War on Terror = Vendetta?

V for Vendetta is controversial in the United States for many reasons, including the glorification of murder, violence, terrorism and the overthrow of government. One very intriguing, and of course controversial aspect of V for Vendetta is the positive portrayal of the villain, V. While one could argue that V is fighting for all of the right reasons, his methods may be deemed disdainful. The people he kills are not all necessarily evil, but as he sees it, the ends justify the means.

The main reason V for Vendetta is controversial in the United States is the parallelism between the fascist government in dystopic London and our own Government. While the relations are small, they are enough to make people wonder: How far away are we from being controlled to the extent that those in the graphic novel are? While one would argue that our government is not based upon prejudice and hatred like that of the novel, one can see the similarities between regulations and safety protocols in a post 9/11 world.

The film of course, drew much more controversy than the graphic novel. Graphic novels have a much smaller and more select audience than Hollywood. Not to mention the world has changed over the past two decades. The movie reached a large audience and of course the reaction would be magnified. Is it possible that something as catastrophic as a nuclear war could result in such conditions? What parallels can be drawn between the fallout of the nuclear war in the novel and the reaction by the United States to the 9/11 terrorist attacks? We've all heard how Muslims and people of Arab descent are targeted by security at airports, or even hated by ignorant Americans. How close is this prejudice to the rounding up of every minority into concentration camps? Not very close, not by a long shot, but it does make one wonder where fear and bigotry can lead. We've made long strides as a society since the inception of this nation, and it is worrisome to think that something similar to 9/11, but on an altogether larger scale, could reverse our advancements as a society.