Hollywood Fretting over Terror-Themed 'Vendetta'

The LA Times featured an interesting article this week on how producer Joel Silver, the Wachowski brothers (of the "Matrix" films) and Warner Brothers Pictures are worrying over the problems with their forthcoming terror-themed film "V For Vendetta."

For those of you who may not know about this film, "V For Vendetta" is about a futuristic Great Britain that's become a fascist state. A masked freedom fighter named V uses terror tactics (including bombing the London Underground) to undermine the government - leading to a climax in which the British Parliament is blown up. Natalie Portman stars as a skinhead who turns to the revolution after doing time as a Guantanamo-style prisoner.

Personally, we're glad Warner Brothers is sweating this one out. This is the exact same constellation of people who got away with murder with the ultra-violent "Matrix" movies, for which the filmmakers were never taken to account. We remember Michael Moore and his fellow travellers blaming America's 'gun culture' for the Columbine massacre and related school shootings, but somehow Hollywood and its glamorization of violence (and especially "The Matrix's" gnostic, 'it isn't real, anyway' ethos) is always left out of that mix.

This time Silver and the Wachowskis are taking on the volatile question of terrorism - with what appears to be their same, blunderbuss approach and uncannily clumsy timing.

Many defenders of the "V For Vendetta" film point out that it is based on a graphic novel series written in the 1980s which had nothing to do with the present War on Terror. Yet, the LA Times article says the following:

"The movie is based on an acclaimed graphic novel - but that book's author has called the screenplay 'imbecilic' and wants nothing to do with the film.

There have been significant changes that pull "Vendetta" the film away from "Vendetta" the graphic novel (most notably, the entire ending is markedly different and the number of characters has been dramatically reduced) but the plot is still this: a mystery man who exhibits some superhuman abilities is on a rampage in London and his theatrically symbolic acts of destruction are meant to topple a repressive conservative government."

Regardless of when the graphic novel was written, the timing for this motion picture could not possibly be more tasteless or ideologically loaded.