Masked Face of “V”

The protagonist, played by a masked Hugo Weaving, is born/produced by the perversities of his society, a victim/result of totalitarian pursuits in the form of bioengineering and genetic manipulation (gone wrong). The undisguised fascist regime desired to create a super being embodying all the ideals of fascist ideology, nothing less than an exalted vision of high (in the theocratic sense) anality (in the Freudian sense).

The attempt was doomed to failure from the start as all attempts at formula production of superior human beings are plagued by the imperfections of their creators and the innate human tendency to deviate.

Fascism has always been identified with excessive toilet training and anal personality production. ‘V’ becomes the quintessential abused (misunderstood) child, a ‘badly done by’ human who carries a ton of adolescent appeal and sympathetic attraction for any infantile personality.

‘V’, now saturated with pubescent rebellion embarks on a course of revenge and retaliation for all the injustices he has suffered at the hands of an overbearing (monster father figure) totalitarian society!

The viewer is treated to a barrage of alliteration from V early in the sequence, it seems the failed experiment produced an alliterative genius – but the kiddies are not fooled, this is really a display of a 'superior' intellect that most teenagers readily identify with (why is everyone – except me – so tediously stupid?)

V’s mission to exact revenge and liberate the oppressed reflects the remnants of his innate, unmanipulated humanity; an acute sense of justice, equality and fair play is unfortunately tainted by a liberal dose of homicidal mania! The symbolism is clear, the perpetual conflict between our innate sense of 'good' against the 'evil' of those who do not share our particular views and beliefs!

The viewer is lured to the hiding place of his/her own ‘inner child’ and inner ‘Che Guevara’!

The movie utilises cumbersome symbolism and allusions in an awkward attempt to portray a comic book character and deliver ‘hidden’ meaning. It fails miserably in all areas, a victim of formula profiteering and rushed production. A lack of thematic depth and development also betrays a simplistic marketing strategy designed for an adolescent target audience.

O! I almost forgot, “V” is masked in order to allow viewers to readily identify themselves as the character beneath the mask – its an old almost clichéd advertising trick.

But don’t forget kiddies, “V” is also portrayed as a superior being in every respect and as such fulfils all the criteria of the fascist ideal – there can be only One!