A cheer for terrorism

The movie “V for Vendetta” is surrounded by controversy. In the United States, particularly, it was received in a strange manner. V for Vendetta was a box office hit; it drew in audiences from many different backgrounds. I find it very interesting that in a post 911 United States, a movie celebrating a terrorist or terrorist action could do so well. That’s what V was right, a terrorist? The graphic novel and movie both persuade the audience to sympathize with this terrorist, and they did. Despite weekly terrorist warnings, we cheered for V.
V is a character who is fed up with the controlling government of England, I would argue that our democracy does not have far to travel to be in the same place. Today we are living in a country, under a government that places personal freedoms at the bottom of their priority list. We have been told that sacrificing some personal freedoms is necessary to preserve general freedom. Today my emails may be read by the government, my personal correspondence may be opened and any international calls that I make may be listened to. Is this freedom of speech? I don’t think so, and in fact I think it is incredibly dangerous to surrender these rights because of what they may mean for our existing rights now in the future.
Having said all of this I go back to the point about the success of the film. After 911 the country banded together in the name of “freedom” Americans allowed extra controls to be placed upon them because they were scared, and because they thought that these controls would make it possible for our freedom to prosper. At the same time, however, they went to cinemas and cheered for a man blowing up government buildings and rejecting the government’s fierce controls.