V for Vendetta: Preachy Pop Pontifications

I watched it knowing what I was getting into. Having "read" the "book", too. But I couldn't resist seeing what the Wachowski's could do with the material.

Well, it turns out, not much apart from conjuring a fantasy world. By that I mean one that has absolutely no connection with reality. Islam is repressed (instead of being the opressor, as in the real world today); gays are repressed (instead of being endlessly celebrated and deified in movies like this one); priests are pedophiles (well, OK, I'll give them that - although the book "Goodbye Good Men" suggests another aspect to this we've been ignoring); and a murderous fascist, probably "Christian" fanatic is in charge, but not quite - in the movie's most laughable moment (well, one of them), he fails to take the most obvious course to ensure that Stephen Rea's detective does not reveal his biggest secret. Instead of killing him, he ... makes him promise not to tell.

It's such puerility that pervades this pop parsing of Moore's teen-angst plot. Doubtless to some it is still "BRAVE" and "HARD-HITTING" to cast Christians in this light*, but it only reveals the shallow knowledge of history - and even of the present day - that infuses our cultures. Or perhaps the sad lack of questioning that the "Question Authority" bumper sticker types seem to exercise in fact.

Oh. They also ruin the movie by adding a sappy love angle to the story that adds nothing and gooeyizes (and confuses) everything you've seen in the last couple of hours.

Anyway, the movie conveys important, timely messages: the Church is your enemy! Islam is a totally benign religion in danger of being lost forever! Gays are brutally oppressed! And see how I made McCreedy look like Rush Limbaugh (or Frank Rich)! It's such subtlely that makes this film a deep viewing experience for those "in the know", for those who UNDERSTAND that these things might actually, like, happen.

*It's brave because ... Christians may get upset but you know they won't blow up your building? Won't saw off your head? Wow, that's really brave taking on people like that.