V for Vendetta is my favorite movie of all time. Perhaps it's the "Big Brother:1984" aspect that appeals to my inner revolutionary, or the simple story of a heroine struggling to find herself in an unfair and corrupt world. I can relate my life and the lives around me to such fiction with astounding accuracy.
The film explores the life of Evey Hammond, thrust into the revolution of a future totalitarian Britain. We see the story of her inner struggle, along with the homicidal actions of V, a Guy-Fawkes mask wearing vigilante. Through their actions we see the corrupted characters of their world: a egotistical soldier turned TV pundit, a doctor who kills in the name of science, a corrupt bishop pedophile, and a selfish dictator who rules without mercy.
It is in this context that I see the darker side of human nature. As I've grown older, I can't help but feel the fiction of this movie is more and more non fiction everyday. It is a world I cringe at, a world where I must become more aware of darkness everyday.
I suppose such a setting applies to many of us when we are young and innocent. Our eyes are barely open when we are thrust into an unforgiving Earth of wonders that we struggle to understand. As we begin to grow older, we see the difference between our childhood optimism and our world induced pessimism. When we are adults, reality loves to remind us that evil is inevitable, and that the hope we find in our lives in often scarce and sacred, existing most in dreams and aspirations.
Attempts to find the root of my personal pessimism for this world have yielded no fortune, for the answer I seek lies in the dark side of human nature I hate to explore.
And yet it is clear on television, the internet, the newspaper. It thrives in our daily vision, during our tasks. It is something hidden inside most of us, a monster we hate to admit exists. It is such evil that I fear it.
Within this evil, I indeed see the opposite side, the side of hope and brightness, of peace and love. From such strong forces I know my integrity still exists, and that the integrity of others still exist. No good or evil deed would be possible otherwise. It is the actions stemmed from such good or evil that may be the hardest to accomplish in our lives.
This is why I hold a personal vendetta against the evil of this world. I decided long ago that my integrity demands it. I would hate to lie to myself when I say I would die to combat the sins of humanity.
Through the toughest moments of my life thus far, I have called on this young and wavering integrity to guide me. Here's to hoping that it may guide me forever more on my mission of honorable action.
"Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free."
- Valerie Page (V for Vendetta)
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