V for Vendetta!

I have seen 'V for Vendetta' over the weekend and give it two thumbs up. I don't want to spoil the show for you by revealing the plot in advance, but will say a few words about it nonetheless.

V for Vendetta isn't as much of an action movie or a suspense thriller as one would expect basing on the Wachowski brother's previous hit, The Matrix trilogy. This seems to have confused a bunch of reviewers and resulted in an average rating of B or B-. Well, let me tell you -- they are wrong. The movie has a well thought-out plot, and flows like a good story.

The main character, V, sais at some point, 'writers use a lie to tell the truth' -- and this fits perfectly the movie itself, which practically spells out everything that happened here since 911 and before, you can't make it any clearer. This is why it is genuinely amusing to me when people interpret the movie as promoting terrorism, or see it as a debate of whether terrorism can be justified, as in 'end justifies the means'. IMO blowing up an empty building, with music and fireworks, seems a lot less terroristic than killing 80,000+ people as a part of elaborate plot. This is what totalian regime in the movie did to come to power, while making all participants very rich as an added bonus.

The real question to ponder is what DOing something about the grizzly reality does to a person. This is why V's mask never comes off -- because there is no face behind it. His path made him barely human, and turnes him into an immortal idea. This is where Evey's role is very important, because while she learns from him, she also teaches him something -- gives him back his heart, in a way.

As with the Matrix movies, there are many esoteric references, key words and images scattered throughout; an example would be the red rose, a drop of blood and the shape of an apple it makes when put in a glass of yellow liquid. Domino effect is another loaded symbol. Lastly, I imagine that the part when V puts Evey through a prison experience as a means of killing her fear, was totally lost on many people; but the whole scene was symbolic of initiation, down to Evey's shaved head, her prison gown that looked more like the orange robe of a buddist monk, and the water and fire images.

I interpret a large part of the movie as a symbol of esoteric initiation and path IN the world, utilizing the shocks that a sick pathocratic system amply provides, with a goal of creating an alternative future. The real Fourth Way path, in some sense.

However, the impression from the movie was somewhat overshadowed by a couple of things I learned about the Wachowski's. Apparently, there was a truly bizarre story of Larry Wachowski getting heavily into BDTM right after the first Matrix movie, and him getting together with a prominent LA dominatrix, with accompanying divorces on both sides. Rumors abound that he is transgender, and there is a talk about sex
change operation.

There is a Rollinge Stone article dealing extensively with this issue. It may have more details about the whole affair than one cares to find out -- I certainly have learned more than I bargained for, so caveat lector.

The bottom line is, IMO Wachowskis are NOT on the roll. The 'V for Vendetta'
project was started before the Matrix trilogy, and there is nothing else coming down the pipe. They haven't even directed the V movie. They are keeping quieter and quieter as time goes by, and now will only be making videogames and comic books, if that.

I always thought that Wachowski brothers are somehow 'in the know'. Another way to look at it is to hypothesize that a lot of creative people get their ideas from some universal pool. This seems innocent enough; but the material presented here puts an extra twist onto the concept. Apparently there may be an Army of superhuman psychic projectors who are beaming ideas into people's heads, inspiring them to rethink certain universal myths and incorporate important ideas in their creative work. I'll take that -- I like Star Treck :).

Nevertheless, whatever it is that they know or 'get' from somewhere about the Matrix and other aspects of hidden reality, IMO doesn't seem to be accompanied by the real understanding of 'the terror of the situation'. Otherwise may be LW wouldn't have fallen for the Woman in Red (a specially designed one in this case, with a bullwhip and all).

I have seen this kind of thing before, and it just makes me very, very sad.

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