First and foremost, the central political theme is different. The book was very clearly Anarchy versus Fascism, with both being represented as varying shades of grey. The movie is more like Liberalism versus neo-Conservatism, and is very much Good Guys versus Bad Guys. The big thing that Moore took issue with in the adaptation (which he demanded he not be credited for) was that the writers took what was a very British story and implanted a quite American set of views and beliefs on it. It's not too tough to see parallels drawn against the Bush administration in the adapted story, which probably goes a long way enlightening the viewer on how the Wachowskis view Dubya.posted by FJT at 2:47 PM on December 22, 2012 [3 favorites]
And although they made subtle attempts here and there, we're never really challenged to see the Movie V (Hugo Weaving) as anything other than a freedom fighter, a hero. He serves the common man, he fights the corrupted government… he's basically Robin Hood. Comic V was never, ever portrayed as simply being in the right. His methods are at least as violent and shocking as those of the government he seeks to topple. Not to mention his mental instabilities in the comic are much more pronounced and noticeable. In the movie, he's a regular gentleman (albeit one in a smiley mask who kills people with knives). He watches movies with Evey, makes her breakfast, and generally fits a superhero mould, a knight in black armour. It's only really near the beginning (when he destroys the Old Bailey) that Movie V shows any outward signs of mental imbalance. Comic V is much more willing to sacrifice the innocent and use any means to justify his ends.
So, if you look at this, and think that it's ridiculous that the Chinese government is allowed to restrict the content of movies "to promote social harmony", consider that there's a resurgent movement in the US to do exactly the same thing to video games, "to protect the children".The purpose isn't to "protect children" it's to "Protect gun owners by deflecting public attention" - the only people bringing it up are on the right, most notably the NRA head.
I think the criticism, at least from Alan Moore, was exactly the opposite: that by setting it in England instead of America, the Wachowskis refused to confront Bush head-on.I thought Alan Moore hated the idea of turning any of his comics into movies and refused to watch it on general principle. I don't know if he had any specific criticism.
Another example was the salt scare during last year's Fukushima disaster. Discussions forums talked about radioactive iodine and it somehow cumulated into a rationale for buying salt now (I can't remember the flimsy logic). People panicked and started buying excessive amount of salt based on this and stores in the coastal cities ran out of salt.Haven't retail outlets in the US completely run out of AR-15s in the last week or so? I don't think you can say panic buying is a China-only thing. Also, your body regulates iodine levels - if you have enough in your body you won't absorb any from the environment (I think). That's a good thing when radioactive iodine isotopes are floating around. Most salt you buy is doped with iodine to prevent iodine deficiency.
The Nazis set up a rationalized, industrial-scale extermination program that methodically and purposefully liquidated between six and eight million people. What the Japanese did is comparable to how other colonial powers, including the US, Britain, France and the Netherlands behaved in Southeast Asia.The western powers weren't really that active in china for that long. The second opium war ended in 1860, and the republic of china was started in 1912. So around 50 years. During that time you had the Taiping Rebellion which killed millions of people. The western powers supported the Taiping for a while, then switched to the Qing dynasty later. But either way, they never tried to actually oppress and take direct control of China. They were fine with letting the Qing run things officially while having them by the balls. Then you had the ROC which was also aligned with the western powers, and the communists of course aligned with Russia.
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It is the same basic thinking, that people in your society shouldn't be allowed to see/experience things you don't agree with, because they can't handle it... while you, of course, are in a position to know better than they do what they can tolerate. It's infantilizing people who are just as good as you are, because they happen to hold different opinions, perhaps opinions you find scary.
The Chinese censors probably believe just as firmly as the game censors that what they're doing is correct. It's obviously wrong from the outside, but it's not so obvious from the inside. It's all about trying to coerce people into being how you want them to be, superior to inferior, instead of persuading them, as equals.
posted by Malor at 2:23 PM on December 22, 2012 [21 favorites]