Masked Justice

So, yesterday we filmed for Law Revue (the show). We have two movies this year: the first is Brokeback Hill, starring Walter Dickey and Michael Smith as wanna-be Torts professors. The second is Community Justice Commandos. I was involved primarily in the second one, in the starring role of "Commando No. 1." The Commando costume includes the following: black shirt, black pants, black shoes, black tie, black judge's robe, black ski mask and black sunglasses. In order to film it, Cole and i had to run around the law school in the outfit i've just mentioned beating up undergrads and various other unjust-type people. It was actually exhausting and challenging to act with your face completely covered by a mask.

It was a lot of fun, and i was happy to give up a day of studying to be a superhero. Hopefully everyone will get a kick out of it at the show.

After filming, Cole and i went and saw V for Vendetta. (Read Cole's review of the movie here. Cole discusses the political themes very well). It was an excellent movie, and it got me thinking. In the movie, the main character, V, opposes what has become a tyrannical and totalitarian British government (clearly a mixture of 1984 and Nazi Germany). The people of Britain, while not as oppressed as the people in 1984, are nonetheless oppressed. V opposes this government, and is willing to take extraordinary measures to bring it down. While V is an anti-hero, neither good nor bad, really, it is the results of his actions that got me thinking the most.

Warning, spoilers follow, highlight to read:

V takes over a tv station and broadcasts a message telling the citizens of Britain to meet him at the house of Parliament on November 5th of the following year if they are sick of their government. A year later, what looks like the entire population of London shows up, despite the warning that anyone protesting on that day will be shot, and despite the presence of a whole hell of a lot of military forces. V was able to inspire a multitude of people to risk their lives in order to challenge an oppressive, lying, dishonest, evil government.

End spoilers

The parallels to America are obvious. The only thing is that here, people aren't risking much. There are a few voices here and there, but widespread dissent is rare, even in Madison, Wisconsin. Am i a violent liberal? Fuck no, but that's not my point. My point isn't that Bush is evil or that conservatives are ruining America. My point is merely that people in this country have accepted the idea that two parties sum up the entire valid political spectrum. In addition, abuse of power continues (on both sides of the aisle) and little or nothing is done. The climax of V for Vendetta is a fictional version of something that does happen in real life. Need proof? The clearest and most resonant example is the man who stood down a motherfuckin' tank in Tiananmen. For freedom, democracy, etc., that guy stood up to a tank!

And our politicians review every speech to make sure that they seem defiant while saying almost nothing substantive. Even John McCain's given up on his vehemently independent image in favor of... well, who the hell knows what. But the politicians, like the media, are not to blame; they only give us what we want.

In any event, come to Law Revue (the show)(even though i won't be there, in all likelihood) and watch V for Vendetta.