless and completely abandons all stereotypical traits of the "girl next door", creating symbolic messages that she's rid herself of her femininity.
-Delia's stock character is the "mad scientist" who made a large contribution at Larkhill detention center and created V into the vigilante that he is. Thinking she was just following orders and not doing any harm, her experiment had spiraled out of control. In this way, she conforms to the stereotypical "mad scientist" but also challenges the role of this stock character by having sympathy and compassion for V. As he kills her, she apologizes for what she did to him, demonstrating she isn't completely ruthless. 

Why does the film need to create "Verisimilitude"  or genre realism (conspiracy, superpowers, revolution) to get across its message?
-In V for Vendetta, conspiracy theories are used to let the public know how easily they can be manipulated by their governments and how the idea of "change" can get out of hand. With the government inflicting diseases on their own people and the constant use of propaganda, conspiracy is portrayed as a negative thing. When V uses conspiracies to bring down the government and start a revolution, the audience sees this as a positive thing because the story is told in a way that makes us side with the terrorist vigilante that is V.

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