Vendettas, screenplays and 1984 (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

You know, I'd swear I'd written about V for Vendetta before. I bought and devoured the comic book a few months ago. I loved it, though I have to admit that it wasn't the easiest read ever. I saw very strong ties with 1984, likening the storyline to what could've happened to Brittain if folks like Winston had stood up for themselves.

Last Friday we bought a few more DVDs and I finally picked up V for Vendetta as well. It's been a long time in coming, with my brother nagging me about it :D

Before I comment on anything related to the screenplay, let me say that it was a stroke of genius casting to get John Hurt to play the role of Adam Sutler. John Hurt of course played Winston in the movie rendition of 1984, giving a striking portrayal of one of Oceania's oppressed citizens. Imagine my surprise to see one of Big Brother's oppressed assuming the character of his own Big Brother! In a further stroke of irony, that cannot have been anything but intended, both Winston's and Adam's final, climactic scenes share many similarities. I'd almost expected Adam to cry out: Do it to her! Do it to Julia! Don't do it to me!.

Which actually refreshes my mind some more! Was it in 1984 that there was a first mention of that final inch that they will never be able to take? Or was it in V and am I imagining things?

Now... The screenplay adaption of V contained many dissimilarities when compared to the comic book. Many of these changes were functional and an almost entirely new story was forged. I enjoyed this new story quite a lot and think that the author(s) did a great job. The only thing that vexes me is the humanization of the character V towards the end. V was always intended to be the personification of an idea. Breaking that down, if only a little, to fit in the oh-so-required love scene detracts from the original story.

All in all, V for Vendetta is a great book and was made into a great movie! It gives one food for thought, as do other, similar books. Knowing that stories like these can still be written and heard gives one a little hope for humanity. Knowing that there are still people out there, smart enough to be critical of their government and to propagate said ideas.

Then again, it may all be a ruse by them to lull us into a false sense of security, or of empowerment. ;)

Posted in: 1984 , comic book , movie , screenplay , v for vendetta

George Orwell wasn't far off (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

When I'm not busy doing my best to ignore the world I actually enjoy digging a bit deeper into the scary stuff that's going on around us. Reading gathered news posts from here and there it does once more become clear that George Orwell wasn't far off. A lot of the horrors he described about communist countries decades ago are now becoming apparent in our oh-so-free western world.

If you have the time for some nice conspiracy theories, start your digging at:
* 1984 Comic. Combines a comic book rendition of 1984 with news gathered from around the Internet.
* Thought Criminal. Gathers news on the government, the military and the snoops.
* Students for an Orwellian Society. More gathered news.

And this is just something cool I found as well: Post Secret. People who have a secret create an artsy postcard about it and send it in to be posted on the web. There's some really touching stuff in there.

EDIT:
I've had that INGSOC logo as a background on my laptop for ages and last Saturday was the first time someone knew what it was. Naturally it was Robert who's rather well versed in english lit. We shared the Shiranai booth at Chibi Con and he noticed the background while I was switching slide shows.

Posted in: 1984 , george orwell , ingsoc , modern times