when the people come together at the end of the movie they aren't liberated as they're all hiding behind white masks. Is the message that you must hide behind a mask in order to be free? Shall we all be "white" then?
see... i am not sure if you left the movie earlier
but they where discarting the masks in the end! and i think that is an important deatil which puts a different spin on the popular criticism of that movie.
I think this was done deliberately. 1st they are not free at all, they where hiding behind another mask, probably for security. However, that mask, being a symbol for the resistance (all movements have symbols) gives them the inital kick in the behind and strength to finally DO something. Even if it just walking down the street together. The mask could have been any color. It is the meaning of the mask , not the mask itself. It is the symbol that the opressive regime feared - so what do you do to really tell them that you support the "leader"? YOu use his symbol
Furthermore i it important to notice how V never claimed to be the leader (and probably never would have been). He followed his own venegance and apart from killing people, destroying the system was an important part of this. He merely shook up the to pick up their own revolution - he did not found/ lead it - he leyd the 1st stepstone. Converting Evey was in my opinion another selfish act. He fell in love with her and wanted to bind her to himself. Only by understanding his way, she would stay. (though i admit this whole part can be seen completely different, but this is how i understood it -> fits better into his charcter
)
And to come to a final conclusion we would need the after story. WHo says it was effectfull at all? what it the system was not soley based on 2 people, but quickly re-build and Evey hunted down, while some inner workings gradually bring about the change? Change from actually by someone else with other ideas/ approaches?
Generally I find a bit much to ask of a mere blockbuster movie to live up to MLK, Ghandi or some big philosophies.
It is still entertainment and ok, it does have some supposedly deep stuff in it, but no one can possibly expect it to be new and relevant. After all it is a story with a limited elaborated setting (how exactly did the governemnt come into power? who is to blame? people for letting and not reacting in time... like the old Nazi discussion)
I agree about Evey, but it this a popular conception about human psychologie in these kind of movies/ comics. That's fine.. it is genre
Anyways, I need to get comic to get the whole picture I think. I am pretty sure that movie and comic combined while shed a more accurate light in V. Even though Moore said he does not want to be asociated with teh mobie, many avid comic lovers have approved of teh move and are fine with the different portrail of V and Evey (the transition from paper to screen is always bound to result in changes). Moore , even though the creator, is generally a bit itchy with his creations.